Reader s View: Be grateful Enbridge is reimbursing costs
Apparently, protestors would rather have the hard-working taxpayers along the pipeline route left holding the bag for their ridiculous activities.
Written By:
Kip Reinarz, Bemidji, Minnesota | 10:00 am, May 7, 2021 ×
Enough is enough. I am sick and tired of seeing videos and pictures of pipeline opponents disrupting construction of the Line 3 Replacement Project and forcing emergency responders to spend hours at protest sites rather than serving our communities.
Even more frustrating, these same protesters are now complaining that our local public-safety departments are able to access a fund created by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to cover additional costs (“Pipeline Payments: Law enforcement organizations reimbursed from Enbridge-funded account,” April 28). As part of its permits, Enbridge is required to fund this account to cover additional emergency-response costs. Apparently,
Minnesota Power will begin sending disconnection notices next month to customers behind on their bills, citing a return to normal operations as COVID-19 pandemic restrictions are lifted.
Those notices will give residents 60 days to set up a payment plan with the utility company before service is disconnected in August.
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission recently approved Minnesota Powerâs timeline to resume disconnections for nonpayments. The utility suspended them last April amid a wave of COVID-19 executive orders that closed a number of businesses and limited activities of residents, causing financial hardships and spiking unemployment rates across Minnesota and the U.S.
Reader s View: Protesters’ antics proving pricey, dangerous
The fact is, there wouldn’t be a need to use or require additional public-safety money if there weren’t individuals and groups threatening public safety.
Written By:
Chris Vreeland, Hoyt Lakes | 10:00 am, May 6, 2021 ×
On the Iron Range, there are a few topics that seem to dominate our conversations. These days, the Line 3 Replacement Project is near the top of the list. Over the six years it took to get the work underway, support for this important project has only increased. And, since construction began in December, its benefits are being recognized.
Like with any controversial project, with the good comes the bad. And in this case, the bad is the dozens of protesters who now live at camps near construction sites, harass pipeline workers, and hurl insults at police required to take action at the protests.
Governors Wind Energy Coalition
The future grid is full of data. That worries cyber experts Source: By Christian Vasquez, E&E News reporter • Posted: Wednesday, May 5, 2021
Security experts warn that clean energy developers and nation-backed hackers are often interested in the same types of granular grid data. Regulators, utilities and renewable energy companies are debating whether to make such information public. Claudine Hellmuth/E&E News(illustration);Internet Archive Book Images/Flickr(drafting sketch); MaxPixel(turbines and transmission lines); Freepik (cyber)
The demand for public grid data to spur renewable energy development has raised a thorny question: Can utilities and regulators shield sensitive information from hackers while speeding up the transition to clean power?
Operator
Good morning, and welcome to the Otter Tail Corporation s Q1 2021 Earnings Conference Call. Today s call is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] I will now turn the call over to the company for their opening comments.
Loren Hanson
Assistant Secretary
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our call. My name is Loren Hanson, and I manage otter Tail s Investor Relations area. Last night we announced our first quarter 2021 earnings results. Our complete earnings release and slides accompanying this call are available on our website at ottertail.com. A recording of the call will be available on our website later today. With me on the call today are Chuck MacFarlane, Otter Tail Corporation s President and CEO; and Kevin Moug, Otter Tail Corporation s Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, I want to remind you that we will be making forward-looking statements during this call. As noted on Slide two, these statements represent our current judgm