McDowell

photo courtesy of www.solarnavigator.net/history/explorers_hist…

First of all, I realize this is way over the top. You can all relax. There is no implied similarity or vague connection intended between two persons appearing above this line. If you insist on making such a connection, then something is wrong with you, because I certainly don’t see it………………………………

But there are some nefarious movements scuttling around our fair state. Perhaps anticipating the eventual opening of Thurman’s Desk drawer, they are scuttling to get their piece of the pie before open government sneaks in on a very public vote. No doubt, a grandfathering clause will have to be added to whichever bill is passed in order to protect those “lifers” who have spent their lives positioning themselves to reap huge incomes upon their retirement.

What opened this can of worms was Tommy informing us that the SEU is being redesigned in a fashion to make its proprietors rather wealthy……The bill is SB228 and it was voted out of committee on April 10th 2008. (That was last Thursday) At some point before June 30th, expect it to sneak onto the Senate Floor and be quickly passed on a boring day during mid yawn.

Jason330 in what may be the most influential post of the year, follows McDowell’s history from 1999 to today. We are eternally grateful for his pulling the pieces out on a puzzle board, from where we can begin to see the semblance of an image start to appear…..

Up until that point, there was serious discussion off line between several bloggers in our state, as to whether “Hamlet” McDowell was being coy by playing the madman, or was truly going insane……..

Something I missed was this. If one takes Jason’s link and compares it to Tommy’s link, a lot of names appear on both. Now most you who reading this are clever people. So why would McDowell, Patty Blevins, Charlie Copeland, Gary Simpson, Bethany Hall-Long, Vince Lofink, Terry Schooley, and Pamela Thornburg back this bill, which affects the board they sit upon?

At first glance one would expect it was done from noble aspirations. After all, what commonality do each of those personalities have in common?

Here is the synopsis lifted from SB228.

SYNOPSIS

This Bill amends several provisions of the Sustainable Energy Utility (“SEU”) law. Section 1 provides that the SEU will be a nonprofit entity. Under Section 2, the Contract Administrator retained by the SEU may be a for-profit entity. Sections 3 and 4 provide for a new Board of Directors to replace the existing SEU Oversight Board. In addition, Section 4 authorizes the new Board to appoint an Advisory Committee whose members would have diverse backgrounds and expertise. Section 5 requires the new Board of Directors to adopt bylaws. Section 6 is intended to clarify that the new Board has general responsibility for oversight and management of the SEU, in addition to the specific responsibilities set forth in the existing Section 8059(e)(7) of Title 29.

Author: Senator Mc Dowell

I remember feeding my dog his antibiotic pills. How does one get a big dog to chew and swallow something that tastes terrible? We found putting the pill in the middle of a peanut butter sandwich, would to the trick. Dogs love people food. So I always use this analogy when looking at a Bill that has come out of committee. Forget the peanut butter……here is the pill…..(ie the whole reason the sandwich got made in the first place.)

Section 2. Amend § 8059(a)(1), Title 29 of the Delaware Code by striking the words “‘Contract Administrator’ means a nonprofit corporation” and by substituting in lieu thereof the words “‘Contract Administrator’ means an entity or person”.

Delmarva Power can, if it wants, now become the Contract Administrator. (or so could Bluewater Wind but from McDowell’s track record, Delmarva is more likely.) But what most watchdogs truly expect to happen if this bill is slipped through the Legislature, is that the head of an obscure green company named Delaware Alternative Power Corp, just might have ingratiated himself with those making the appointment, and himself will be in charge of directing state government clients to his own little business for “whatever.”

Does this matter? Jason330 implies that by 2019 the SEU could be in control of 100 million dollars of revenue based on carbon emissions.

(right click for full view)

But more importantly, who do we want in charge of our carbon producers? Someone being paid (off) by them?

The SEU report finally give us insight as to why McDowell wants Bluewater dead. The faux Senate report that was leaked last weekend, the same one that was sent back to McDowell by his own committee for a rewrite, had within it, a rather bizarre statement that Bluewater Wind would cost the state plenty of jobs. Of course, a plethora of new jobs making windmills is one of the prime selling points of Bluewater. Those jobs to which McDowell referred, were his own SEU’s generated jobs, (ahhhh) stemming from contracts under his control to refit businesses and houses, and make them more efficient.

So his attempt to keep all renewable energy totally outside of Delaware, does indeed have some personal financial implications. If Bluewater Wind does indeed sell 300 MW worth of REC’s directly to Delmarva, at roughly 19 dollars a pop, then those REC’s will not, I said, will not pass through his fingers. And then…..the chart above, showing his potential income,….. will be all wrong.

Now McDowell may be a good man. There are some parts of the SEU that appeal to me. The concept is good, but not good enough to do away with a renewable generating plant just off of our shores….and that is where McDowell and I differ. That is why we are spending too much money (which we do not have) on lawyers, tiny Specks, behind-closed-door sessions of the Energy & Transit Committee, and why soon, we will be paying the court costs for a lawsuit to stop Bluewater Wind from coming to Delaware…..so McDowell’s project can generate revenues of over 100 million.

To be honest, if I could make revenues over 100 million, I’d fight Bluewater Wind too. So now that it is clear as to which motives lie behind his actions, he is not the madman I envisioned killing Laertes. But since he is messing with my opportunity to keep more of my money in my pockets and out of Delmarva’s hands each month, …..he just might be worse….

For the secrecy with which he has hidden this behind, is really what is at stake right now. Had Hitler been clear of his intentions as he ran for power in ’33, he might never have had the opportunity. Had we understood what McCain’s financial adviser today had accomplished December 21st, 2000 on the Senate floor, we might never have had the housing bubble collapse Bear Stearns. Had we truly known the extent of the collusion between our oil and our invasion of Iraq, many Democrats would have thought harder against doing the patriotic thing and supporting their president when their country was in danger……But each of those were done in secret. And each time, the world payed its price.

Bluewater was forged in a transparent arena. I can live with that. But the secrecy surrounding SB238 can not be good for us here in Delaware. For truly, if it were to benefit us, one would think its sponsors would be singing its praises from Fenwick Island to Talleyville…………….

They aren’t. Instead they are sneaking around at night.