What’s REALLY going on with Xcel Energy and the LS Power Project?

Guest Commentary by David Milles

Several "comments" on the Post Review’s article reporting about the July 22 Lent Township information meeting for the proposed LS Power plant have clearly labeled me as an opponent to this project. These comments were placed by Lent Town Supervisor Mike Olson and an anonymous party called "Really". The problem with these two observations is that I have never declared a position either supporting or opposing this project. As with other citizens of our community, I have MANY unanswered questions and I made an honest attempt at the July 22 meeting to raise those questions and offer constructive comments.

Mr. Olson made it clear in his posted "comment" that he and other officials know more about this project than anyone on the "outside". That leads me to ask why he and the other Lent Supervisors sat like the 3 deaf, dumb and blind monkeys at the July 22 public information meeting which they convened? The only public official that had the courage to address the group about the project was State Senator Olseen. Our local County Commissioner also showed up, but remained silent at the back of the room.

I would like to take this opportunity to share what I know about the evolution of this "project" and why I am seriously skeptical about the actions and motives of Xcel Energy and our elected officials. The involvement and enlightenment of the general public have clearly been side-stepped by both of these entities.

While I was serving on the Lent Town Board in the fall of 2007, the Township was approached by Mr. Rick Robinson from Indeck Energy, Inc. out of Rockford, Illinois (you can see their website at http://www.indeckenergy.com/index.php). Indeck was preparing a project proposal in response to a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a 160 Megawatt, natural gas powered, "peaker" plant issued on September 11, 2007 by Xcel Energy (doing business as NSP). Mr. Robinson told us that Xcel had a need for up to 40 such plants scattered around Minnesota to keep up with "peak" energy demands during summer cooling and winter heating seasons. He also told us that the Kost substation and 2 interstate natural gas pipelines located in the northeast corner of the Township were the "sweetest" spot in the State for such a facility. In fact, Mr. Robinson told me that even if Indeck didn’t win the bid, SOMEONE would definitely build the peaker plant at that location.

Indeck Energy was extremely forthcoming with the Township and prepared a detailed presentation that they offered to a joint meeting of the Town Board and Planning Commission on November 14, 2007. Mr. Robinson told us that it was Indeck’s operating philosophy to work from the "bottom-up" when dealing with local government and intended to deal with Lent Township BEFORE approaching any higher units of Government. I still have the PowerPoint presentation from that meeting and would be happy to provide copies to any interested party. Mr. Robinson told the Town Board that he expected to find out if they won the bid on NSP’s request by early 2008. He also told us that Indeck Energy had approached several landowners in the vicinity of the Kost substation to acquire options on a possible construction site. That was the last we heard from Indeck Energy.

Early in 2008, I started hearing from concerned Township residents that Xcel was literally "scalping" all of the vegetation off of a portion of the Kost substation property adjoining County Road 14. They told me that Xcel personnel informed them that the land clearing was to allow additional "cropping" of the land. However, this was the exact location that Indeck Energy had identified in their proposal for building a peaker plant on existing Xcel property.

In early February 2008, I called Mr. Robinson to find out what happened with their bid and ask if they knew why Xcel was already clearing the land. He said that Indeck had heard nothing from Xcel since submitting their proposal and had no idea why the substation land was being cleared. He also told me it was common practice for some power companies to put out Requests for Proposals and then decide to proceed with a project "on their own" (i.e. get free engineering and planning out of their RFP and then do the project themselves).

My next action was to contact Xcel Energy directly. After being bounced around by their switchboard operator for over a half-hour, I was eventually connected with one of their Company "environmental lobbyists". I fully identified myself and explained what I knew about their RFP, Indeck Energy and the proposed Lent Township site, and asked for additional information and the name and phone number of a knowledgeable Xcel contact person. The lobbyist got very nervous and said he had never heard about any of this, but would get me a "contact". After keeping me on HOLD for another half-hour, he told me he couldn’t release any information but would have someone that was handling the matter "get back to me".

I heard NOTHING from Xcel for over 2-weeks. Then, one afternoon, I got a phone call from the Xcel district maintenance manager out of Forest Lake. He said he had received an e-mail chain that started with an Xcel Vice President and ended up on his PC. The "chain" directed him to call me and see if he could answer my questions. After I explained what my questions were and why I had called Xcel, he became VERY apologetic and basically told me I had been given the classic Xcel "bum’s rush". He was very concerned about what I told him and said he would do whatever he could to get me to the right person at Xcel. Within the hour, he called back and told me he couldn’t find out anything about a peaker plant in Lent Township, but was told that the reason the vegetation was removed from the Kost substation site was that Chisago County had "ordered" Xcel to do it to control Oak Wilt on the property.

So, I called the Chisago County Office of Environmental Services to confirm that they had "ordered" the removal of the trees. They told me they had NOT ordered or suggested any vegetation removal for that site. Now I was getting angry, so I called Rick Robinson at Indeck Energy one more time. I asked him if he would send me a hardcopy of the NSP Request for Proposals that they had responded to. He said that would be no problem and I received it in the Mail within 2-days. I still have that document and would be happy to provide copies to any interested party.

The RFP I received from Indeck Energy clearly identified Mr. Rick Peterson, a Resource Analyst for Xcel, as the manager and contact person for this project. It even had his direct phone number and e-mail address. Great, now I could finally talk to The Man with the Plan.
Except, when I called Mr. Peterson I got a VERY nervous and less than candid reception. He did acknowledge that an RFP had been "put out" and that several proposals had been submitted. However, he said that the entire project had been put on HOLD and that he wasn’t sure exactly how it would proceed. He assured me that "some kind of facility" would eventually be placed on the site and that the time-frame for final planning was circa 2011. That was ALL he either could or would tell me. That was the last contact I had with anyone from either Indeck Energy or Xcel Energy.

I subsequently resigned from the Lent Town Board in early May 2008 over a totally unrelated matter. Shortly after that, I was recruited to return to work for the DNR Division of Waters for a special project. While at the DNR, I had an opportunity to visit with an old colleague that had ascended to a senior management position with a large environmental and engineering consulting firm. When I told my friend about the peaker plant story, he got a very large grin on his face and said he "knew all about it". He also either couldn’t or wouldn’t give me any details about what he knew (I think his Company had business connections with Xcel), but he did tell me that the project was most definitely NOT on hold and was, in fact, moving ahead. Since I was no longer active in Township affairs, I didn’t pursue the matter any farther.

The next time I heard anything about a power plant in Lent Township, it was from a few short news stories in the Post Review in early 2009. From that point on, I only know what little information has been provided to the general public from subsequent "news" stories. If Lent Township officials or Chisago County officials knew anymore, they certainly never communicated it to the "public"... nor did our enlightened State Senator or State Representative.

As far as my personal opinion of this project, here’s how I REALLY feel:
First off, something just doesn’t SMELL right about the way in which this project has been proceeding. I have worked as a State geologist/hydrologist on MANY sensitive and controversial environmental issues in Minnesota since 1969. I have never seen a situation with so much deliberate obfuscation and lack of public involvement. During my years of government service I worked with the environmental staff at the former NSP many times. They were always forthright and honest. The present incarnation of NSP as Xcel Energy does not strike me as operating with that same level of public awareness, commitment and involvement.

Second, I have absolutely no doubt that we will eventually have a major power generation facility at the "sweet spot" in Lent Township. The BIG question is how much we, as the voters and residents of Chisago County and Lent Township, will really have to say about it. One of the Ten Commandments of Government that I learned and saw first-hand at the DNR is that... "the BIG people do what they want and the LITTLE people do what they’re told". NSP/Xcel has been in the power generating business for 100-years and knows exactly what it’s doing. You don’t need to have Gypsy blood to read these tea leaves. Somewhere there is a senior Xcel Vice President chomping on a cigar over the big Monopoly board. He’s already put 4 houses and a hotel on Boardwalk and has a get-out-of-jail-free card from the Legislature. Indeck Energy and LS Power are simply shills for Xcel Energy’s long-range plans for the Kost substation site.

Finally, there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that our elected officials have been worshipping at the feet of the BIG money interests that promise to take us all to the land of milk and honey. Why haven’t they been asking the hard questions and soliciting the information their constituents are asking for? Any one of them could request, or even demand, that LS Power and Xcel Energy directly provide them with the answers and information the citizens want. It doesn’t matter whether the County or Township has any "legal" authority to approve or disapprove of this project... they have the "moral" authority to advise and inform their constituents! Why has it taken a small group of concerned citizens (the Friends of the Sunrise River) to do all the heavy lifting on this matter? As far as I can tell, they are the ONLY entity trying to seriously gather information and inform the public. Our elected representatives need to lead from the front of the room, not the sidelines. Perhaps the real question for us all to consider the next time we step into the ballet booth is: Is this the Government we deserve?

Now, let the "comments" commence.

Dave Milles
Lent Township Resident