by Keryn

The Sierra Club submitted this letter to the WV PSC regarding the Commission's scrutiny of FirstEnergy's decision to close the Albright, Rivesville and Willow Island coal-fired generation plants in West Virginia on September 1, 2012.  Regular readers will remember an earlier post about the meeting Sierra Club mentions in their letter. 

So, what's Sierra Club's purpose here?  A successful transition from economic dependence on coal-fired power plants to a cleaner, more prosperous future for the affected West Virginia communities.  Read Sierra Club's success story about closure of a coal-fired plant in Centralia, Washington, that gave new hope to the community, instead of leaving them high and dry, as FirstEnergy intends to do to the West Virginia communities.   A similar story is playing out in other states affected by FirstEnergy's plant closure plans. 

FirstEnergy's abandonment of these communities that have supported their highly profitable coal-fired generation plants over the years raises the larger question of corporate social responsibility.  Some of these plants date back to the 1920s -- nearly 100 years of profits for FirstEnergy and its predecessors!  It also means nearly 100 years of these communities depending on the economic livelihood these plants have provided.  Now FirstEnergy has made the decision to close these plants during difficult economic times without giving anything back to the communities that have supported them and stoically accepted the pollution of their local environment by these plants in exchange for the good-paying jobs they provided.  To add insult to injury, FirstEnergy points the finger of blame at the EPA, when the reality is that FirstEnergy's closure decision is in their own pecuniary interest.

What social responsibility does FirstEnergy have to these communities?  Sierra Club tried nicely to get FirstEnergy to the table to talk about their responsibility, but was unsuccessful.  Now the WV PSC is dragging them to the table, kicking and screaming all the way.

FirstEnergy talks a big game about their "community involvement"

"Public service is a privilege and our obligation to serve goes beyond providing energy services to our neighbors. In partnership with other businesses, government and the nonprofit sector, we've pledged our resources and the FirstEnergy Foundation to help make our neighborhoods and communities attractive places to live, work and do business."

but when it comes time to put their money where their mouth is, FirstEnergy doesn't deliver.

Perhaps that's because, in reality, FirstEnergy's "corporate stewardship" consists of payments (subsequently recovered from electric ratepayers) to entities like the Maryland Chamber of Commerce ($20,000) for the self-serving purposes of: "Sponsorship related to corporate stewardship and the education of business leaders about PATH (proposed high-voltage transmission line). The Maryland Chamber of Commerce provides PATH with the opportunity to provide educational materials along with personal discussions of the PATH project and issues relating to the project to municipal, county and state elected officials and staff as well as the general public. Corporate monitoring of organizations activities." 

Another example is their $20,000 "membership" in the Westmoreland (PA) Museum, where former Allegheny Energy CEO Paul Evanson sits on the Board of Trustees.  (see Attachment A of this publicly filed document for compete listing of some of FirstEnergy's self-serving "corporate stewardship" in 2010).

FirstEnergy seems to have plenty of money for "corporate stewardship" when it furthers their own interests, but not when it's truly about corporate social responsibility and paying it forward.  How about it, FirstEnergy, can you walk your talk and do the right thing for the communities affected by your plant closures?  According to this article, you're soon going to have an extra $216M to play with as a direct result of these plant closures.  Helping communities affected by your business decision would be a step toward true corporate social responsibility.

by Keryn

I wasn't around more than 100 years ago to hear what out of state corporate raiders told West Virginians when they blew into West Virginia with tales of mining a black rock that would provide the citizens of West Virginia with riches beyond their wildest dreams, but I imagine it went something like last night's Marcellus public "education" meeting in Martinsburg.  After all, propaganda wasn't invented by today's energy industry, they have merely honed what's been around forever.

Energize West Virginia, which of course is funded by the natural gas industry, put on a humdinger of a kool aid social.  The only fly in the ointment was that nobody in the audience drank any of their free kool aid.  You'd never know it from The Journal's article, but "Energize West Virginia" and their spokespuppets and corporate lobbyists didn't seem to have any fans in the audience.  I will give them credit for being good sports and not running screaming from the room while being peppered with questions from an informed, cynical public who was already "educated" to the reality of Marcellus extraction exploitation of West Virginia's environment and people.  But, of course, they didn't really answer any questions.

I lost count of how many of the seven common propaganda techniques the audience was slapped with in the first 10 minutes of the presentation, but I think they hit all seven.  I got a little sidetracked with a sudden urge to draw American flags on my free Chesapeake literature and hum The Star Spangled Banner.

We were told that frac fluid is made from coffee; that fish could live in it; and a couple of the panelists said it was so safe, they would drink it.  Note to self:  Bring thermos of benzene, methanol, 2-butoxyethanol, ethylene glycol, diesel, naphthalene and xylene mixed with a grande Starbucks salted caramel mocha to next Chesapeake propaganda session so I can pour them a drink!

After listening to the lobbyists whine about how expensive permits would hurt their business in West Virginia, Chesapeake was invited by an audience member to go drill in other states that are short-sighted enough to allow drilling with little to no regulation and cheap permits.  West Virginia's Marcellus gas isn't going anywhere.  If Chesapeake can go snap up cheap permits elsewhere, they're welcome to them.  They can come back here when all the cheap and easy gas is gone in other states, who will be left with a polluted environment, a poor economy, and a gas well in every backyard.  Corky (what? a grown man who calls himself "Corky"?) DeMarco, executive director of the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association thought he could answer that question.  And hilarity ensued.  A more inarticulate and intellectually challenged "answer" would be hard to find.  One word:  "deregulize."  No, he really said that. 

Nice try, fellas, but your propaganda session intended to scare up a few supporters to "sign" (not write) letters to the editor, call talk radio stations, attend rallies, and urge their Eastern Panhandle legislators to vote against stringent gas drilling legislation and $10,000 permits (the real reason they subjected themselves to the scrutiny of the only area in West Virginia without any Marcellus shale) was a total rout.  Although the Chesapeake representatives found the Eastern Panhandle to be "rude," we prefer the term "cynical."  And we won't be fooled again.

by Keryn

Major FAIL for coal industry front group FACES of Coal today in Jefferson County, West Virginia!  The coal industry's PR flack failed to do her homework when she requested that the Jefferson County Commission approve a "Resolution calling on policymakers to support jobs and economic security by fixing coal mine permitting system."  Industry-backed FACES of Coal's overpaid PR mouthpiece has tossed together a traveling road show and is apparently touring all of West Virginia's 55 counties, trying to find out which one has the stupidest commissioners.  This tour, along with the whole FACES of Coal front group, is costing a pretty penny.  Who pays for this?  You all do, through coal-fired rate increases!  As we've pointed out on this blog on numerous occasions (and APCO's President has also stated), the reason for West Virginia's steadily increasing rate increases is over-dependence on increasingly expensive coal to generate electricity.  The coal industry is playing a losing game trying to save itself by wasting additional money on stupid PR initiatives that lie to people.  People in Jefferson County know the truth, and once you know the truth, no amount of flim-flam can convince you to believe industry lies.

Morgan County seems to be winning the stupid contest thus far.  Last week, the FACES of Coal traveling road show paid them a visit.  One of the three Commissioners knew the truth.  "Hutchinson said that while she had done preliminary research, she wasn't sure if it wasn't a public relations campaign by the industry."  However, the other two Commissioners played stupid, said that a representative of FACES of Coal had asked them to endorse it, and passed the resolution.  Have these two been living in a cave for the past two years?  FACES is well-known as a front for the coal industry.

FACES of Coal was launched in 2009 and was immediately exposed as a front group.  FACES of Coal's crack PR team made a crucial error in execution.  Their "faces" belonged to I-stock photos.  Stock photos include photos of actors, made to resemble "real people" doing "real things," that can be purchased to use in advertisements.  That's right,  "an alliance of people from all walks of life who are joining forces to educate lawmakers and the general public about the importance of coal and coal mining" actually included no real people at all!

FACES of Coal's "West Virginia State Coordinator" is Bryan Brown of Charleston, WV public relations and lobbying firm Brown Communications, LLC.   Bryan Brown first came to my attention as the "West Virginia State Coordinator" for West Virginians for Reliable Power (later West Virginians for Reliable Energy, but that's another story).  The West Virginians for Reliable Power is a front group Brown created under contract to the PATH subsidiaries of American Electric Power and Allegheny Energy (now FirstEnergy) "in order to build Support for rebuilding and expanding West Virginia and the nation's aging electric infrastructure," the "tactics and activities [of which] would be timed around key dates associated with the approval process for the PATH-WV project."  Looks like Brown Communications will shill for anyone if the price is right, professional ethics be damned.  FACES of Coal is not a registered corporate entity.  That's right, they don't legally exist.  In fact, if someone wanted to reserve that business name in the State of West Virginia, it would cost them the astronomical sum of $15.  Then the registrant could claim legal title to the FACES of Coal name and block others from using it.

But, back to the Jefferson County Commission meeting this morning... three Jefferson County citizens showed up for public comment at 9:30 and spoke about this agenda item.  I informed the Commission that FACES of Coal is a front group.  Debbie Royalty informed them that the proposed Resolution contained inaccurate facts regarding the number of coal mining jobs in West Virginia.  The Resolution claims 90,000 jobs, while the DOE-EIA puts the actual number at 21,671.  She also reminded the Commission that it unanimously passed a Resolution calling for the abolition of mountaintop removal mining in March of 2009.  Mary Anne Hitt spoke against the Resolution on behalf of The Sierra Club.  Then we all waited for 11:00 to roll around, anxiously looking forward to Gabrielle Corey's performance on behalf of FACES of Coal.

Well after 11:00 (because the Commission was running late, as usual), Ms. Corey's name was called.  She wasn't there.  No phone call, no message.  She simply just didn't show up for the appointment she had made with the Commission.  Gabrielle, that's just plain old rude!  One of the Commissioners made a motion that the item be struck from the agenda.  However, the Commissioners decided that they wanted to make comment on the item, even though the requester had not shown up.  Commissioner Dale Manuel kicked things off by displaying a photo of mountaintop removal mining he had clipped from Parade magazine.  All the Commissioners got into the act, calling Ms. Corey's Resolution "an industry-driven wolf in sheep's clothing"; "ludicrous"; "appalling"; "vague" and other comments I'm not going to repeat.  Commissioner Manuel brought the fun to a close by moving that the Commission send Ms. Corey a note letting her know that they had really missed her, and the item was unanimously dismissed before a laughing audience.  FAIL!

Bryan Brown should have a better memory of what happened the last time he brought one of his front group traveling road shows to the Eastern Panhandle.  I bet he won't forget again.  Meanwhile, this is costing West Virginia electric ratepayers higher electric bills through coal-fired rate increases.

by Bill

Want to learn more about installing solar power at your home or business?  Want to share information with your friends and neighbors?

Here's the deal from Mountain View Solar and Wind:

"Our company, Mountain View Solar and Wind, is committed to educating the public on the benefits of solar pv installation and ownership thereof. If any of my friends would like to host a solar mixer in order to promote the technology please contact me so we can set it up in July or anytime after that. The mixers are not boring, less than an hour in duration and we provide a tasty appetizer and beverages as a bonus. Small groups of ten or even more is encouraged to make the Q & A session more fun. We love doing these and the feedback is great! Contact our website @  www.mtvsolar.com and john@mtvsolar.com is my email."

by Bill

Keryn came across this recent article in the Frederick News-Post about the installation of synchrophasors on some of First Energy's Maryland substations.  While this new equipment is attached to FE's big transmission system, it is still a step in the right direction, because FE is making a smarter transmission system, not a bigger one.  The article also notes that FE's Potomac Edison is working closely with a large new solar array being built in Washington County.

We always support the big power companies when they do things right.  Here is an article I reposted from The Power Line about Allegheny Energy's Super Circuit project in Morgantown which is designed to test and develop new distribution technologies to handle small scale renewable power generation.

We strongly encourage the big boys to step up and support innovation, and we applaud them when they do it.

by Bill

Here is the future of West Virginia’s energy economy.

In addition to the new installation in Williamson, Mountain View Solar and Wind and The Jobs Project are moving on to create new jobs and new solar installations:

Mountain View owner Mike McKechnie is also buying all his electrical supplies from a local business.

“We are not funded by any state organization. We’re doing this as a business because we want to grow the solar infrastructure and industry,” McKechnie says. “We’re West Virginians, and we think it’s important. There’s a need here that’s not being met.”

Demand for solar energy has been growing in West Virginia, and McKechnie’s company has been expanding with it. Mountain View has tripled in size two years in a row and is likely to do the same in 2011. It now employs 15 full-time workers, five part-timers and a network of about a dozen electricians, plumbers, roofers and general contractors who do installations when McKechnie calls.

“This training model we’re unleashing in Williamson is something we’ve proven,” McKechnie says. “It’s not a pilot project. It’s something we’ve shown works.”

Besides installing the rooftop array, the trainees and three of McKechnie’s employees will also be doing assessments on seven other properties this week.