Posts

Upcoming Coast Guard Study on Offshore Wind Energy Raises Questions
Upcoming Coast Guard Study on Offshore Wind Energy Raises Questions
2016-03-1
Does offshore wind energy, so common in Europe, pose risks to the U.S. shipping industry? That’s a question the Coast Guard has spent five years studying. According to offshore wind advocates, the Coast Guard’s study process raises significant questions about staff qualifications, influence, and findings in preliminary drafts. Acting on a concerned reader’s tip, we… Read more »
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Wisconsin Public Service Commission: Slow-Walking Accountability?
Wisconsin Public Service Commission: Slow-Walking Accountability?
2016-02-18
Part Three in a Series   The Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSCW) has agreed to fulfill our request for the release of records surrounding a powerful former staff member’s communications with the clients and lobbyists from the lobbying firm he joined right after he left the Commission. It took the PSCW three and a half months… Read more »
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Facts Do Not Support Bob Stump’s Wishful Thinking About Exoneration
2016-02-3
Is Arizona Attorney General Brnovich Hiding the Ball? Nearly 11 months ago, a reader tipped us that Arizona Corporation Commissioner Bob Stump used text messaging as his preferred means of communication. We found and reviewed footage of him texting repeatedly during Commission meetings. That led us to ask to examine Mr. Stump’s text messages, in… Read more »
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Nevada’s Anti-Rooftop Solar Decision Mirrors Utility Lobby’s Template
Nevada’s Anti-Rooftop Solar Decision Mirrors Utility Lobby’s Template
2016-01-25
Public Utilities Commission Staff Denies Lobbying Contacts, But Won’t Release Noble’s Meeting Records     Checks and Balances Project has been using public records requests to help citizens better understand the origins of what one couple called “the Christmas bait-and-switch decision” by the Public Utility Commission of Nevada (PUCN) to end the solar rooftop industry… Read more »
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First Report from Judge Cole Leaves Unanswered Questions
2016-01-20
Two Paragraph Letter Tells Us Little   Wednesday evening, C&BP attorney Dan Barr received a two paragraph report from Judge Cole, the special master appointed to examine Commissioner Bob Stump’s text messages from his government-issued smartphone. According to Cole’s report, “none of the text messages” that the Attorney General’s investigators downloaded from Stump’s iPhone6 are… Read more »
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Wisconsin Public Service Commission Ex Parte Rules Gutted
Wisconsin Public Service Commission Ex Parte Rules Gutted
2016-01-13
Part Two of a Series There are rules and then there are no rules. If you live in Wisconsin and want to talk to Public Service Commission of Wisconsin Chairperson Ellen Nowak or another commissioner about a utility’s proposal to, say, double the monthly fee for residential rooftop solar – essentially making it unaffordable –… Read more »
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Nevada PUC Chair Thomsen’s Ties to NV Energy Probed
Nevada PUC Chair Thomsen’s Ties to NV Energy Probed
2016-01-11
Inquiry Triggered By Sweeping “Christmas Bait and Switch” Decision to Wipe Out Solar Jobs and Savings  Citizen outrage is building in Nevada in the wake of the sweeping “Christmas Bait-and-Switch” decision that the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUC) made on Wednesday, December 23. The vote increases the monthly fee for residential solar customers and lowers… Read more »
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Arizona Corporation Commission Hires Ethics Officer
Arizona Corporation Commission Hires Chief Ethics Officer
2016-01-7
Is it a New Era?  Or Is Winter Coming?   Can an ethics honcho help to restore public confidence in the Arizona Corporation Commission? There’s certainly a lot to clean up. On New Year’s Eve, Commissioner Bob Stump was partying with Strategen’s Lon Huber. Theoretically an impartial judge for Arizona citizens regarding energy rates, Stump… Read more »
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