IBERDROLA Industrial Wind Turbine Machines Marching to Destroy New York State

Make your disapproval know to the PSC on the Iberdrola takeover of Energy East BEFORE the Wednesday, August 27, 2008 “Special Meeting” that may vote on the approval.

Email - Jodi Fansler jodi_fansler@dps.state.ny.us personal secretary for PSC Chairman Garry Brown and cc: the other four PSC commissioners - Patricia L. Acampora, Maureen F. Harris, Robert E. Curry, Jr., Cheryl A. Buley.

Puffing up wind energy

From rolling midwestern plains to the Manhattan skyline, wind energy has been marketed as a renewable goldmine. Still, as wind picks up momentum, politics and economic tensions are clouding the horizon for the rapidly commercializing energy source.

On Long Island, LIPA's plan to establish an offshore wind farm ran into various political and regulatory snares and finally collapsed when authorities found that it would cost far more than originally anticipated.

Meanwhile, a $2 billion wind-power investment upstate is meeting some resistance from Albany regulators, as it is tied to a sticky deal for a major utility takeover by a foreign company.

In some upstate communities, skeptical residents say wind energy firms are using insidious tactics to stake out land and score local deals with officials.

Is the wind boom becoming a bubble?

T. Boone Pickens' grand plan to make the country run on wind and natural gas is attracting scrutiny over the Texas oil mogul's economic motives. Mayor Michael Bloomberg's new wind development scheme has generated doubts among experts, who say the city's landscape isn't gusty or roomy enough to house a viable turbine infrastructure. And as the embattled Cape Wind project revealed, windmills are ripe targets for community backlash based on potential environmental and aesthetic hazards, both real and perceived.

One industry insider, Mick Sagrillo of the American Wind Energy Association, warned in an interview in Renewable Energy World that the some companies may try to exploit the concerned public's inflated hopes:

“It's great that people are looking for alternatives, but it's amazing how little people know when they seek them out. That leaves people open to purchasing a product that is less-than-reliable. We are a very gullible culture, we're always looking for the magic bullet."

Confronting climate change is an imperative for all communities, but one early lesson to be learned is that while new industries are drifting into our backyards, the old principle of buyer beware still applies.

An imagined dialogue on wind-farm strategy

Nancy Madsen's article "Cape Vincent to air turbine zoning plan" (Aug. 15) informs readers the town has appointed a committee to review a new draft wind law. The article listed conflicts of interest for each town officer related to contracts with the wind developer.

For a board that has a history of trying to ram through these wind projects any way they can, why are they suddenly trying to do things by the law? Perhaps the recent investigation of wind-company corruption slapped them into the realization that their questionable actions could actually jeopardize passing a wind law. So they talked to their wind-law lawyers who advised them to do everything right.

Perhaps their conversation went like this: "File your conflict disclosures, everything up front and legal. Dot your i's and cross your t's."

"OK, but how do we get this wind law through? We can't vote if two-thirds of the board has declared a conflict of interest."

"No problem, boys, appoint a committee. Now this committee must appear unbiased, although we know it's subtly stacked pro-wind. Appoint nonconflicted local officials to serve on the committee, and then throw in one pro-wind, and one anti-wind person for good balance. Don't ask for volunteers on this committee. The key is to appoint members to retain control of the process, but yet give the deceptive appearance that all community voices are represented. Once the committee has come up with a weak wind law, one that allows the wind developer almost unrestricted access to the town, and keeps the wind leaseholders happy, then the town board will vote to adopt the wind law."

"But how can we vote to pass our wind law if we have conflicts?"

"Don't worry, you claim you had nothing to do with the committee's recommendations. You have cleverly distanced yourself from the process. You are simply approving what the committee, who represents the community, told you to do. You have no fingerprints on this law."

"The public won't stand for this. They'll sue!"

"Let them sue, we think this is a position we can defend. By the time they get enough citizens to lawyer up and challenge us, we'll have the turbines up. At which point, the suit is basically meaningless. Why would they waste any more money on preventing something that has already happened?"

See Cape Vincent's new "wind farce"

Lorna Pundt

Cape Vincent

Energy East payouts possible by LARRY RULISON

ALBANY -- Top executives at Energy East Corp. stand to make $100 million if they lose their jobs as part of Spanish utility Iberdrola SA's $4.5 billion acquisition, according to one member of the state Public Service Commission. It's unclear just how important the issue will be as part of the PSC's deliberations on the $4.5 million deal.

PSC commissioners, who discussed the case at their monthly meeting this week, have scheduled a special meeting on the merger Wednesday. A vote also is likely that day.

At publicly traded companies like Energy East, top executives typically have so-called change-in-control clauses in their contracts, which allow for lump-sum payments and other benefits if they lose their jobs immediately after a merger.

PSC Commissioner Robert Curry made the $100 million assertion during questioning of PSC staff about the merger. He wanted to know when Iberdrola planned to take operational control of Energy East, which has 1.7 million electric and natural gas customers in upstate New York.

Rafael Epstein, an administrative law judge who has overseen the case, told Curry there was no set date for Iberdrola to assume management of Energy East's subsidiaries in New York, which include New York State Electric & Gas and Rochester Gas & Electric.

"They attach substantial value to the on-the-ground experience of local management," Epstein said.

Curry went on to note that when Iberdrola acquired ScottishPower in 2007, it replaced the chief executive of the Scottish utility and provided him with a $6 million severance.

That's when he calculated that Energy East's top officers stood to reap $100 million if replaced, Curry said.

Iberdrola officials declined to comment. However, a Sept. 24 document filed by the company in the case notes there are "no retention payments, merger completion bonuses or incentive payments in place" for Energy East affiliate employees.

The document does show that these employees are due up to $45 million in change-in-control payments if they were to lose their jobs immediately after the merger.

However, it's unclear if that document includes top executives and directors of Energy East, the holding company that owns those affiliates.

A proxy statement filed by Energy East last October -- sent to shareholders seeking their approval of the deal -- shows that top Energy East executives are owed $43 million under their change-in-control agreements if they are replaced.

An Iberdrola spokesman could not immediately verify whether those change-in-control arrangements were separate from the amounts detailed in the Sept. 24 PSC document.

It's unclear if the change-in-control agreements that Curry talked about will be addressed again on Wednesday.

The commissioners have several complex issues to consider as part of the merger, including whether to allow Iberdrola to own and build wind farms in the state.

The commission must also determine how much Iberdrola should return to consumers in exchange for the deal. Senior advisory staff recommended amounts to the commissioners that ranged between $202 million and $300 million.

PSC August 21, 2008 Letter on Iberdrola - Energy East by Alan Isselhard

August 21, 2008

Dear Public Service Commission,

As the day nears when the PSC finally reveals its decision on the Iberdrola matter it is becoming increasing obvious that the PSC will reverse its long standing ten-year deregulation policy and acquiesce to Iberdrola’s wishes. Those of us opposed to seeing Iberdrola’s take-over of Energy East and the critical NYS electrical generating infrastructure - cannot understand why the PSC won’t do the right thing and stand by the policies and decisions that have guided this commission in the past.

Please consider the following questions:

How can you reverse your long-standing position and betray NYS taxpayers and ratepayers?

How can you ignore Judge Epstein’s decision?

What are the compelling public benefits in allowing Iberdrola to own, buy or develop unlimited industrial wind projects that is causing the PSC to ignore it’s long standing policy in such matters?

How can the PSC listen to and be intimidated by Gov. Paterson, Sen. Schumer and Mayor Bloomberg instead of doing the right thing?

Will Paterson, Schumer and Bloomberg stand by the PSC when this matter reaches the courtroom, as it surely will?

Is it wise to allow a foreign company to take over this critical infrastructure to develop, own and operate wind farms?

Is Iberdrola’s $2billion buy-in carrot that important to the NYS economy?

Will Iberdrola exist long enough to deliver its $2billion investment in NYS?

Will the company that takes over Iberdrola deliver the $2billion investment in NYS that Iberdrola promised?

What happens when Iberdrola is taken over by an operative less friendly toward the US?

Doesn’t the corruption and intimidation of the wind industry influence your decision? Is Iberdrola any less guilty than any other wind developer - of fraud, misrepresentation and false claims?

Has the PSC considered questions like the above and many other similar questions before making its decision in the Iberdrola/Energy East take over matter?

Doesn’t the PSC fear investigation for their 180-degree reversal of a sensible deregulation public policy?

I strongly urge the PSC to stick by their long standing policy of not allowing a company to both generate and transmit or distribute electricity – much less a foreign company. The PSC should continue to be firmly opposed to “vertical integration”. The PSC should reject the Iberdrola take over of Energy East Corporation.

Sincerely,

Alan Isselhard
8135 North Huron Rd.
Wolcott, NY 14590

New York State Investigates Wind Companies for Improper Business and Political Dealings

New York State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo (D) has opened an investigation into two companies developing and operating wind farms in the state.

Cuomo, who announced the investigation July 15, said the focus will be on allegations of anti-competitive business practices and improper relationships between the companies and public officials.

Bribery, Unethical Conduct

The state has served subpoenas on company officials at First Wind (formerly known as UPC Wind) and Noble Environmental Power, LLC. The former is headquartered in Massachusetts, the latter in Connecticut.

The subpoenas are part of an investigation into whether companies developing wind farms improperly sought or obtained land-use agreements with citizens and public officials, whether improper benefits (such as bribes, illegal gifts, or unethical contracts) were given to public officials to influence their actions, and whether the companies engaged in anti-competitive agreements or practices.

First Wind has three operational wind farms and 48 others under development across the United States, according to its Web site. It developed the Steel Winds wind farm in New York and has at least five others under development in the state. Noble Environmental Power has three active wind farms and five under development in Allegany, Chautauqua, Clinton, Franklin, and Wyoming counties in New York.

Citizen Complaints

Citizens, environmentalist groups, and consumer advocates have filed numerous complaints with the New York State Attorney General's Office against the two companies, alleging improper relations between the companies and local officials and other improper practices.

One such citizens' group is Cohocton Wind Watch (CWW), which issued a statement supporting Cuomo's investigation.

"Cohocton Wind Watch is gratified with the decision of New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to launch a formal investigation into the business practices of First Wind/UPC Wind and Noble Environmental Power," spokesman James Hall said in a written statement.

"CWW has compiled comprehensive evidence, volumes of empirical data, and a paper trail of proof that public officials, developers, and their agents and leaseholders have acted collectively to defraud [New York state]. With this AG announcement of an active investigation, claims and allegations of the industrial wind fraud and wrongdoing will finally be scrutinized by the highest level of law enforcement," Hall added.

"The use of wind power, like all renewable energy sources, should be encouraged to help clean our air and end our reliance on fossil fuels," said Cuomo in a press release from his office. "However, public integrity remains a top priority of my office, and if dirty tricks are used to facilitate even clean-energy projects, my office will put a stop to it."

Other States Take Notice

Cuomo's announcement of the investigation has had ripple effects in nearby states.

Wind opponents in Vermont are citing the companies' alleged misconduct as a further reason why the state should reject proposals to locate wind farms in the state. Vermonters have strongly protested placement of wind turbines on mountaintop ridges because they ruin the pristine beauty of the White Mountains and decimate bird and bat populations.

Tom Stacy, president of the Save Western Ohio environmental group, says suspect dealings are also occurring in Ohio.

"In parallel to the New York circumstances, we have three citizens to my knowledge who have filed complaints with the Ohio Ethics Commission against elected officials in Monroe and Jefferson Townships of Logan County, Ohio," said Stacy.

"We have several officials with wind turbine lease conflicts of interest who have opted not to recuse themselves from voting on related zoning, and one in particular who lied under oath about his knowledge of his brother's wind lease," Stacy said.

Eco Concern Invites Corruption

Stacy says the wind industry is an example of businesses using government to pursue personal profit.

"The wind industry plays a slick shell game, deftly swapping claimed motives of emission offsets, energy security, job creation, and contribution to local tax coffers, while supplying no meaningful product and cloaking their true motive--personal wealth creation at public expense. Can you spell Enron?" Stacy said.

PSC Double Whammy Shock for NYS Utility Ratepayers and Taxpayers by James Hall

PSC Double Whammy Shock for NYS Utility Ratepayers and Taxpayers

The Public Service Commission is ready to disavow the prescribed ten-year deregulation policy to give special approval for the Iberdrola acquisition of Energy East. Watching the video of the August 20, 2008 meeting clearly exhibits the rubber stamp cozy relationship among monopolistic cronies. The fundamental duty to protect the ratepayer from predatory corporate practices is as foreign to the PSC as it is familiar to the Spanish industrial wind cartel developer - Iberdrola.

Totally ignored by the staff and commissioners of the PSC, the approval of ownership of wind generation facilities by Iberdrola, (the fourth largest worldwide utility), will virtually pay no New York State taxes. The Byzantine labyrinth of REC (renewal energy certificates) credits from selling unmetered electric from wind projects illustrates the bogus nature of a system designed to rip off the public. The picture of wind RECs appears in the dictionary under the definition of boondoggle.

The Public Service Commission is charged by NYS Law to oversee the sale or trade of renewable credit transactions. (See § 66-k Allowance credit trading or sales). At least the commission and staff acknowledged and stipulated that electric generation from industrial wind is substantially higher in cost than current methods of production.

REC credits have been sold from the Steelwinds - First Wind/UPC Wind - project that create enormous tax offsets that are the real underlying benefit from industrial wind turbines. How is it possible to generate electricity, when the turbines were not working because of the problems with the Clipper turbines gearbox and blade? Could this be the miracle cure for the eternal search of a perpetual motion machine? Or is it just a latest gravy train for the new robber barons!

Where is the PSC regulatory oversight for fraud? Better yet, who will investigate the PSC staff for their 180-degree reversal of a sensible deregulation public policy?

Not a whiff of corruption, to paraphrase the New York Times article on illegal practices in the wind industry, deserves a sequel – Iberdrola pays no taxes – NY wind turns into Spanish wine.

The PSC staff has a duty to provide a comprehensive public explanation for reversing their own policy. Even law judge Rafael A. Epstein backed off his balanced assessment and recommendations from his Iberdrola – Energy East evidentiary hearings. What is the reason for the total turnaround? What are the compelling public benefits in allowing Iberdrola to own, buy or develop unlimited industrial wind projects, when New York State is facing the most severe budget deficit since the great depression?

Energy East ratepayers and every NYS taxpayer will be looking at huge increases for the privilege of shipping offshore the profits from this utility. When did the purpose of the PSC morph into a facilitator for corporate transnational globalism?

It is crucial that the Public Service Commissars feel the heat. Contact each commissioner individually.

New York State Public Service Commission
Agency Building 3
Albany, NY 12223-1350
Phone: (518) 474-6530
Fax: (518) 486-6081

Case # 07-M-0906 IBERDROLA
Executive Office - Garry A. Brown, Chairman
Judith Lee, Acting Executive Deputy Phone: 518-473-4544
Hon. Jaclyn A. Brilling - Ethics/Secretary to the Commission secretary@dps.state.ny.us
Jodi Fansler has asked that comments be sent to her at: jodi_fansler@dps.state.ny.us
She has assured us that every e-mail will reach Chairman Brown.
Public Service Staff includes:
Andrew Davis, andrew_davis@dps.state.ny.us
Leonard VanRyn, leonard_vanryn@dps.state.ny.us
Steven Blow, steven_blow@dps.state.ny.us

On Wednesday August 27, 2008, the PSC is likely to vote on approval. Act now and demand that Iberdrola be prohibited from owning and operating industrial wind projects in NYS, and include the divestiture of current facilities. Be prepared to see your electric and tax bill take another steep hit, if you allow the PSC to grant preferential treatment for Iberdrola.

James Hall for the Citizen Power Alliance

PSC commissioner skeptical of plan to buy RG&E's parent by Jay Gallagher

ALBANY — A state utility regulator on Wednesday questioned whether a $2 billion investment in wind power by Iberdrola SA, the company that wants to buy Energy East Corp., is a good idea.

"I view the wind proposal in almost a neutral fashion," said Cheryl Buley, one of five members of the state Public Service Commission, which began considering whether to allow Spanish utility Iberdrola to buy the parent of Rochester Gas and Electric Corp. and New York State Electric and Gas Corp.

Buley said that despite an apparent fascination by elected officials with Iberdrola's promised investment, wind power has drawbacks. She said it is expensive, since it requires a subsidy, is often not available when most needed and could be hard to transmit to areas that need it.

Virtually every major political figure in the state has recommended that the PSC approve the $4.5 billion takeover, often citing the major investment by Iberdrola, the world's leading wind energy company.

Business groups also have generally supported the deal, with the Rochester Business Alliance and Greater Rochester Enterprise among the advocates.

But Buley urged caution. "We should not be doing things driven by popular, very superficial thinking," she said.

The commissioners are expected to vote next Wednesday whether to allow the deal, which was proposed by Iberdrola and Energy East in June 2007.

A PSC administrative law judge recommended against the deal earlier this summer, even though it has cleared regulatory agencies in three other states and at the federal level.

The judge, Rafael Epstein, wrote that the transaction "does not satisfy the public interest requirement of Public Service Law." He and other critics say having the company control some generation as well as transmission could lead to higher consumer prices.

The final decision is up to the five commissioners.

PSC Chairman Garry Brown said Wednesday he and the other commissioners have to ponder the pros and cons of the proposed deal as they try to make up their minds.

"In the end, the benefits have to outweigh the risks" for the commission to approve the sale, he said.

RG&E and NYSEG between them serve 16 percent of the state's electric customers and 12 percent of natural gas users across a swath of upstate and the Hudson Valley that covers 40 percent of the state's area, Brown said.

Combined, they have about 1.2 million electric and 562,000 natural gas customers.

New York ranks ninth in wind power in the country and first in the Northeast, said James Austin, a commission aide. He said the amount has grown from 12 megawatts in 2000 to 707 now, with the total expected to reach 1,267 by the end of the year.

That's still a small portion of the more than 39,000 megawatts of available power in the state. A megawatt is enough energy to power about 1,000 homes.

A $2 billion investment in wind would probably produce another 1,000 megawatts of wind capacity, according to the commission staff.

Austin said the state has several regions windy enough to make windmills efficient, including downwind from Lake Ontario and parts of western New York.

PSC Considers Iberdrola Sale Terms by Tim Knauss

Senior advisers to the state Public Service Commission laid out several options Wednesday under which the commission could approve Spanish energy company Iberdrola's $4.6 billion acquisition of Energy East, the parent of two Upstate utilities. But it won't be known until next week whether the five commissioners will approve the deal and, if so, on what conditions.

For four hours, senior staff members laid out the risks and benefits of the deal as it affects customers of New York State Electric & Gas and Rochester Gas & Electric, the two New York utilities owned by Energy East.

Several of their recommendations seemed to open the door to a decision that might be acceptable to Iberdrola, which until now has fought tooth and nail with the PSC staff.

In previous papers, the PSC staff had strongly recommended forcing Iberdrola to sell its interest in New York state wind power developments if it acquired the utilities, to avoid a potential conflict of interest. Generally, the PSC prefers utilities that own transmission lines not to own power plants, so they won't be tempted to manage the lines in a way that boosts prices for their generators.

But chief economist Mark Reeder told the commission Wednesday Iberdrola's ownership of wind farms would present a much "milder" potential for problems than existed in previous cases, such as National Grid's acquisition of KeySpan last year. The PSC required Grid to sell KeySpan's giant power plant, Ravenswood, because the plant is located in a congested, high-priced area that could be severely impacted by Grid's Upstate transmission lines.

Reeder and Raj Addepalli, deputy director of the office of electricity, gas and water, laid out several options the commission could pursue to minimize the risks of allowing Iberdrola to own both wind generators and utility companies.

Similarly, senior adviser Doris Stout recommended that the PSC make Iberdrola provide rate cuts and other benefits worth $250 million to $300 million to NYSEG and RG&E customers, plus share its earnings with ratepayers if they exceed a certain threshold. In previous statements, PSC staff members had sought $646 million from Iberdrola, which never agreed to give more than $202 million.

If the PSC accepts $202 million, it should lower the threshold above which Iberdrola must share its earnings with ratepayers, Stout said.

Iberdrola officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

The PSC will reconvene Aug. 27 to rule on the deal.

Shift in wind power barrier by LARRY RULISON

ALBANY -- Spanish utility Iberdrola SA would be allowed to own and build wind farms anywhere in New York as part of its $4.5 billion acquisition of Energy East Corp. under a proposal unveiled Wednesday before the state Public Service Commission.

Concerns over Iberdrola's ability to manipulate the state's wholesale electric market by owning both transmission and distribution lines and wind generation were "milder" than previous cases that have come before the agency, senior advisory staff told the five PSC commissioners.

It's unclear whether the commissioners will support the proposal. The panel plans to discuss the merger at a special session on Wednesday could vote on the deal the same day.

Maine-based Energy East has 1.7 million customers in upstate New York served by its New York State Electric & Gas and Rochester Gas & Electric subsidiaries.

The PSC regulates electric utilities in the state and has used its power for the past 10 years to oversee a policy that prohibits utilities from owning generation plants. The policy is designed to ensure that utilities do not use two types of assets to drive up electricity prices in what is known as vertical market power.

Exceptions can be made to the policy, and senior staff suggested Wednesday a number of conditions that the PSC adopt as part of the merger so Iberdrola cannot manipulate pricing.

Senior advisory staff also unveiled three proposals for the commissioners to consider regarding so-called positive benefit adjustments that Iberdrola would be required to give to consumers as part of the deal.

The benefit proposals ranged from $202 million to $300 million, with Iberdrola having to share some of its earnings in New York state with consumers.

The amount is much less than what was sought originally by PSC staff, who were asking Iberdrola for $646 million in benefit adjustments. Iberdrola at first offered nothing, but later offered $202 million.

The wind farms issue has played a central role in the public debate over the merger because Iberdrola is the world's largest wind developer and New York has aggressive goals to increase renewable energy generation.

But PSC Chairman Garry Brown said wind is not the only focus of the PSC.

"It's clear the issues are more complex and varied than that," he said.

Some of the commissioners also seemed to dispute whether Iberdrola's claims that it would greatly help the state with up to $2 billion in wind farm investments over the next five years would provide consumers with major benefits.

Commissioner Cheryl Buley noted wind farm developers like Iberdrola get huge state and federal subsidies to build wind farms.

"I view the wind projects in almost a neutral position," she said. "It really is not as captivating as it might appear. It's the ratepayers who are subsidizing it."

Mayor Bloomberg Full of Wind

It’s no surprise a politician would be for wind power. Of course, you could get all the benefits of wind, without the negatives of high cost, scenic pollution (just ask the Kennedys about windmills off Hyannis Port), unreliability and need for constantly spinning back-up power generators, and bird deaths, if you just installed nuclear power stations.

The cost would be much lower, and instead of providing only ten percent of New York’s power needs in ten years, you could supply 100%.

"When it takes to producing clean power, we're determined to make New York the No. 1 city in the nation," said Bloomberg.

Why not make it the No. I city in the world and go all nuclear? Right now Paris, France would probably be No. 1, because France generates 80% of their power needs from nuclear, which is much more environmentally friendly than wind and solar.

Skeptical? How about this example.

To generate the equivalent peak power of a small nuclear plant, solar panels require 12.5 square miles of pristine desert land. Even then, because the sun shines at varying degrees of intensity during the day, and not at all during the night, total output is only one-third of that small nuclear plant.

Or how about this example? On a 100+ F day when electricity demand was at its afternoon peak, Texas' 6000 MW of installed wind generation was supplying only 600 megawatts (MW) of power to the grid, whereas a generic nuclear power plant would produce almost double the MW using less than one percent of the land required for wind power, and would produce it much more cheaply and closer to its users, instead of a thousand miles distant.

The higher the percentage of power provided by solar and wind, the more critical the need for back-up power generation to make the grid 100% reliable. Both Mayor Bloomberg and T. Boone Pickens ignore or gloss over this inconvenient truth.

If you’re concerned about greenhouse gasses (I’m not), nuclear produces far less than wind or solar, because far less earth is disturbed during its construction, and less energy is used in its fabrication compared to wind and solar equipment.

In fact, although Mayor Bloomberg’s advocacy of these impractical schemes can be credited to typical political pandering, the position of environmentalists is a model of unprincipled hypocrisy. At the same time they are frantic to prevent drilling in 2000 acres of mosquito-infested tundra in ANWR, they are rapturous over the prospects of solar projects covering hundreds of square miles of scenic desert, requiring enormously expensive and visually polluting transmission lines.

At the same time they vehemently oppose off-shore drilling for oil, they want far larger and more numerous wind turbines all over New York City bridges and skyscrapers, in the Hudson and East Rivers, and off the coast of Queens, Brooklyn, and Long Island.

There is no rational explanation for such schizophrenia. The environmentalists’ overriding principle is to save the environment, but they can’t bring themselves to even mention the most obvious means available, nuclear power. In their mad rush to protect so-called pristine wilderness, i.e. ANWR, they have no compunctions about polluting far more scenic and fragile habitat with huge arrays of solar panels and turbines, and enormously expensive and intrusive transmission lines.

In order to pursue their anti-corporate, anti-Republican, and of course anti-Bush agendas, they are willing to sacrifice those things that just a few years ago they considered sacred: the untrod desert, vistas without visible power lines, and bridges and buildings celebrated for their pure architectural beauty.

San Franciscans recently voiced their opposition to building a higher suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge because it would detract from its beauty. I wonder how they would vote on a suggestion to put turbines atop its towers and to cover its surfaces with solar panels?

I wish Mayor Gavin Newsom would follow Mayor Bloomberg’s lead and suggest it.

Mayor Newsom can commit adultery, blame his failings on alcoholism, use sanctuary-city polices to hide illegal alien felons from federal law, and still be considered a viable Democrat candidate for governor. However, if he messes with the Golden Gate Bridge, he’s toast.

PSC told it’s OK for Iberdrola to own wind farms

The five commissioners of the Public Service Commission were told by their senior advisory staff today that they should allow Spanish utility Iberdrola SA to build and own wind farms anywhere in the state as part of its $4.5 billion acquisition of Energy East Corp.

The commissioners are likely to vote on the merger a week from today during a special session.

Senior staff also recommended that the PSC require Iberdrola to set aside between $202 million and $300 million of what is known as public benefit adjustments that would benefit ratepayers.

Although Iberdrola would be allowed to own and develop wind farms in the state, senior staff suggested a set of conditions to mitigate manipulation of the state’s wholesale electric markets.

State regulator warns NY not to be seduced by wind power

ALBANY -- A state utility regulator on Wednesday questioned whether a $2 billion investment in wind power in New York by a company that wants to buy two upstate utilities is a good idea.

"I view the wind proposal in almost a neutral fashion," said Cheryl Buley, a member of the state Public Service Commission.

The commission is considering whether to allow Iberdrola, a Spanish-based firm, to buy Energy East Corp., which owns Rochester Gas and Electric Corp. and New York State Electric and Gas Corp.

She said that despite an apparent fascination with the concept by elected officials and the public, wind power has its drawbacks. She said it is expensive, since it requires a subsidy, is often not available when most needed and could be hard to transmit to areas that need it.

Virtually every major political figure in the state has recommended the commission approve the takeover, often citing the likely major investment in wind power if it goes through.

"We should not be doing things driven by popular, very superficial thinking," Buley said.

Buley and her four commission colleagues are expected to vote next Wednesday whether to allow the $4.5 billion sale, which has been pending for more than a year. This Wednesday was the first time the commissioners have discussed the plan in public.

An administrative law judge recommended last June that the proposal be rejected, citing potential problems.

The judge, Rafael Epstein, wrote that the transaction "does not satisfy the 'public-interest' requirement of Public Service Law." He and other critics say having the company control some generation as well as transmission facilities could lead to higher prices for consumers.

But the final decision is up to the five commissioners.

Commission chairman Garry Brown said Wednesday he and the other commissioners have to ponder the potential risks and benefits of the proposed sale as they try to make up their minds.

"In the end, the benefits have to outweigh the risks" for the commission to approve the sale, he said.

The commission is the last hurdle for the deal, which has already been approved by regulators in Washington and three other states.

RG&E and NYSEG between them serve 16 percent of the state's electric customers and 12 percent of natural-gas users, Brown said, across a swath of upstate and the Hudson Valley that covers 40 percent of the state's area. Combined, they have about 1.2 million electric and 562,000 natural-gas customers.

New York ranks ninth in wind power in the country, and first in the Northeast, said James Austin, a commission aide. He said the amount has grown from 12 megawatts in 2000 to 707 now, with the total expected to reach 1,267 by the end of the year.

That's still a small portion of the more than 39,000 megawatts of available power in the state. A megawatt is enough energy to power about 1,000 homes.

A $2 billion investment in wind would probably produce another 1,000 megawatts of wind capacity, according to the commission staff.

Austin said the state has several regions windy enough to make windmills efficient, including off the cost of Long Island, the North County, downwind from Lake Ontario and parts of Western New York.

NYSEG Could Have New Owner

You could soon see changes on your utility bills, as a Spanish company seeks final approval to buy New York State Electric and Gas.

The New York Public Service Commission meets at 10-30 Wednesday morning to talk about the acquisition.

They'll consider a petition to approve the sale of Energy East Corporations, which includes NYSEG, to Spanish power company Iberdrola S-A.

(Click to view the New York Public Service Commission Meeting on Iberdrola)

Bloomberg Offers Windmill Power Plan

In a plan that would drastically remake New York City’s skyline and shores, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is seeking to put wind turbines on the city’s bridges and skyscrapers and in its waters as part of a wide-ranging push to develop renewable energy.

The plan, while still in its early stages, appears to be the boldest environmental proposal to date from the mayor, who has made energy efficiency a cornerstone of his administration.

Mr. Bloomberg said he would ask private companies and investors to study how windmills can be built across the city, with the aim of weaning it off the nation’s overtaxed power grid, which has produced several crippling blackouts in New York over the last decade.

Mr. Bloomberg did not specify which skyscrapers and bridges would be candidates for windmills, and city officials would need to work with property owners to identify the buildings that would best be able to hold the equipment.

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