ND Regulators Deny Xcel Energy's Request To Help Fund Minnesota Solar Power Project; $2.5 Million/MW -- September 17, 2015

They say the price of solar energy is coming down. Look at the figures below.

The other day I had a short piece on "rent seekers," a concept I never understood very well. Here's another good example. I wasn't going to post this story for various reasons, but more than one reader has sent me the link, so this is an opportunity to help reinforce the concept of rent seeking.

The Grand Forks Herald is reporting:

For the second time this summer, North Dakota utility regulators on Wednesday railed against the idea of allowing Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy to charge North Dakota ratepayers for solar power to meet a Minnesota mandate.

The $250 million project will consist of solar arrays in 16 counties in southern Minnesota. North Dakota would share in roughly 5 percent of the energy and 5 percent of Xcel’s cost of purchasing the power.

But commissioners denied the request 3-0 on Wednesday, repeating the arguments they made on June 17 when they unanimously rejected Xcel’s ADP request for 187 megawatts of solar power from three projects in Minnesota.

The Bismarck Tribune also has the story. It will be interesting to see if Debbie Downer publishes this story [Update -- at 11:11 a.m. Debbie Downer has not yet posted this story; must be a real downer for them]. [Update, September 19, 2015: again, I am unable to find any "evidence" the Debbie Downer reported this story; remarkable considering DD reports every other story on solar energy in Minnesota/North Dakota]:

North Dakota utility regulators on Wednesday renewed their opposition to having the state's ratepayers subsidize solar-generated electricity projects in Minnesota to satisfy that state's mandate to get some power from the sun.

Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy Inc., which has about 90,000 customers in North Dakota, is backing a $250 million solar project in southern Minnesota that would create 100 megawatts of power, or enough to power about 15,000 homes. The project is part of Minnesota's mandate that investor-owned utilities get 1.5 percent of their power from the sun by 2020, and 10 percent by 2030.

North Dakota law allows utilities to seek an advanced review, called a "determination of prudence," of whether regulators believe a project is a good idea and companies can charge ratepayers to help fund it.

The three-member, all-Republican North Dakota Public Service Commission voted against endorsing the project, saying North Dakota customers shouldn't get stuck with paying for expensive and unneeded solar-generated electricity from neighboring Minnesota.

"This just doesn't cut the mustard by any means," Commissioner Brian Kalk said. "This isn't an anti-solar message, it's just not prudent."

The Public Service Commission's action Wednesday was the second time this year that the panel shot down Xcel Energy's plans for solar projects. In June, the commission failed to endorse a 187-megawatt solar project that would power about 41,000 homes. The cost of that project has not been disclosed by the company.

$250 million / 100 MW = $2.50 million (and I assume this is a "low-ball" / conservative estimate).

From an August 25, 2014, post, this is 30-second sound bite for "cost of renewable megawatt":

• Solar: $3 million / MW
• Wind: $2.5 million / MW
• Natural gas: $865,000 / MW

 A recent Milwaukee solar energy project was estimated at $6 million / MW.

The CEO of Xcel Energy makes about $3 million / year.

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No Link, Being Reported Everywhere

President Obama's DOD training program to take on ISIS;  "4 or 5" soldiers; $500 million.

Just kidding, here's one of the links:

Gen. Lloyd Austin, who leads the U.S. military’s Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday there are only four or five Syrian fighters left out of 54 who were trained as part of a [$500 million] U.S. program.

Another 100-120 fighters will be trained in the program’s three remaining classes, NBC News reported Wednesday.

Obama said in September that assisting Syrian rebels was “the best counterweight” for combating the Sunni radical terror group’s control over large swathes of Iraq and Syria, NBC reported.

I can't make this stuff up. This general even admits he doesn't know whether it's four or whether its five "Syrian" fighters. Whatever happened to $60 hammers and $600 toilets or whatever it was. Don't even talk to me about rent seekers in corporate America.

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A Note For The Granddaughters 

Last night driving home from water polo practice, I happened to mention something to our oldest granddaughter about irony. She said, coincidentally, they had been studying the difference between irony and coincidence in school earlier that day.

I was blown away when she said that she particularly enjoyed "dramatic irony." She said she loved seeing "dramatic irony" in the books that she read; she said she would like to reach out and slap some of those characters when they were completely clueless.

I thought it ironic that I just wrote about irony a few weeks ago. Except if I told our granddaughter that, she would correct that: it was a coincidence, not irony.