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Today before the General Assembly on the Senate side, a bill introduced yesterday in McDowell’s Energy Committee is being laid on the desk… In essence it changes a few words…
Here is the old…
Except as herein noted, no county or municipal building or plumbing code shall contain any provision which shall be materially at variance with the International Code Council (ICC), International Energy Conservation Code, 2000 Edition (IECC 2000) jointly prepared by the Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc. (BOCA), the International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO) and the Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc. (SBCCI). In effect, IECC 2000 shall be the referenced energy code for all new detached 1- and 2-story family dwellings and all other new residential buildings 3 stories or less in height. Energy standards for all other new buildings, to include high-rise residential, shall be established in accordance with the 2001 supplement to IECC 2000 that references the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers/Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (ASHRAE/IESNA) Standard 90.1 — 1999; provided, however, that the respective county or municipal government shall exclude agricultural structures from these provisions.
And here is the new…
Except as herein noted, no county or municipal building or plumbing code shall contain any provision which shall be materially at variance with most recent version of the International Code Council (ICC), International Energy Conservation Code, jointly prepared by the Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc. (BOCA), the International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO) and the Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc. (SBCCI). In effect, the highest available energy conservation code as determined by the Delaware Energy Office shall be the referenced energy code for all new detached 1 and 2-story family dwellings and all other new residential buildings 3 stories or less in height. Energy standards for all other new buildings, to include high-rise residential, shall be established to meet the latest available standard of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers/Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (ASHRAE/IESNA) as determined by the Delaware Energy Office; provided, however, the respective county or municipal government may exclude agricultural structures from these provisions.
That little change is designed with this purpose, also included in tonight’s Senate Bill 59…
The Delaware Energy Office, or its successor, shall establish programs to promote the construction of zero net energy capable homes. A zero net energy capable home is defined as a commercial building or residence that annually, through the use of energy efficient construction, lighting, appliances, and on site renewable energy generation uses no more energy than is produced on site (zero net energy consumption from the utility provider). As of December 31, 2025 all new residential building construction in the state of Delaware Shall be zero net energy capable. As of December 31, 2030 all new commercial building construction must also be zero net energy capable.
These small changes are allegedly required in order to receive stimulus funding being offered to revitalize the economy… The concept is grand that every house in Delaware will be energy self sufficient, producing as much or more energy than it consumes….
Although it seem like years away, it is the equivalent of a bill passed in 1993 affecting us now… It really wasn’t that long ago that Pearl Jam was popular…..
Wind is not an “all to be all”. But those who supported Wind early, showed themselves to be visionaries, which is what this country and state will need right now… Those who opposed wind found themselves winding up on the wrong side of 90% of our citizens… If they got it so wrong once… why give them a chance to screw up again?
Many of you have asked for a comprehensive list covering each race of this state as regards to wind… Here it is… You have also asked me for advice… on who would do the better job if elected… For some of those who are running unopposed, I am recommending leaving their position blank…by not voting for them at all and skipping down to the next one.. Consider it a vote of no-confidence.,, Here we go…
President and VP — Barack Obama and Delaware’s Joe Biden
US Senator — Delaware’s Joe Biden (His opponent never got past spray-painting “VOTE” on her big signs.)
US House of Representatives — Karen Hartly-Nagle (Obama/Biden need new blood in the House)
Governor — Jack Markell (first champion of Bluewater Wind)
Lieutenant Governor — Matt Denn (early champion of wind); his opponent was one of the 4 wind killers.
Insurance Commissioner — John Brady supports wind
State Senate 2 — Margarette Rose Henry — unopposed…. vote no confidence by leaving her office blank
State Senate 3 — Bob Marshall — unopposed…. (he voted yes to release the bogus McDowell report) blank
State Senate 4 — Michael Katz — his opponent is for oil drilling off Bethany Beach
State Senate 6 — Liane Sorenson — loyal to her, because she was early pioneer for wind… .
State Senate 10 — Bethany Hall-Long — More in tune with wind than her opponent
State Senate 11 — Tony DeLuca — unopposed — vote no confidence; one of 4 wind killers
State Senate 16 — Colin Bonini — one of the first Republican wind supporters
State Senate 17 —
State Senate 18 — Gary Simpson– one who favored wind rather early
State Senate 21 — Robert Venebles — unopposed– voted to release tainted McDowell report– NC; blank
State Rep 1 — Dennis Williams — voted for HCR 38; pro-wind
State Rep 2 — Hazel Plant — Which way am I supposed to vote? Unopposed… definately leave blank.
State Rep 3 — Helene Keeley unopposed — Signed letter with Harris McDowell
State Rep 4 — Tyler Nixon — very early supporter of wind; while his opponent was behind NRG.
State Rep 5 — Melanie George Marshall — unopposed– voted “not voting” on HCR38
State Rep 6 — — unopposed, special election to follow
State Rep 7 — Bryon Short — his opponent was for NRG, Connectiv and is an XOXOXO Delmarva lover
State Rep 8 —
State Rep 9 — Richard Cathcart — early Republican wind supporter
State Rep 10 — Robert Valihura — wrote the bill HCR 38 to force-push wind through the House
State Rep 11 — Gregory Lavalle — supported Wind early
State Rep 12 — Debbie Hudson — unopposed — voted against HCR38 — leave blank for no confidence
State Rep 13 —
State Rep 14 — Pete Schwartzkoph — early (one of the few Democratic) wind supporter
State Rep 15 — Valerie Longhurst — unopposed– Absent for HCR 38 vote.. no record.
State Rep 16 — James Johnson — unopposed — wind supporter; voted yes on HCR 38
State Rep 17 — Mike Mulrooney — voted for Bluewater Wind on HCR38
State Rep 18 — Terry Spence — signed on to wind early; voted for HCR38
State Rep 19 –Robert Gilligan– voted for HCR 38
State Rep 20 — Nick Manolakos — unopposed– voted for HCR 38
State Rep 21 –Pat Creedon —
State Rep 22 — Rebecca Young — one of the first to twist Democratic arms in favor of Bluewater Wind
State Rep 23 — Theresa Schooley — voted yes to Bluewater Wind on HCR 38.
State Rep 24 — Bill Oberle — voted for Bluewater Wind on HCR 38.
State Rep 25 — John Kowalko — Bluewater Champion. His opponent is primarily sponsored by wind killers
State Rep 26 — Jeremy Filliben — His opponent was strongly NRG
State Rep 27 –Vince Lofink — was in favor of wind early
State Rep 28–“Johnny” Carson — unopposed
State Rep 29 — “Trey” Paradee — his opponent was bought and paid for by the demons of Delmarva Power.
State Rep 30– William Outten — unopposed — voted “not voting” on HCR38…
State Rep 31– Darryl Scott — his opponent was to busy with nepotism to worry about wind power
State Rep 32–Brad Bennett — his opponent was a Delmarva Stoolie; voted against Bluewater Wind
State Rep 33–Harold Peterman — his opponent voted against wind on HCR 38.
State Rep 34– Donald Blakely — voted yes to Bluewater Wind on HCR 38
State Rep 35–
State Rep 36–George Carey– unopposed– vote no confidence (leave blank) anti- wind
State Rep 37– Helan Truitt — her opponent was one of the roadblocks in the House
State Rep 38– Mary Ryan — her opponent was firmly in the pockets of Delmarva Power…
State Rep 39–Jerry Semper– his opponent voted against HCR 38 to approve Bluewater Wind
State Rep 40– Barbara Hudson– her opponent was not helpful to wind…he voted “NO”
State Rep 41– Greg Hastings– his opponent ran against wind and lost in a special election
New County Council District 12 — Laura Brown– her opponent spent the whole term at Hooters
Kent County Levy Court 3 — David Anderson — was a protagonist for wind early (was on TV!!!!)
Sussex County 3 — Joan Deaver– Early supporter of wind — her opponent wants to develop the seafloor.
Those of you who are still worried about going to hell and need to do all you can just to stay out…you especially should not vote for these people: Charlie Copeland, Tony DeLuca, Pam Thornburg, George Carey, Joe Booth, John Atkins, or Gerald Hocker….
All of these thought Delmarva’s profits mattered more than what you were paying for electricity… All of their opponents strongly deserve your support.
Cheaper power for all.
We’ve all been there…
It could be at Cold Stone, Haagan Daas, Ben & Jerry’s, Brewster’s, or even the Dairy Palace….
The question that stumps us all: What Flavor?
We finally decide on a purchase, someway, somehow….
I feel that way with our governor’s race… What Flavor?
We are comparing maple butter pecan to black raspberry here, both are fine quality indeed….. But in the candidates own words, I think the campaign has drawn down to a dead heat, with the only distinguishing factor being whether one looks first to experience, or to innovation as ones first gut reaction when burrowing down against a strong head wind….
Those in the real world know that both qualities do well in a pinch….
I sympathize with John Carney…. As a youngster, there was no one in my field more qualified than myself, to run my organization… I was the expert, the driver, the go-to person, the human specialist who knew exactly what buttons to push to get things done… I had exemplary results to prove it…
(Why do we always think we are the best qualified on the planet, lol)…..
But I got passed over by someone brought in from the outside…. who could only get things done by using my talents… It wasn’t fair…. But if they convinced me to remain aboard, I usually came to the conclusion that several years later that they made the right choice… Things I never would have thought of, we tried, and some of them worked splendidly… We could have always done, what we always did, and gotten what we always got….. but there was a better way… and I learned from it…
People are good at what they do… Most people are not flexible and able to change their personality on a dime…. The trick in personnel placement, is to match the right person to the right task….. Sort of like mapping up the future…
We saw the future clearly on June 30th, 2008… the last day of legislature… Carney riding high on his part in Bluewater Wind, dropped back to even on eminent domain….. Both of those show who he is tied to, who he is part of…
Our state’s most pressing problem is our royalty… Thurman Adams, Tony DeLuca, Harris McDowell, Charlie Copeland, and all who support them, that DO NOT LET THE PEOPLE’S BUSINESS COME TO THE FLOOR TO BE DISCUSSED AND VOTED UPON…..
Now if one is having problems with mob violence in one’s neighborhood, putting a mob boss in charge will most certainly calm things down once the opposition has been completely eradicated, but will do nothing to stop the protection payments from coming out of your pocket….. They may have tommy gun battles among each other, but no one else will get hurt….
Enter Elliot Ness. The playing field has changed… Now cops are getting whacked, political families are targets, the public is terrorized so it will not cooperate, but eventually the public weighs in on the side of the law and the criminals are pulled off the streets…
Life goes on; this time though, the individual shop owners are keeping what used to be protection money and investing it into their businesses…. We have progress, store by store, street by street.
The only parallel this history lesson has with Delaware Today, is that we have a mob….
Do we acquiesce and let the mob run things, and wring our hands and accept it, or do we put someone in that will bring the mob out fighting, so that we the voters can pick them off, one by one….?
Once you the voter have made your choice as to which direction you want this state to go during the next four years, you have decided on which flavor will serve you best ….. Put the man with the talents you need, into the position to take you where you want this state to go……
It is not that hard, really… Just remember “eminent domain” and who the “real” enemy is…….
That is what is asked over at Delaware Watch in response to the newest scandal involving John Carney.. Adgate.…
The answer is……
We are… It is interesting to note that during an election year, the head of the Democratic party is being vilified by Delaware’s progressives, and the head of the Republican party is being vilified by both progressives and conservatives alike, and that conservatives are somewhat responsive to a perennial candidate who has been vilified by his party leadership for how long now?
What is happening is that voters are not taking leadership seriously.
They are making up their own mind. Which gives us a race where the more progressive candidate hails from the Republican party….and on the political ash heap, one finds the carcasses of two candidates not running, one being Harris McDowell and the other being “Desk Drawer” Thurman Adams… Both are Democrats in an unabashedly Democratic state.
So does Adgate piss you off? Vent. If Daniello approves using your money to fund Carney over say assisting John Kowalko against his unknown, amorphous, nose-picking challenger……then the best method would be to scrape a little money together…($570 was easy enough) and run ads accordingly.
Put your ideas below…. The comment tag is at the top of the page, (just under the category’s list….)
I’ll put mine here….
Begin with stupid John Carney’s music…lifted with today’s technology from his Bluewater Ad.
Announcer with warm voice: ( Rebecca Young, are you available?)
Are you tired of being told what to think… this election season we will be sick of ads telling us just that. Think this, think that, so and so will do good for Delaware… call so and so and ask them why they scratch their ass……
Well, some of us are tired of all that… some of us think this state can do better…. some of us want to give those media consultants some decent pot so they can come up with some good commercials for a change….. (chuckle) Just kidding about the pot, but if like me, you hear enough of these political ads, giving them a bag actually starts to sound like a good idea….. (chuckle again)….
But if like me, you truly want a better life, then like me you should insist on better commercials which tell us something constructive about why we should vote for a candidate….. I tired of being told who not to vote for…..
Should the Democratic party be choosing or taking sides in the governor’s race? Do what I’m doing this season. I’m listening to who supports the ads and making up my mind accordingly based on that….. Markell is a real good man. And so is Carney. It is just that Carney has embedded himself with party regulars who are more concerned with who wins the election, than whether Delaware wins in the process…. That is why some of the worst people in this state are Democrats. You may have heard of Senator “Desk Drawer” Adams, (He’s a Democrat) or Senator Harris “I Love Delmarva” McDowell (another democrat)……. These are just two of those who support John Carney for Governor…
It makes one wonder, right? Now as promised, I’m going to let you make up your own mind…… Just think about what I said, and make up your own mind accordingly. Listen to the other side if you have to.. But it is time the quality of our commercials in this state, rise up to the stature of Delaware’s citizens themselves. You are not all stupid…. It’s time our candidates realized that……
We’ll talk more latter… ciao….
“Hey Buzz! Look! Its an alien………Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha” Some of you may remember that line from the first Pixar movie called “Toy Story” Basically that line was used by Woody to embarrass the new toy Buzz Lightyear who took aliens quite seriously. The reason I bring this up is to exemplify the point that often when you want to sneak something past someone’s watchful eye, you direct their attention elsewhere.
So as I too got carried away with this “Minner veto thing”, and then watched an all but unanimous first vote in the Senate, instantly dissolve with the entire McCloskey faction voting to sustain the veto…., I got an uneasy feeling that something was being sneaked past me, while my attention was directed towards this standing room only theatrical performance….
If one goes back two years…before there was such a thing as “bloggers”, the Senate did not have to be so sneaky in its arrangements. It could do whatever it damned well please and only 22 (21 plus the Lt. Gov.) human beings would ever know……. With bloggers invading the night air of June 30th en masse and injecting themselves into and thwarting last minute deals (remember last year)…….. the most effective tool available to diminish their influence, would be to wait until they arrived, then throw a meaty bone as far from one as possible….. (as far as I know, all Delaware bloggers like meat. Some the size of Burris and Matthews, like it a lot…. 🙂 🙂 🙂 (Really, I tried…. I struck it 6 times, but on the 7th proof, could not resist……sorry guys….)
So with this uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach, I went back looking to see if my hunch was correct….
There was a lot to look over. I am not through yet. But something I saw did catch my eye and I would like to share it with those of you who sat upstairs in the “peanut gallery” or listened to in some office as it was piped in…..
I’m sure with all of the excitement no one remembers Senate Bill 331 as midnight approached.
When dealing with Code, it can be overwhelming to keep the passages straight. As a Senator on the floor, there is considerable trust involved in voting yea or nay. There is no time for research. You are told by the author what the bill does, and you make a snap decision yea or nay…..based on what he tells you…. So if someone tells you something, and it is different from what he says, ….there is no way of rectifying it……
We have a lot of good things in our Delaware Senate, but this is primarily why those things which are messed up with our fair state, become that way…. FOIA access to all caucus meetings, would slow down the process at first, since there would be no secrets to rush through the last minute, but….after a bill had been vetted, and solid compromises performed, the “fixed” version of the bill would sail through both houses and be granted the Governor’s ink. Such is the fate of all good legislation.
There is only one reason for not putting both House’s caucus meetings under FOIA… It limits their ability to sneak things past you….. (Of course they will say it impinges on their freedom to discuss openly and freely, but…..we know the real reason…….)
So back to SB 331.
From here the post gets B….O….R….I….N…..G (if you have the attention span of a Donvitti…) But if you are truly interested in how things are sneaked through in the dead of the night….. you may, like I did, find it fascinating……
I laugh when incumbent legislators sit on auditorium stages in debates with their challenges and impound upon “their experience”. If anyone reads the actual bills laid on the desk of the Senate, they understand that all the Senate does outside the Joint Finance Committee ( no they don’t finance the purchase of joints)…is move words around… That is all they do…. “To amend “XYZ” by striking “X” and replacing it with “Y” is their sole function…. They then vote those changes up or down.. Some legislators, as noted by a commenter on both Down With Absolutes and Rick Jensen’s WDEL show, even have to be told by someone…….how to vote……
Occasionally I kid myself and say I have a great mind. But following within my head, all the switches made to this one bill during the wee hours of July 1st, 2008, was too much for what little grey matter I have left. I was completely stymied until my friends “Cut” and “Paste” volunteered to help me…. With their assistance, some shape, form, or image began to emerge….
So with the help of my friends, I will show you what really happened…. not on the floor of the Senate…. but where the “real action” was….deep within the words of the code….
Begin with existing Code. Title 29….Section 69 (Was that number chosen on purpose?) Procurement Section 6904……Exceptions
……(a) through (l)……
(m) This chapter shall not apply to the Department of Education in the procurement of goods and/or services from the University of Delaware, Delaware State University and Delaware Technical and Community College.
(n) This chapter shall not apply to contracts entered into by the Board of Pension Trustees, authorized pursuant to § 8308(c)(5) of this title, with respect to the procurement of financial services, including advisory, management and investment services relating to any fund administered by the Delaware Public Employees’ Retirement System. (70 Del. Laws, c. 601, § 4; 71 Del. Laws, c. 4, § 5; 71 Del. Laws, c. 132, § 368; 71 Del. Laws, c. 378, § 112; 73 Del. Laws, c. 310, § 23; 76 Del. Laws, c. 80, § 67.)
………………………………..
That is our base. That is what existed in the Delaware Code up to midnight June 30th, 2008….
Ok…. so amid all of the hoopla…. SA 331 is laid on the Senate table…….Necessary rules are suspended as they are for everything laid on the table during the last day of the session… SA 331 says this:
SENATE BILL NO. 331
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 7 & 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PROCUREMENT.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
Section 1. Amend §6904(n), Title 29, Delaware Code by deleting Subsection (n) in its entirety and replacing it with a new Subsection (n) to read as follows:
“(n)(i) This Chapter shall not apply to any State Agency for those public works projects where seventy five percent (75%) or more of the funds raised for the purchase of materials or services, or for seventy five percent (75%) or more for services to be performed, are donated by private entities such as, but not limited to, individuals, civic groups, corporations, foundations or non profit groups and only twenty five percent (25%) or less of the funding is procured from public funds“, subject to the following provisions: 1) for any such cooperative public works project, the first one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) of public funds shall be exempted; and 2) for any cooperative public works project where the twenty five percent (25%) public share of the funding exceeds one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00), only the public portion of the project funds shall be subject to this Chapter.”
(ii) Any private entity which donates any supplies, materials, or services, such as but not limited to, professional services, engineering services, design or labor services, without the expectation of monetary or other compensation as provided in Subsection (i) above, shall not be liable in any civil court for any property damage or personal injury, or death alleged to be associated with rendering such services, unless it is established that said damage was caused willfully, wantonly, recklessly or by gross negligence on the part of such private entity.”
(iii) The Contracting and Purchasing Advisory Council may develop guidelines to establish how the determination of value of donated goods or services is to be performed for purposes of determining compliance with this section pursuant to § 6913 of this chapter.
Section 2. Amend Title 7, Delaware code by adding a new Section 4707 to read as follows:
“§4707. Permitting. Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, there shall be no county or local permits required upon lands which are within State Parks or within the jurisdictional control of the Division of Parks and Recreation. For all outdoor lighting projects and projects exceeding one million dollars ($1,000,000.00), the Division of Parks and Recreation shall grant the county or local planning agencies a thirty (30) day period to review and comment on the plans for said project.”
So we cut out section (n) and paste it over the code section (n) which it replaces…. WTF? Suddenly the clause in the original code exempting contracts entered into by the Board of Pension Trustees, relating to any fund administered by the Delaware Public Employees’ Retirement System just got erased by something totally unrelated and inconsequential… State Employee’s Retirement Funds, just got deregulated, eliminated, or both!….. in the blink of McDowell’s eye…. Has anyone heard about it yet?
Someone seems to have caught it. Immediately afterward, Amendment 1 is voted and passed……20 Yes to 1 No……
Amendment 1 states…
AMEND Senate Bill No. 331 by striking lines 1 through 10 and substituting in lieu thereof the following:
“Section 1. Amend §6904, Title 29 of the Delaware Code by adding a new subsection (o) to read as follows:”.
FURTHER AMEND Senate Bill No. 331, on lines 11 and 16, by redesignating the subparagraph references “(ii)” and “(iii)” to “(o)(i)” and “(ii)”.
So going back to SB 331 and using my friends “Cut” and “Paste”, we get this little nugget…….
AMEND Senate Bill No. 331 by striking lines 1 through 10 and substituting in lieu thereof the following:
“Section 1. Amend §6904, Title 29 of the Delaware Code by adding a new subsection (o) to read as follows:”.
FURTHER AMEND Senate Bill No. 331, on lines 11 and 16, by redesignating the subparagraph references “(ii)” and “(iii)” to “(o)(i)” and “(ii)”.
Ok, so section (n) covering State Employee Pension Plans is now back in…. was it truly just an accident? Or an attempt to rob it? Hmmm……
So what got cut?.. The new revised version of Senate 331 just lost all of this……
“(n)(i) This Chapter shall not apply to any State Agency for those public works projects where seventy five percent (75%) or more of the funds raised for the purchase of materials or services, or for seventy five percent (75%) or more for services to be performed, are donated by private entities such as, but not limited to, individuals, civic groups, corporations, foundations or non profit groups and only twenty five percent (25%) or less of the funding is procured from public funds“, subject to the following provisions: 1) for any such cooperative public works project, the first one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) of public funds shall be exempted; and 2) for any cooperative public works project where the twenty five percent (25%) public share of the funding exceeds one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00), only the public portion of the project funds shall be subject to this Chapter.”
(ii) Any private entity which donates any supplies, materials, or services, such as but not limited to, professional services, engineering services, design or labor services, without the expectation of monetary or other compensation as provided in Subsection (i) above, shall not be liable in any civil court for any property damage or personal injury, or death alleged to be associated with rendering such services, unless it is established that said damage was caused willfully, wantonly, recklessly or by gross negligence on the part of such private entity.”
(iii) The Contracting and Purchasing Advisory Council may develop guidelines to establish how the determination of value of donated goods or services is to be performed for purposes of determining compliance with this section pursuant to § 6913 of this chapter.
and had it replaced with “this”……
“Section 1. Amend §6904, Title 29 of the Delaware Code by adding a new subsection (o) to read as follows:”.
FURTHER AMEND Senate Bill No. 331, on lines 11 and 16, by redesignating the subparagraph references “(ii)” and “(iii)” to “(o)(i)” and “(ii)”.
And so currently if this bill comes to fruition…..the Delaware Code in this section will read as follows…….
(m) This chapter shall not apply to the Department of Education in the procurement of goods and/or services from the University of Delaware, Delaware State University and Delaware Technical and Community College.
(n) This chapter shall not apply to contracts entered into by the Board of Pension Trustees, authorized pursuant to § 8308(c)(5) of this title, with respect to the procurement of financial services, including advisory, management and investment services relating to any fund administered by the Delaware Public Employees’ Retirement System. (70 Del. Laws, c. 601, § 4; 71 Del. Laws, c. 4, § 5; 71 Del. Laws, c. 132, § 368; 71 Del. Laws, c. 378, § 112; 73 Del. Laws, c. 310, § 23; 76 Del. Laws, c. 80, § 67.)
(o) FURTHER AMEND Senate Bill No. 331, on lines 11 and 16, by redesignating the subparagraph references “(ii)” and “(iii)” to “(o)(i)” and “(ii)
What? That is what it says… That is what 20 out of 21 Senators voted for……. Look again at Amendment 1. It creates a section (o) (allowing (n) to stay: pensioners can now relax)…and section (o) has none of the first ten lines in the original bill, because they were stricken. Very specifically it states that Section (o) will start with the words “FURTHER AMEND……”
Even I was fooled at first.. “Oh, I thought, since they replaced the (n) with an (o) they have to redesignate the subsections as well… That’s harmless…” But a search on the words “FURTHER AMEND” within the Delaware government’s own website, shows that this clause means any law can be injected into that spot in the future.. The vote was to “FURTHER AMEND” and it passed 20 to 1; therefore further amending the bill is quite legal.
So whereas the synopsis of bill 331 sounds benign…..
This Bill provides an additional exception to the State procurement process by recognizing those situations where private entities voluntary raise and donate materials or services for public works projects and 25% or less of the project is paid for from public funds. A private entity which donates supplies, materials and services cannot be held liable in any action for these donations unless it is determined that the donor acted with gross negligence.
Aw… how nice….. I’d vote for that…. It would be terrible if churches got sued because they were helping out our government….. But again, you have to remember who was the original sponsor of this bill…..
Here is what the amendment erased. Psychologically, the twenty Senators have in their mind that this is the bill upon which they voted…
This Chapter shall not apply to any State Agency for those public works projects where seventy five percent (75%) or more of the funds raised for the purchase of materials or services, or for seventy five percent (75%) or more for services to be performed……………………….
In other words …. this bill says that any quasi government organization, with only twenty five percent of its funds coming from the government, is exempt from all procurement laws…. which include nepotism clauses, contracts to relatives, regulations against conflicts of interest…etc, etc…. will not apply to quasi governmental organizations. Let’s see, does the exemption include corporations?……..
…..by private entities such as, but not limited to, individuals, civic groups, corporations,…….
Interesting……
At some point over the summer this bill SB 331 WILL be rewritten….Oops…I meant “FURTHER AMENDED”…:)
Hmmm…. Isn’t the SEU only slightly funded by public money….. Hmmm…. Isn’t that public funding less than 25%…… Hmmm….. Isn’t the same McDowell who is the sponsor of this Bill, and its amendment, thought to be positioning himself as head of the SEU in order to control the estimated 100 million dollars that the SEU will control?
Oh…. I now see that SA 2 has been added….. even though it was not voted on however but was PWB ie placed with (the) Bill on the Senate table…..
SA 2 reads…..
‘(o)(i) For those public works projects where seventy five percent (75%) or more of the funds raised for the purchase of supplies, materials or services, or seventy five percent (75%) or more of the services to be performed, are donated by private entities such as, but not limited to, individuals, civic groups, corporations, foundations or non profit groups and only twenty five percent (25%) or less of the funding is procured from public funds, any private entity which donates any supplies, materials, or services, such as but not limited to, professional services, engineering services, design or labor services, without the expectation of monetary or other compensation, shall not be liable in any civil court for any property damage or personal injury, or death alleged to be caused by such supplies, materials, or services, unless it is established that said damage was caused willfully, wantonly, recklessly or by gross negligence on the part of such private entity.
Hmmm… is it just me or is there something missing from that second amended bill……Let’s put the two together: the original, and SA 2……….
Original:
…………..only twenty five percent (25%) or less of the funding is procured from public funds“, subject to the following provisions: 1) for any such cooperative public works project, the first one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) of public funds shall be exempted; and 2) for any cooperative public works project where the twenty five percent (25%) public share of the funding exceeds one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00), only the public portion of the project funds shall be subject to this Chapter.
As Amended by SA2
………only twenty five percent (25%) or less of the funding is procured from public funds, any private entity which donates any supplies, materials, or services, such as but not limited to, professional services, engineering services, design or labor services, without the expectation of monetary or other compensation, shall not be liable in any civil court for any property damage or personal injury, or death alleged to be caused by such supplies, materials, or services, unless it is established that said damage was caused willfully, wantonly, recklessly or by gross negligence on the part of such private entity.
Hmmm….again is it just me…or is the $100,000 limitation cap, (apparently forced upon him in his own committee), all but disappeared…….
Of course when you are talking about $100,000,000 dollars, not being exempted from the code for the tune of $99,900,000 dollars could cost one a pretty penny……..
So you see, the phrase “writing in Code” has taken on a whole new meaning……………………..
So why did I go through all this trouble?
You see, when the code is FURTHER AMENDED, there will be no record of what it once was……or was intended to say.
Now… there is.
I have heard some hopeful comments from those who have supported the building of the offshore wind farm. They feel that a compromise of any type will benefit us and we can begin to move forward on this deal. In their minds they feel that if the deal is not perfect right now, then over time, we can tweak it and make it so…
They need to realize that Delmarva Power, representing the interests of Pepco Holdings, is thinking exactly the same thing…..
The real question then lies, (as it did on the Supreme Court), with those who are the swing votes and vote one way on one issue, and the opposite on another…. These people become the targets of speculation each time their turn comes to go on record. For everyone knows how the hardliners will vote on either side. It is those in the middle who will carry the day.
Tony Deluca is one such person. He is sometimes on the side of business, and other times, he is on the side of big labor…. In fact, if one could make any characterization at all, it would be that he votes where the money is. With over $100,000 in his bank already at January 1st this year, if someone can afford a donation, then Deluca will be their champion….
This is the person acting as arbitrator.
Last February Delaware Watch’s Dana pinpointed Tony DeLuca as being the mastermind behind the early death of the most popular thing to sweep through Delaware this century…. Why would someone struggling so hard to kill Bluewater Wind, be working so hard to save it?
An example can be seen in Delmarva’s behavior during the last time talks transpired. You may remember if you were following this topic closely last fall. Delmarva spent the entire summer negotiating with Bluewater Wind on the terms which would be necessary, if the deal were to go through. Then, in the last hour of the last day, Delmarva added an asterisk to almost every clause which said they had recanted and approved nothing within the signed agreement containing their signatures, and that the signed agreement was null and void. Surprise!
The terms agreed to were actually quite favorable to Delmarva…. but nevertheless, after all that time was wasted, they walked away…. Fortunately it did not kill the deal, for the agreed plan was actually very good, and the PSC saw that it could work out to everyone’s best interests. So the PSC forced the two parties into a sort of binding arbitration, with the honorable Hammermesh presiding…..
So why would Delmarva waste any time in negotiations, especially when they already have a court case on the docket in Georgetown, unless it was to……….waste time before the clock runs out? Everyone knows that the way you keep the clock running, is to pretend that you are agreeable to your antagonist’s demands…. Then,.. at the last minute…………………
Any Senator has only to look at one Harris McDowell and whisper to himself,…..I never want to be in his shoes…..That poor fellow is a pariah in his own chamber. If the wind farm issue is ever settled, perhaps one can then feel sorry for each time he walks out into the main hallway, where numbers of bystanders point him out and whisper among each other of his notoriety. That poor Delmarva chump has to occasionally hear it….
Therefore to the public it is obvious that one must appear as being a friend of wind power, even if one is sworn to Delmarva to be committed to killing it. This opportunity being provided to Tony DeLuca is perfect for this arrangement. He can play the referee, dressed in his black and whites, and play the dedicated public servant on the lookout for fouls, all the while working to throw the game over to his home team….
But most troubling is that these negotiations are being conducted from the point of weakness on the part of Bluewater Wind….If the talks fail, then a Senate vote may or may not be scheduled at the convenience of Thurman Adams….. The longer go the talks, the higher rises the chance there will be no settlement this session…..
What needs to happen, is that Senators upon the floor, need to petition the President Pro Tempore to release HCR 38 upon the floor. If that petition carries, then the vote will be cast. Delmarva in that case is arguing from the point of weakness. If they fail to negotiate sufficiently, then the 300 MWh plan will sail through the Senate…. That is how it should be run. The fact that it was not, means that something nefarious is afoot after all…….
Of course on this beautiful optimistic day, one could see that there are some signs that point the other direction. One of which is that John Carney needs this deal to go through in order to win in September Two, a grateful public would not mind as much if a newer version of Tom Sharp took over the Senate Pro Tempore next session….Third, if Delmarva can wiggle out of being forced to buy wind from a non Pepco source, and the Municipals pick up the slack…..they may just decide to play along, since they will be charging us the highest possible prices for our electricity after all. Bluewater Wind, may be able to move forward faster and once the original set of turbines is built, they will have unlimited buyers for their renewable credits and cheap energy from future expansions to the offshore wind farm…… Unfortunately it won’t be coming to us….. We got sold out.
So like someone who sees their spouse’s hands all over some party guest……they can for awhile reassure themselves it is just in fun, but at one point later in their sleep, their brain puts all the pieces of the puzzle together, and they wake up suddenly in a cold sweat, feeling they’ve been hit in the stomach…….
Negotiations continue between Bluewater Wind and Delmarva. Despite an imposed gag order of the megavolt discussion going on in DeLuca’s office , there are a a couple of kilowatts of information which have leaked out… some from one side, and some from the other…. And of course, there is some misinformation as well, as is usual in negotiations with which the public is heavily involved….
Much of the discussion centers upon whether Bluewater Wind will supply 30% of our electricity with clean, cheap, and stable prices lasting twenty five years….
Or….
Will they supply 20% of our electricity with chean, cheap, and stable prices lasting twenty five years…
Let us look at how that affects rate payers…. Let’s assume that in 5 years, our rates will have climbed as high as Hawaii’s are today…. $200 per megawatt. As most of you know by now, Bluewater Wind will provide wind generated electricity at a cheaper $105 dollar cost per megawatt.
What Delmarva will do, is average all the power they receive from different sources, and determine an average cost (cough, cough) and tack their approved 4% increase on top of that….. “carrying charges.”
Therefore we can use math to create a model which will determine how our costs will be affected by the current proposal, and how much it will cost if the reduced proposal becomes the finalized version.
With Bluewater Wind contributing thirty percent of our load, it looks like this…
30% @ $105 + 70% @ $200 = $171.50 per MWh X 4% Delmarva charge = $178.36
With Bluewater Wind contributing only 20% or our total:……..
20% @ $105 + 80% @ $200 = $181.00 per MWh X 4% Delmarva charge = $188.24
The difference is $10 per MWh. Not much, really….. Or is it?
Divided by 1000 to get our kilowatt/hour price, our two choices are 0.178 cents or 0.188 cents per every kilowatt hour we use for the next twenty five years…
The standard amount of electricity used per home for calculations of this type, is usually 1000 kilowatt/hr per month. (It simplifies calculations) But you can do these calculations using your own electric bills if you wish to determine how much your household will be paying….
So using a 1000 kilowatt/hours per month, the penny price difference comes to a rough figure of $10 per month….
I hope most of you catch the irony of this….We heard for the last eighteen months, that Delmarva Powers was looking out for its customers, by fighting a $6 increase on their monthly electric bill. But, lo and behold….they are negotiating right now with Senator Tony DeLuca to raise your bill $10 a month. (I’m shocked…Outraged….there’s gouging going on in here…. (here are your winnings, sir) Oh thank you….)
Obviously, twenty five years is a long time… If you are over 65 right now, there is a chance you may not live out the end of the contracts being signed today…. So if one takes that $10 dollars a month, and determines it will cost a customer $120 dollars a year, and $3000 over the life of the contract, then all of Delaware is going to pay (using 550,000 Delmarva customers as a base) ……………
…………
………..$1,650,000,000 or 1.65 Billion Dollars of Delaware’s income, will be sucked from all of us by this reduction of 100 MW being supplied by Bluewater Wind.
Not to belabor the obvious, but that is $1.65 billion we can’t spend at local restaurants, ..That is $1.65 billion we can’t spend at our grocery stores…. That is $1.65 billion we can not put towards our retirement. That is $1.65 billion we will not have to pay for our uncovered medical expenses…. That is $1.65 billion we can’t pay for our sewer bills, our water bills, our cable bills, or gas or propane bills, our gasoline bills, .. that is $1.65 billion we can’t pay for our credit card bills, and how many Delawareans do they employ?
So the cost may be sold to us as being small, just as a single point on our interest rate is often sold as being tiny…. But the long term effects over time, are a different story… It is not about whether or not it will cost us anymore…It is about realizing the fact that the Delawarean Senate can vote tomorrow to force the agreed PPA forward and we will then be able to invest that $1.65 billion over the next twenty five years in something productive, …instead of letting Delmarva siphon it straight up to Pepco Holdings, from whence we will see nary an economic ripple…….
Dear John:
Thanks for your leadership in defending Delaware people from special interests.
Sometimes one has to fight the good fight alone.
Rest Assured. We are sharpening our tools now.
We would appreciate your account of what happened on Tuesday: who failed to back you, and who actually supported the powers that be who wish to make themselves wealthy off of our money…….
Some guidance from you would be helpful before we begin to take them on as we did one Harris McDowell, who just yesterday was overheard bemoaning why everyone hates him………
Timed on the same day as Delmarva’s release of the onshore wind announcement, some of us were preoccupied with other matters.
The invitation stands for you to give your side in the comment section below……
The people of Delaware appreciate your courage and dedication in our behalf……………….
The House voted 25 to 11 to order Russ Larson sign on to the agreement between Delmarva and Bluewater Wind.
In an effort to thwart that, Delmarva issued a surprise announcement that they had onshore wind bids which were much cheaper than Bluewater WInd…..
They would be made public by April,…
Then May…….
Then at the beginning of June.
Tuesday June 3 we have an announcement that one contract was signed….Of course details would be available later……
Now if you go to the website of Delmarva Power, there is a link that says to see contract, click here…The link takes you to a site which says that by the end of June, the details will be available….
To those not privy to the General Assembly’s schedule. It ends June 30th….So if a vote doesn’t take place by June 30th, nothing happens for another year…..
String ’em along…..String ’em along…..String ’em along……
No doubt this was done on the inside advice of their cronies within the Senate leadership: Thurman Adams, Tony DeLuca, Charlie Copeland, and Harris McDowell, all of which have received honorable degrees in Delmarvaology.
kavips 