| PSC Gone to the Dogs (Kentucky Utilities) |
article submitted by reader MrsC
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The KY Public Service Commission has given Kentucky Utilities permission to construct two sections of temporary transmission lines in order to skirt legal issues that are in litigation. Actually it is three sections of temporary transmission lines; however one does not involve the certification process by the PSC due to its shorter length. These three temporary lines are going to cost the ratepayers over 10 million dollars.
KU’s attorney Sheryl Snyder has confirmed that once the litigation is over and if KU prevails the temporary line will be torn down and a new permanent line will be erected in its place on different property at a cost to the ratepayers of another 10 million plus dollars. This 20 million dollars does not account for the leasing of 13-14 temporary property owners land for a ten year period at a minimum of twenty-five thousand dollars per acre per year to a maximum of fifty-five thousand dollars.
One land owner has received $270,000 for less than 4.9 acres of land for the year 2009 and another $270,000 for the year 2010. I know KU has no desire to save the ratepayers this expense, but you would think that the Public Service Commission would; however they don’t. It is my opinion that KU and the Public Service Commission have become one entity in itself as KU’s attorneys represent them in all of the above mentioned litigation. Spending over twenty million dollars of the ratepayers’ money needlessly and turning around and asking for rate hikes during an economic crisis is insulting to every rate payer in this state.
Our solution to this dilemma is to make the temporary route permanent thus ending the litigation pending in four different courts. This has been suggested to the PSC and KU, but laughed at by them. Of course the longer the litigation goes on for Sheryl Snyder the richer he gets so he is not in favor of the litigation ending anytime soon is he? KU has no qualms paying Snyder; after all, they have built in mechanisms to recoup their expenses from the Ratepayers. This is a very complicated mess the Public Service Commission has caused. Chairman Armstrong in the past was LG&E’s/KU's attorney and I can’t and won’t lay all the blame on him because this mess started in the Fletcher administration; but enough is enough. This has been going on for over 5 years now.
There is another option that the PSC refuses to look at and that option would save the rate payers and preserve a historical property and the cost of that route is only 3.2 million dollars. Go figure…. Because the PSC sure can’t! That really should be the route made permanent.
Am I crazy or is this crazy to you as well?
This travesty needs to be investigated before the PSC approves the rate hike that KU/LG&E is requesting! There is no question in my mind that this rate hike will be approved by the PSC since they will not allow any members of the public to intervene unless forced to by the courts.
I guess I failed to say that the Transmission Line is only needed if TC-2 comes on line. (TC-2 is a dirty coal fired expansion in Trimble County approved by the PSC.) KU’s electric sales have flat lined in this recession so TC-2 is a white elephant in the ratepayers living rooms, but both are still being furiously built and the Ratepayers will be footing the bill by the 13% rate increase that the PSC will surely approve! KU's 2008 IRP showed their sales have decreased 1.9%. Recent company announcements stated that their industrial sales were down 15%.
So why does a Foreign Power Broker (E.on) need TC-2, the transmission line or a huge rate increase one would ask? Simply put "GREED." |
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