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Here is your reminder to come to the PSC hearing Thursday evening.
The WV Public Service Commission will be holding a public hearing on the December 2009 blackout that struck southern and central West Virginia. The PSC is in the middle of studying the causes of the blackout.
The hearing will be held on Thursday, March 11 at 6:00 p.m. at he Harrison County Recreation Complex/4-H Center located on 23 Recreation Drive in Clarksburg. If you are an intervenor in the PATH case at the PSC, you will be allowed to testify at this hearing, because it is a different case.
A Morgantown friend has been looking at the WV Consumer Advocate's responses to Allegheny Energy's recent rate increase request at the PSC. It turns out that Allegheny's WV division has vastly underspent on vegetation control in the last three years. You might want to include some of this evidence in your testimony Thursday night.
Here is a direct quote from the CAD's response to Allegheny's most recent rate increase request available at http://www.psc.state.wv.us/scr...
The vegetation control expense for calendar years 2006, 2007 and 2008 have been $18.0 million, $15.0 million and $20.1 million, respectively. The annual vegetation control expense has been less than the $23.9 million that the Companies are seeking, and, except for 2008, the annual expense has been even less than the 2005 test year amounts. This hardly suggests an "increased pace" as anticipated by the Commission.
In an earlier rate case, the PSC had stated:
the Commission encourages an increased pace of right-of-way maintenance and, therefore, will carve out this proposed adjustment for special treatment in this case and in future cases. The Companies should clearly understand that the $4.3 million allowance is for additional regular maintenance necessitated by moving to a more aggressive four-year maintenance cycle, as compared to the approximately $19.6 million spent per year for normal right-of way vegetation control.
In other words, since the last rate increase Allegheny got, Allegheny has seriously under-spent on vegetation control. They collected the higher rates, but they didn't spend the money they saved on clearing rights-of-way. And my power was out for six days last December as a result.
Here is what the Consumer Advocate Division concluded about Allegheny's right-of-way maintenance:
Without prejudging the outcome of the Commission's General Investigation into the recent storm-related outages, it certainly is reasonable to suspect that the Companies' failure to accelerate their vegetation control program as envisioned by the Commission's Order in Case No. 06-0960-E-42T may have had a significant impact on the extent, severity, and duration of the outages experienced by the Companies' customers as a result of the December snow storm.
Gosh, do ya think?
Remember what Allegheny's CEO Evanson told investors in his last conference call:
And we'll be vigilant in our efforts to control costs and spending. Our plan is to keep [inaudible] O&M [Operations & Maintenance] flat marking the fifth consecutive year of no increase in costs, an accomplishment I think few can match.
During that same time period when Mr. Evanson managed this "accomplishment few can match," WV rate payers were paying for right-of-way maintenance they weren't getting. Also during that same time period, Mr. Evanson was the eighth highest paid CEO in the US. Now we know where our money went.
Also in their most recent rate increase request, Allegheny wants the WV PSC to stop monitoring the effectiveness of their right-of-way maintenance because that is an "administrative burden."
Here is what the CAD said about that:
Q. SHOULD THE COMMISSION ABOLISH THE MONITORING OF VEGETATION CONTROL EXPENSES AS REQUESTED BY THE COMPANIES?
A. No. Such a removal of oversight would be unwise in light of the Companies' failure to meet the spending targets they themselves proposed in the last rate case and which were approved by the Commission. Those amounts were included in the Companies' cost of service and reflected in rates charged to customers. Given the likelihood that the failure to spend the specified amounts on right-of-way maintenance exacerbated the impact of the December 2009 snow storm, it would seem inappropriate to reward the Company with continued higher levels of expense for this issue without ensuring that the amounts included in cost of service are indeed expended for their intended purpose. [emphasis added]
I tend to agree.
I have a question of my own for our PSC Commissioners -- Shouldn't you be more concerned about fixing the reliability of West Virginia's own distribution power grid, before you go approving monster transmission lines to New Jersey using our electric rate money?
Campaign finance activist Doris "Granny D" Haddock, who walked across the country pushing for reform at age 90, died last night surrounded by family in her Dublin home. She was 100.
[..]
"She always said she'd live to be 100, and she did," Jim Haddock, her son, said.
Born in Laconia in 1910, Haddock was drawn to politics in 1960, when she opposed a plan to test hydrogen bombs in Alaska. After retiring as an assistant at a shoe company, she again became involved in politics in the 1990s.
Ten years ago, she walked across the country in support of removing "soft" money from electoral politics, later writing a book about the experience. In 2004 she was the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, challenging incumbent Republican Judd Gregg and garnering 34 percent of the vote. After the election, she continued her efforts by speaking at political rallies and continuing her daily walks.
Photo courtesy of OVEC
Mrs. Haddock was also a great friend of West Virginia, and walked through our state on her march to Washington. Over the last decade, she continued to work with local activists, such as Ken Hechler, Winnie Fox and the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition.
- Her thoughts on coal and mountaintop removal, from a 2003 speech, can be found here.
She remained active beyond her 100th birthday and, last month, urged citizens to organize and fight against the Supreme Court's now infamous ruling allowing unlimited spending by corporations in political races:
The Supreme Court, representing a radical fringe that does not share the despair of the grand majority of Americans, has today made things considerably worse by undoing the modest reforms I walked for and went to jail for, and that tens of thousands of other Americans fought very hard to see enacted. So now, thanks to this Court, corporations can fund their candidates without limits and they can run mudslinging campaigns against everyone else, right up to and including election day.
[..]
And to the Supreme Court, you force us to defend our democracy--a democracy of people and not corporations--by going in breathtaking new directions. And so we shall.
SB614 passed the House Judiciary Committee on a voice vote this afternoon. The bill could get its first reading at this evening's House session. The bill could make it to a floor vote as early as tomorrow evening, if the House has two floor sessions again tomorrow.
The bill provides that land owners to be affected by high voltage power lines get individual notice at the beginning of PSC cases, as is done in PA and VA. The bill also provides that the PSC must consider the impacts of high voltage power lines on West Virginians, in addition to regional power companies and customers.
For the sake of consistency, will the yes votes for the intrusive and medically unnecessary ultrasound bill also require men to get ultrasounds before they have a vasectomy? Afterall, they've of the mind set that the government should intrude in the medical decisions of doctors. I thought conservatives opposed governnment intrusion. Yeah, I know, in reality they are for every form of intrusion into the privacy of someone's home, particularly the bedroom. But the Every Sperm Is Sacred believers should treat men equally. They won't of course because they don't think women are equal and capable of making decisions for themselves. That's why they want to throw up so many hurdles as a way to punish them for having the audacity for wanting to control their own bodies. Too bad so many women on that committee go along with that mindset.
UPDATE:
Great news! As the Legislative Action Alert requested, the second reference to Finance was dispensed with. HB4373 will be on 1st reading today (Thursday). It is expected to pass without much objection. Thanks to all who made calls and thanks to Sen. Helmick for waiving the reference to his committee.
CALL ALERT: Please call Sen. Walt Helmick and ask him to pass HB 4373.
Don't make WV children wait to get heath insurance.
HB 4373 would eliminate the 12-month prior insurance "look back" period, the period for which children in families over 200% of the Federal Poverty Level have to be uninsured before qualifying for CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program). Eliminating the "look back" period enables children to have quicker access to health insurance.
HB 4373 has passed the House of Delegates, but is double referenced in the State Senate. Action is particularly needed to ensure its passage in the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Senator Walt Helmick.
Please contact Senator Helmick and ask him to waive the second reference of HB 4373 to the Senate Finance Committee. The Fiscal impact of HB 4373 is very modest, only $36,000, and CHIP can absorb this modest cost with their current appropriation. There is no increase appropriation needed.
Senator Walt Helmick responds better to phone calls than email. Please politely call Senator Helmick at 304-357-7980 and ask him to waive the second reference for HB 4373, so that WV children don't have to wait to get insurance coverage due to an arbitrary waiting period.
UPDATE: HB 4373 has now been passed by the Senate Banking & Insurance Committee. It's up to Sen. Helmick whether the bill will be able to pass.Thanks Sen. Helmick for waiving the second reference.
Someone emailed me this link to an excellent State Journal story about the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind in Romney.
Mary Ennis Kesler, 30, said she sometimes tries to explain to her students just how much cell phone text-messaging, the Internet and other technology have changed life for people with hearing impairments.
"We have access to the whole world now," said Kesler, a Lewis County native who enrolled at the Romney school in 1984 when she was 4. "Technology has made it so that not being able to hear doesn't keep a person from doing anything they want to do. There are all these ways to communicate, all these ways to learn. We're not isolated like before."
Situated on the same campus, the state's School for the Blind also is experiencing a revolution in technology with a plethora of devices such as Braille PDAs and laptops equipped with the latest in voice-recognition software.
Despite the tech revolution, the Romney school in many ways approaches its mission in the same way it did in its earliest days, said Patsy Shank, the school's superintendent.
"It's about our students and what they need as individuals," said Shank, a Keyser native who began teaching here in 1981 and became superintendent in mid-2007.
Following last week's launch of anti-Democratic attacks by the prostitute-loving Dick Morris (who admitted his commercials were full of factual errors), a new group of rightwingers is airing "issue ads" against Rahall and Mollohan.
This week, the West Virginia Republicans can count on help from the American Future Fund.
A quick look into the past of the future fund shows it's made up of the expected Lee Atwater disciples:
- Former spokesman for the House GOP in Iowa, Tim Albrecht, who also worked on Mitt Romney's failed presidential campaign.
- Ben Ginsburg, legal counsel for the group. You'll remember Ginsburg as chief outside counsel for the Bush Cheney campaign in 2004. He, of course, had to resign his position when it was revealed he was advising the Swift Boat smear effort and contradicting the Bush campaign's claim that they had nothing to do with "outside" attacks on Sen. John Kerry.
- and Larry McCarthy, media strategist for the group - best known for producing the racist-as-hell Willie Horton ad for Bush Sr.'s campaign against Gov. Michael Dukakis in 1988.
SB 614 would require more notice for land-owners in the corridor of planned high voltage transmission lines.
It would also require the Public Service Commission (PSC) to find that proposed transmission lines are in the best interest of West Virginia customers.
Call / e-mail Delegate to SUPPORT SB 614.
Find your Delegates now!
Delegate Miley - Chair
Delegate Hunt - Vice-Chair
Delegate Ellem - Minority Chair
Delegate Lane - Minority Vice-Chair
Delegate Barker
Delegate Brown
Delegate Caputo
Delegate Ferro
Delegate Fleischauer
Delegate Frazier
Delegate Hutchins
Delegate Longstreth
Delegate Michael
Delegate Moore
Delegate Ross
Delegate Shook
Delegate Skaff
Delegate Susman
Delegate Wells
Delegate Wooton
Delegate Hamilton
Delegate Overington
Delegate Schadler
Delegate Schoen
Delegate Sobonya
Check below the fold for other information from work in the Senate . . .
Good afternoon, West Virginia Blue readers. This is your late afternoon open thread to discuss all things Hill-related. Use this thread to praise or bash Congresscritters, share a juicy tip, ask questions, offer critiques and suggestions, or post manifestos.
Help me out. Enjoy the Ogden silliness and flip-flop again. Add some news...
The West Virginia Democratic Party has a strong slate of candidates running for office, in some cases against each other. In most of the primary races I intend to remain neutral, but people can take their own stances.
Two notable exceptions I'll state upfront. I strongly support the re-election of Nick Rahall and Alan Mollohan to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Sometimes the obvious needs to be stated: with the ads he is running, coal baron Don Blankenship wants to split Democrats. He knows he has no chance of winning those two House races. (He's willing to throw his vacation buddy Spike Maynard out as the Republican sacrificial lamb to lose to Rahall. Some friend you got there Spike. You two deserve each other.)
Blankenship's real agenda is at least twofold: 1.) to push the Overton window his direction no matter who is running and 2.) weaken Mollohan and Rahall for any future senatorial races by attacking them now and making them spend campaign resources now.
I'm not playing Blankenship's game. We've got two fine representatives for West Virginia in Mollohan and Rahall - I've long wished Rahall in particular was my representative instead of Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito - and those two gentleman have my support.
As always, I speak for myself. The rest of the fine community members of this group blog are free to disagree or agree.
I listened to a Congressman from Alabama give the Republican's weekly statement (after the President's weekly statement) on NBC this morning and was told that despite what Pelosi and Reid want, despite the threat of using reconciliation to push the Health Care bill through, the American People don't want the Health Care bill as it has been debated and argued over the past year. He said the American People want Congress and The President to "start over on a new page."
Here in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, about as American a location as you can find, I sit watching this knowing that I WANT a Health Care bill to be passed NOW. I know that if the government starts on a NEW PAGE it will be in the face of a rate-raising, highly profitable private insurance system and a 10-to-1 ratio of lobbyists who are NOT starting on a new page, who will work day and night to weaken any progress.
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