Fed Plan to Consolidate Power Over Nation's Power Highway Has States Nervous

FOXNEWS ^ | October 01, 2011 | Judson Berger

[Son House]

The need for more transmission lines is apparent -- in the vast states where wind and other forms of renewable energy are produced, the energy is often hundreds of miles from where it would be consumed.

The states, which along with local governments have long had authority over whether and where power lines get built, derided the plan as a move that would make it harder for local residents to weigh in.

The proposed change has drawn the skepticism of at least one senator. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., who helped write a 2005 law that initially expanded federal power over power lines, complained about the plan in a letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

The chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee said it appears the commission is trying to "rewrite" the language in the law. He said that's a decision for Congress, not the commission, to make.

The move, he wrote, "would pave the way for the commission to use the newly consolidated powers in ways never intended by Congress."

On paper, the federal government has had expanded authority over transmission lines since 2005, when the Energy Policy Act set up a process that split federal oversight between two agencies -- the Department of Energy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Under the law, the Department of Energy was tasked with studying where transmission lines were needed most. Then the FERC was given the power to grant construction permits in those areas under certain circumstances, including if a state withheld approval for more than a year.

[af_vet_rr]

As long as you are determined to generate power far, far away from where it's needed.

Nobody would ever get incredibly rich at the expense of the taxpayers and customers for being selected to provide additional transmission lines and capacity would they....especially if those selections are behind closed door. And companies would never let it be known that they'd hire administration officials and give them cushy jobs if they helped them out...That never happens with government agencies and the energy industry, nope, nosirree, nothing to see...

[af_vet_rr]

If they are going to spend billions on “green energy” why not just install solar panels on homes and buildings instead of erecting transmission lines??

Somebody is going to make money off of this. A lot of money. While it's fun to play the conspiracy theory game, the fact is this whole thing sounds like it's being setup to make some company a helluva lot of money at the expense of taxpayers by removing choices from the states. The fact that it concerns an industry and government agencies that have a history of scratching each others backs, and government agencies that have some ex-employees ending up with cushy jobs within that industry just screams out to me that somebody is setting something up to make a lot of money.

[Avoiding_Sulla]

Really, given the short time it’s taken for them to start to close the pen gates, do you really think there was time to implement that plan?

Your book is only 2 years old. The lulling to sleep of large masses has a corollary effect in that those who were wary (your immediate audience) have been left unsure of themselves precisely because so few are listening. “Maybe it’s just me” has been the most common response. Akin to being awakened by a noise, listening intently, then rolling over and going back to sleep.

There’s no doubt about it. You’ve tried diligently, more than most, to employ your prodigious intelligence constructively and pass along you experiences hoping to counter the propaganda mills. But, with their constant pumping of somma and lies in equal measure, and them having so many outlets, how could one man do it alone?

And then there is that impatience which grabs you from time to time that repels potential listeners. It cannot be that all those who fought you here are plants: the ignorant are often sensitive to that fact. It takes a diplomatic soul to get past that reflexive defense in order to reach our better angels. Is that one of the things you’ve prayed to become better at?