PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
OF WEST VIRGINIA
CHARLESTON
* * * * * * * * *
BEECH RIDGE
*
ENERGY II LLC
*
12-1196-E-CS
*
* * * * * * * * *
HEARING TRANSCRIPT
* * * * * * * * *
BEFORE:
MICHAEL ALBERT, Chairman
JON MCKINNEY, Commissioner
RYAN PALMER, Commissioner
HEARING:
Thursday, February 28, 2013
9:30 a.m.
LOCATION:
PSC Howard M. Cunningham Hearing Room
201 Brooks Street
Charleston WV
Reporter: Brandee Cain
Any reproduction of this transcript
is prohibited without authorization
by the certifying agency.
Sargent's Court Reporting Service, Inc.
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1
A P P E A R A N C E S
2
3
JOHN R. AUVILLE, ESQUIRE
4
Public Service Commission of West Virginia
5
201 Brooks Street
6
P.O. Box 812
7
Charleston, WV
8
25323
Counsel for Public Service Commission
9
10
LEE F. FEINBERG, ESQUIRE
11
SUSAN J. RIGGS, ESQUIRE
12
GRANT P.H. SHUMAN, ESQUIRE
13
Spilman, Thomas & Battle, PLLC
14
300 Kanawha Boulevard, East
15
P.O. Box 273
16
Charleston, WV
17
25321
Co-Counsel for the Applicant
18
19
VINCENT M. TRIVELLI, ESQUIRE
20
The Law Office of Vincent Trivelli, PLLC
21
178 Chancery Row
22
Morgantown, WV
26505
23
Counsel for the West Virginia State Building &
24
Construction Trades Council
25
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INDEX TO WITNESSES
2
3
DISCUSSION AMONG PARTIES
4
WITNESS: KEVIN PARZYCK
5
DIRECT EXAMINATION
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
By Attorney Feinberg
6 - 16
16 - 25
EXAMINATION
By Commissioner Palmer
25 - 28
EXAMINATION
By Commissioner McKinney
28 - 29
EXAMINATION
By Chairman
29 - 51
REDIRECT EXAMINATION
By Attorney Feinberg
51 - 54
CROSS EXAMINATION
By Attorney Auville
17
RE-EXAMINATION
18
By Chairman
19
DISCUSSION AMONG PARTIES
20
CERTIFICATE
21
22
23
24
25
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57 - 58
59 - 62
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1
E X H I B I T S
2
3
4
Page
Number
Description
Offered
5
6
Applicant:
7
1
8
Application for a Siting Certificate &
Request for Expedited Consideration
12
9
2
Letter from Ms. Riggs
12
10
3
Traffic Study Map
12
11
4-JDBD
Direct Testimony of James D. Barnes
11
12
5-JGD
Direct Testimony of John Guariglia
11
13
6-DMKD
Direct Testimony of David Mark Kiser
11
14
7-LEMD
Direct Testimony of Eli McCoy
11
15
8-PWOD
Direct Testimony of Patrick W. O’Bannon
11
16
9-DPYD
Direct Testimony of David P. Young, Jr.
12
17
10-KEPD Direct Testimony of Kevin E. Parzyck
12
18
11-KEPR Rebuttal Testimony of Kevin E. Parzyck
12
19
20
21
Building & Construction Trades:
22
One
Direct Testimony of Mike Matthews
13
23
Two
Direct Testimony of Michael Jin
13
24
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E X H I B I T S (cont.)
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3
4
Page
Number
Description
Offered
5
6
Staff:
7
One
Direct Testimony of Wayne M. Perdue
13
8
Two
Direct Testimony of Dixie Kellmeyer
13
Joint Stipulation & Agreement
12
9
10
11
Joint:
12
One
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
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P R O C E E D I N G S
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---------------------------------------------------------
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CHAIRMAN:
4
Good morning.
My name is Mike Albert,
5
I’m Chairman of the Public Service Commission.
With me
6
on my right is Jon McKinney, Commissioner, and on my
7
right, Ryan Palmer, also a Commissioner.
8
today for an evidentiary hearing in PSC Case Number
9
12-1196-E-CS, which is Beech Ridge Energy II, LLC,
And we’re here
10
application for a Siting Certificate to authorize the
11
construction and operation of a wholesale electric
12
generating facility in Greenbrier County.
13
start, please check your cell phones and pagers and be
14
sure they’re turned off or on vibrate.
15
you have to take a call, please leave the hearing and do
16
so.
17
start with you, Mr. Feinberg.
Before we
And obviously, if
At this time, let’s begin taking appearances.
18
ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
19
Thank you, Your Honor --- or Mr.
We’ll
20
Chairman.
Lee Feinberg, Charleston firm of Spilman,
21
Thomas and Battle.
22
Shuman and Susan Riggs, and from Beech Ridge Energy II,
23
Mr. Kevin Parzyck sitting next to me, P-A-R-Z-Y-C-K, and
24
Mr. Jeff Deazie, who’s on the end there, D-E-A-Z-I-E.
25
I said, we are here on behalf of the Applicant, Beech
Also with me from the firm, Grant
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As
7
1
Ridge Energy II, LLC.
2
CHAIRMAN:
3
Mr. Trivelli?
4
ATTORNEY TRIVELLI:
5
Good morning.
My name is Vince
6
Trivelli.
I represent the West Virginia State Building
7
and Construction Trades Council and its ACT Division.
8
CHAIRMAN:
9
Staff?
10
ATTORNEY AUVILLE:
11
Good morning.
John Auville on behalf
12
of Staff.
With me today is Wayne Perdue of the
13
Commission’s Engineering Division and Dixie Kellmeyer,
14
Utilities Division.
15
CHAIRMAN:
16
All right.
For the purposes of the
17
webcast I guess more than anything, Mountain Communities
18
for Responsible Energy was active in Beech Ridge I and
19
also active in certain federal litigation that related to
20
Beech Ridge I.
21
proceeding.
22
citing in part a settlement in federal litigation.
23
Thereafter, MCRE moved to withdraw its petition in this
24
case and Commission granted that motion withdrawn
25
December 21, 2013.
MCRE originally participated in this
They were challenged by Beech Ridge II,
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By way of background, I will tell you
2
that January the 10th, the Commission inspected the
3
proposed site of Beech Ridge II in Greenbrier County.
4
took what is known as a view of the lot.
5
a part of that activity we conducted a public hearing in
6
Rydal, West Virginia.
7
opposition to the proposed Beech Ridge II project.
8
9
We
In addition, as
No one spoke at that hearing in
Although this hearing was noticed as an
evidentiary hearing, we would be willing to take any
10
public comments, but I’ve been advised by our clerk that
11
there was no one here to make such comments, so we won’t
12
be doing that.
13
comments today.
14
support of the project and seven letters opposing the
15
project.
16
evidentiary hearing; however, I understand that there is
17
a settlement that has been reached among the parties.
18
And Mr. Feinberg, do you want to tell us how you propose
19
to present the stipulation and the testimony in support
20
of the stipulation?
The Commission also considers written
We did receive a total of 38 letters in
The purpose of this hearing is to --- it’s an
21
ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
22
Yes, Your Honor.
Thank you.
Mr.
23
Parzyck would like to take the stand.
He sponsored his
24
own two pieces of testimony, Direct and Rebuttal.
25
would sponsor the --- he would sponsor the filing of the
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case, the application, two other minor exhibits that
2
relate to the withdrawal of the three turbines that the
3
this actually wouldn’t use, so the Commission has a
4
record of the fact that we’re asking for 44 now, not 47
5
like the application says, and one other matter, and then
6
he would sponsor the joint stipulation and explain it to
7
the Commission.
8
witnesses, and those six are the ones that were excused
9
from this hearing in your Order earlier this week, along
As you recall, we had six other
10
with two from the Building Trades.
And quite frankly, we
11
don’t intend to cross examine the two staff witnesses,
12
either. And so as far as we’re concerned, they don’t have
13
to go on either, but Mr. Parzyck does, to identify
14
everything, to answer any questions about the stipulation
15
that you all might have.
16
CHAIRMAN:
17
I would assume for purposes of going
18
through the testimony that although they’re not here, Mr.
19
Parzyck would be able to respond to general questions
20
about the submissions that were made --- I’ll say the
21
30,000 foot level.
22
the detail of it, but I’m assuming he’s prepared to do
23
that.
I’m not asking him to get down into
24
ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
25
That’s correct, Your Honor.
Sargent's Court Reporting Service, Inc.
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CHAIRMAN:
2
That’s fine.
3
from you?
Mr. Trivelli, anything
Staff?
4
ATTORNEY AUVILLE:
5
We did admit the testimony and I think
6
there was an exhibit or letter submitted that identified
7
all of it, and I assume that is to be put into the record
8
in that fashion, for proper notification.
ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
9
10
Your Honor, I can --- it is consistent
11
with the e-mail we sent out here yesterday and the
12
identifications.
13
into the record the names of the witnesses and what the
14
exhibits are called; however, the court reporter does
15
have all those marked as our letter from yesterday says.
And if you’d like me to, I can read
16
CHAIRMAN:
17
Well, why don’t we just --- so the
18
record is complete, if somebody is reading it cold that
19
they’ll at least have that.
20
list of exhibits for the hearing that you submitted.
21
won’t take all that long.
Go ahead and run down the
22
ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
23
Yes, Your Honor.
It
I’d be happy to.
24
First is the Direct Testimony of James D. Barnes.
25
marked Applicant Exhibit 4-JDBD.
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It’s
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(Applicant Exhibit 4-JDBD marked for
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identification.)
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ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
4
The second is the Direct Testimony of
5
John Guariglia.
That’s Applicant Exhibit 5-JGD.
6
(Applicant Exhibit 5-JGD marked for
7
identification.)
8
ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
9
Next, Direct Testimony of David Mark
10
Kiser.
That’s Applicant Exhibit 6-DMKD.
11
(Applicant Exhibit 6-DMKD marked for
12
identification.)
13
ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
14
Next, the Direct Testimony of Laidley
15
Eli McCoy, Applicant Exhibit 7-LEMD.
16
(Applicant Exhibit 7-LEMD
marked for
17
identification.)
18
ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
19
Next, the Direct Testimony of Patrick
20
W. O’Bannon, Ph.D., which is Applicant Exhibit 8-PWOD.
21
(Applicant Exhibit 8-PWOD marked for
22
identification.)
23
ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
24
And finally, the Direct Testimony of
25
David P. Young, Jr., Applicant Exhibit 9-DPYD.
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(Applicant Exhibit 9-DPYD marked for
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identification.)
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ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
4
Those are the six pieces that the
5
witnesses were excused from today’s hearing.
6
exhibits, which are Applicant 1, 2 and 3 and then
7
Applicant 10 and 11 and Joint Exhibit Number One would be
8
sponsored by Mr. Parzyck.
9
Our other
(Applicant Exhibit's 1 through 3, 10
10
and 11 marked for identification.)
11
(Joint Exhibit One marked for
12
identification.)
13
ATTORNEY TRIVELLI:
14
Mr. Chairman?
15
CHAIRMAN:
16
Yes, sir.
17
ATTORNEY TRIVELLI:
18
I have copies of the two testimonies
19
from the Building Trades, which we could put into the
20
record.
21
CHAIRMAN:
22
Let’s go ahead and have them marked for
23
identification and put into the record.
24
ATTORNEY TRIVELLI:
25
I have a --- have extra copies if you
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want.
I have copies of the testimony of --- Direct
2
Testimony of Mike Matthews, which I will mark for
3
identification I guess as Building Trades Exhibit One,
4
and the Direct Testimony of Michael Jin, which we would
5
mark as Building Trades Exhibit Two.
6
it to the court reporter.
And I’ll just bring
7
(Building Trades Exhibit's One and Two
8
marked for identification.)
9
CHAIRMAN:
10
Mr. Auville?
11
ATTORNEY AUVILLE:
12
Your Honor, would you like me to put
13
the Staff testimony in?
I have pre-marked the Direct
14
Testimony of Wayne Perdue marked as Staff Exhibit One and
15
the testimony of Dixie Kellmeyer as Staff Exhibit Two.
16
(Staff Exhibit's One and Two marked for
17
identification.)
18
CHAIRMAN:
19
That completes all the testimony;
20
right?
All the pre-filed testimony?
21
ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
22
Except Mr. Parzyck’s pre-filed.
23
CHAIRMAN:
24
Thanks.
25
Are there any other
preliminary matters to be addressed?
There’s an issue
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with respect to confidential treatment of the ---.
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ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
3
Your Honor, maybe I should at least
4
mention for the record that the affidavits of publication
5
in this case, there were actually three different
6
publications.
7
secretary over various times up to and including a week
8
or two ago for the last one, so all the affidavits have
9
been filed and are in the record.
They’ve all been filed with the executive
10
The other preliminary thing is that
11
when we put in Applicant Exhibit One, which is in the
12
hard copy form, the big, thick book that was our
13
application filed in August, there is a tab H.
14
in the filing was a redacted version of the financial
15
information called for in the rules relating to filing.
16
Now, there’s a lot of stuff that isn’t redacted, but on
17
each page there’s some redacted testimony.
18
And tab H
Obviously, at the same time, according
19
to the Commission’s practice and rules, we filed a sealed
20
confidential envelope with the executive secretary and
21
all the other things you have to do to get them in your
22
hands, but there is still a confidential document filed
23
with the executive secretary that is the unredacted
24
version of what would have been tab H or Exhibit H of the
25
application.
What's in --- what we will file today is
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the redacted version, that is the non-confidential that
2
we filed back in August with the big thick book we have
3
with us.
4
I’ve never had to do it before.
5
stuff with me if you want to admit it, but ---.
And at that point, I’m a little stuck because
I’ve got the sealed
6
CHAIRMAN:
7
Here’s what I’d like to do.
One, I’d
8
like you to represent for purposes of the hearing that
9
anybody that wanted access to the unredacted versions of
10
the material under a confidentiality agreement would be
11
able to obtain it.
12
ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
13
That’s absolutely correct, Your Honor.
14
CHAIRMAN:
15
Secondly, I would like you to provide
16
to our clerk a copy of the unredacted version.
17
not file that with the record, but we will maintain it
18
and we’ll have it if we need it.
19
the transcript and it will not go in the record at this
20
time.
But it will not go into
21
ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
22
We will do that.
23
CHAIRMAN:
24
All right.
25
We will
The other thing is that we
will likely in this case, as we do in many of these
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cases, simply defer ruling on it, leave it subject to the
2
confidentiality, with the understanding that if at some
3
point somebody requested that information, we will alert
4
you and we will find out at that point which or what part
5
of that is going to be confidential or whatever ---.
6
ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
7
I understand, Your Honor.
8
CHAIRMAN:
9
All right.
10
That’s fine.
If that’s acceptable, then
that’s the way we’ll proceed.
11
ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
12
Call Mr. Parzyck, please.
13
---------------------------------------------------------
14
KEVIN PARZYCK, HAVING FIRST BEEN DULY SWORN, TESTIFIED AS
15
FOLLOWS:
16
---------------------------------------------------------
17
DIRECT EXAMINATION
18
BY ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
19
Q.
20
give your name and your position with Energy.
21
A.
22
I am vice president of development for Beech Energy, LLC.
23
Q.
24
development, how does that relate to both the Beech Ridge
25
project, Beech Ridge II project and what we’re doing
Mr. Parzyck, if you would --- if you please,
My name is Kevin Parzyck.
That’s P-A-R-Z-Y-C-K.
And Mr. Parzyck, as vice president of
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today?
2
A.
3
responsibility for development of projects throughout the
4
central and eastern portion of the United States.
5
under those responsibilities, the development he puts
6
together the land permitting, engineering, preparation of
7
all of our projects, so they can be then turned over to
8
our construction group or construction provider.
9
Q.
As vice president of development, I have
Okay.
And
Maybe for the Commission’s benefit, make
10
some reference to it when we get to Exhibit One.
You’re
11
not Dave Grober?
12
A.
That’s correct.
13
Q.
Could you explain you and him?
14
A.
Certainly.
15
changed in the past six months.
Mr. Grober had been with
16
Beech Energy through this fall.
He’s no longer with the
17
company, and since Mr. Grober left the company, I have
18
taken over additional responsibilities through the east
19
coast of the United States, and therefore this project
20
has come under my responsibility.
21
Q.
22
was still with the company when we filed the application,
23
you have had to review applications, get familiar, et
24
cetera; is that right?
25
A.
My role as vice president has
And in connection with that, since Mr. Grober
That’s correct.
I’ve gone through the
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application, through all the documentation, and am
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comfortable with what has been presented.
3
same responsibility Mr. Grober had for the information.
4
And just as a side note, back when this project was first
5
constructed, I did have responsibilities as a project
6
manager for the Beech Ridge project, so I’ve got some
7
years of experience under my belt here in West Virginia.
8
Q.
9
first just so we can identify them.
Okay.
And I take the
Let’s get to your two pieces of testimony
Do you have them in
10
front of you?
11
A.
Yes, I do.
12
Q.
Okay.
13
Ten.
14
A.
Okay.
15
Q.
And I just want to ask you a couple questions on
16
that.
17
or under your direction and control?
18
A.
Yes, it was.
19
Q.
Are there any revisions that you need to make or
20
corrections?
21
A.
There are no revisions.
22
Q.
And if you were asked the same questions today,
23
your answers would be the same?
24
A.
The answers would be the same.
25
Q.
Okay.
I’d like you to turn to Applicant Exhibit
That’s your Direct Testimony.
Was this Direct Testimony prepared either by you
And you can --- you’re prepared to be
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cross examined on it if anybody wants to?
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A.
Yes, I am.
3
Q.
Okay.
4
rebuttal testimony?
5
as Applicant Exhibit 11.
6
A.
Yes.
7
Q.
Okay.
8
Parzyck.
9
direction and control?
How about the next piece, which is your
Now, that’s been previously marked
Basically the same questions, Mr.
Was this prepared either by you or under your
10
A.
It was.
11
Q.
Any revisions or corrections?
12
A.
No revisions.
13
Q.
And if you were asked the same questions today,
14
the answers would be the same?
15
A.
Yes, they would be the same.
16
Q.
And you’re ready to stand cross on it if anybody
17
has it?
18
A.
Yes, I am.
19
ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
20
As I mentioned, Your Honor, that’s
21
Applicant Exhibit Ten, which is KEPD, and Applicant
22
Exhibit 11-KEPR, Mr. Parzyck’s direct and rebuttal
23
testimony.
24
BY ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
25
Q.
Mr. Parzyck, I’ve placed in front of you a very
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tiny document --- no, a big book, that’s been marked as
2
Applicant Exhibit Number One.
3
is?
4
A.
5
the Siting Certificate for Beech Ridge II.
6
Q.
7
as a matter of fact?
8
A.
That’s correct.
9
Q.
Most everybody has it on disc, but for the
Can you tell me what that
The book is a hard copy of our application for
And we filed that application August 23, 2012,
10
record, we have submitted the hard copy of Applicant
11
Exhibit One to the court reporter, Your Honor.
12
although that was prepared under the direction and
13
control of Mr. Grober, as you said, you’re now sponsoring
14
that exhibit, you’re in his position, you’ve reviewed it?
15
A.
16
I’ve reviewed it.
17
Q.
And you can answer questions on it?
18
A.
Yes, I am.
19
Q.
Okay.
20
not sure whether the Commission has this, so we need to
21
give you a copy.
22
A.
Yes, I do.
23
Q.
It’s obviously --- the top page is a letter from
24
Ms Riggs of Spilman, Thomas and Battle.
25
one sentence explain what it is?
Yes.
And
I’m now the sponsor for this document and
Let’s turn to Applicant Exhibit Two.
I’m
Mr. Parzyck, do you know what that is?
Can you just in
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A.
It’s a letter to the Commission identifying that
2
we will no longer be asking for the use of turbine sites
3
two, three and alternate three.
4
Q.
5
are shown on all the various maps?
6
A.
That’s correct.
7
Q.
Okay.
8
questions about that, you could answer them?
9
A.
Yes, I could.
10
Q.
Now, I’d like to turn to Applicant Exhibit
11
Three.
12
we sent up in a letter earlier this week when we
13
discovered errors.
14
what that is?
15
A.
16
the traffic report prepared by a professional engineer
17
(phonetic) ---.
18
Q.
19
as Exhibit O?
20
A.
That’s correct.
21
Q.
Okay.
22
get to a place where it is in the application.
23
these revisions?
24
And you said appendix A and appendix C.
25
saying does the narrative of the traffic report change at
And they’re --- two, three and alternate three
And if somebody wanted to ask you any
For the Commission’s benefit, this was something
Mr. Parzyck, can you tell the record
Yes, it’s a revision of a map in Appendix C for
And the traffic report is within the application
So I kind of cut you off there to sort of
What are
What happened to cause these revisions?
Let me start by
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all?
2
A.
The narrative has not changed at all.
3
Q.
Okay.
4
A.
That is correct.
5
appendices.
6
Q.
7
done?
8
A.
9
daily traffic figures were incorrectly applied from the
Okay.
These are appendices to that report?
They are revisions to the
Can you explain why that needed to be
There were figures in appendix A, the average
10
report to appendix A, if you will, a clerical error in
11
the original application.
12
revised this document; although, again, it does not
13
change the report itself.
14
Q.
15
first page, which is the map.
16
A.
Correct.
17
Q.
There are some specific changes there; right?
18
A.
Yes.
19
daily traffic on Highway 20 was reflected as 1,700
20
vehicles, and is now correctly identified here on the map
21
as 3,600 vehicles.
22
Q.
23
the numbers to the right in the colored blocks?
24
A.
25
on Route 1 in orange, had been modified as slightly lower
And to ensure consistency, we
And the specific changes are --- let’s go to the
Okay.
In the original application, the average
And then how about on Route 1, which are
The average daily traffic, as identified there
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1
than was originally on the application.
2
Q.
3
C?
4
A.
5
Appendix A, in Appendix C the construction average daily
6
traffic, ADT, and the post-construction traffic figures
7
have been modified slightly.
8
Q.
9
Commission wanted to ask you --- or if anybody wanted to
Okay.
And how about the second page, appendix
Reflecting some of the information that was in
Okay.
Thank you very much.
And if the
10
ask you any questions on that document, you could answer?
11
A.
Yes, I could.
12
Q.
Okay.
13
given to the court reporter and labeled Joint Exhibit
14
One.
15
A.
Yes, I am.
16
Q.
Can you tell me what it is?
17
title and briefly ---.
18
A.
19
grant Beech Ridge Energy a Siting Certificate.
20
essentially an agreement between the three parties
21
listed.
22
Q.
23
Ridge Energy II?
24
A.
That’s correct.
25
Q.
And can you --- was this document negotiated by
So Mr. Parzyck, lastly, is what has been
Are you familiar with that document?
Just sort of by
It’s the recommendation that the Commission
Okay.
It’s
The Staff, the Building Trades and Beech
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1
and prepared under your direction and control?
2
A.
Yes, it was.
3
Q.
And you could answer any questions on it?
4
A.
Yes, I could.
5
Q.
Any revisions to it?
6
A.
No.
7
Q.
I think the Commission would probably appreciate
8
at this point at least a general discussion of it, and
9
then I’m sure they’ll ask you any specific questions.
10
But I think my last one, other than asking admission of
11
everything at the end, is will you please explain it to
12
the Commission?
13
A.
14
evaluation of that testimony, we reviewed and identified,
15
along with the Building Trades, essentially agreement
16
with staff recommendations other than a modification to
17
the definition of roads and the set-back requirement that
18
was identified in Staff testimony.
19
Q.
20
agreement between the Building Trades and Beech Ridge.
21
Do you want to put that on the record?
22
but ---
In response to testimony from Staff and our
There’s also a paragraph in there about an
23
ATTORNEY TRIVELLI:
24
Page three, number 11.
25
ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
I think it’s 12,
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Eleven (11).
Thank you.
2
A.
3
memorandum on the agreement that’s dated February 13 of
4
2006 between Beech Ridge Energy and the Building Trades
5
whereby we agreed that the project will be covered by
6
that agreement.
7
BY ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
8
Q.
9
Energy was constructed under?
10
A.
Yes, we asked that the Commission to approve the
And that’s the same agreement that Beech Ridge
That’s correct, it’s the same agreement.
11
ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
12
That’s all I have, Your Honor, of this
13
witness, and I’d ask that all my exhibits be entered into
14
evidence in this case, including the Joint Exhibit.
15
CHAIRMAN:
16
We will admit, at this time, all of the
17
testimony that’s been marked for identification by all
18
parties and move forward with Cross Examination of Mr.
19
Parzyck.
20
COMMISSIONER PALMER:
21
Good morning.
22
A.
Good morning.
23
COMMISSIONER PALMER:
24
I guess I’ll start with this letter ---
25
January 10th letter, discussing turbine sites two, three
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and alternate three.
I’d like to know why you all
2
decided to no longer pursue those sites.
3
A.
4
earlier, MCRE had been intervener originally on the
5
project.
6
intervener as to what certain intentions were with that
7
status, there was a discussion regarding a siting of
8
certain turbines on the project.
9
these turbines --- by removing these turbines would
Your Honor, through --- as was mentioned
As we had discussions and consulted with the
It was identified that
10
satisfy some of the concerns that MCRE had had and so we
11
got approved to go back and removed these turbines from
12
our application, from our design, so as to satisfy the
13
their concerns and eliminate any objections.
14
COMMISSIONER PALMER:
15
Great.
16
joint stipulation.
17
A.
Now, I’d like to turn to the
Do you have a copy of that?
Yes, I do.
18
COMMISSIONER PALMER:
19
On page five under pre-construction
20
conditions, letter F, there it’s discussing that the
21
certificate, if approved, would become invalid if
22
construction hasn’t started within five years or isn’t
23
complete within ten.
24
when you would expect to start and how long do you
25
envision this project might take from beginning to end?
I was just wondering, if approved,
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A.
2
time frame of five years due to several conditions
3
associated with this project and wind development in
4
general.
5
is generally the construction of a project of this size
6
will take six to nine months.
7
spring and be completed by the end of the year.
8
9
Well, in terms of --- we fully agree with the
Let me answer the second question first, which
So usually, we’ll start in
In terms of exactly when this project would
start, there’s several issues that are on the table that
10
would preclude --- that have to be satisfied to move
11
forward on it.
12
Wildlife Service regarding an ITP.
13
critical one for us to be able to start.
14
various approvals from state agencies, memoranda that
15
have to still be taken care of with a Memorandum of
16
Understanding for our historic sights.
17
of the most important parts has to do with the market for
18
power and our ability to be able to secure a power
19
purchase agreement for the sale of this power.
Number one, we are working with Fish &
That’s a very
The second are
And probably one
20
As all those pieces come together, we would then
21
finalize locations and agreements with our land owner and
22
move forward with the project.
23
exactly, though, when that could start, Your Honor.
24
Primarily if the market conditions work, we can sell
25
power.
It’s hard for me to say
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COMMISSIONER PALMER:
2
On page four, letter C, it says Beech
3
Ridge Energy II must dispose of all contaminated soil and
4
construction to create approved landfills.
5
curious what type of contaminants they anticipate having
6
to deal with?
7
A.
8
It’s virgin soil up that way.
9
typically might run across is something that’s been
I’m just
Generally, the soil itself is not problematic.
But where --- what you
10
contaminated by vehicles either during our construction
11
effort or previous logging efforts that may have been
12
taking place.
13
as we’re going to excavate may be problematic.
They may have oil spills, fuel spills that
14
COMMISSIONER PALMER:
15
That makes sense.
16
COMMISSIONER MCKINNEY:
17
I’m kind of interested in page five,
Thank you.
18
item I.
It is my understanding that the original Beech
19
Ridge agreement with the Federal Court was that you would
20
enter a take order for that particular --- now this
21
doesn’t seem to imply that you’re going to enter a take
22
order for that.
23
to and you have agreement to that with MRE or where are
24
you?
25
A.
Sure.
Are you saying here that you will have
The take order, the ITP, that’s currently
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working with Fish & Live includes Beech Ridge II, both
2
the turbines and the area.
3
will have to be secured before we can start construction
4
on Beech Ridge.
Okay.
So we will --- that
5
COMMISSIONER MCKINNEY:
6
You’re still pursuing that?
7
A.
We’re still pursuing it, right.
8
COMMISSIONER MCKINNEY:
9
Thank you.
That’s all.
10
CHAIRMAN:
11
Mr. Parzyck, don’t read any particular
12
significance into these questions.
A lot of it is just
13
to gain information, but I did want to ask you some
14
things.
15
that your outfit, Invenergy, ---
16
A.
First of all, let me ask you this.
I assume
Correct.
17
CHAIRMAN:
18
--- is not an affiliate of Westvaco in
19
any way?
20
A.
That’s correct.
21
CHAIRMAN:
22
All right.
And I also assume, being a
23
prudent contract manager or vice president, whatever
24
position you now hold over this project, that you have
25
looked into and investigated the Orders of this
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Commission in prior wholesale generator cases?
2
A.
That’s correct.
3
CHAIRMAN:
4
Is there anything in the conditions in
5
this case, other than you mentioned the road set back,
6
that are different from or --- with the stipulations that
7
were filed Commission Orders in other cases, other than
8
the obvious location of the site and the number of
9
turbines and that sort of thing?
10
A.
Nothing comes to mind right now.
11
would have to say I’m not necessarily intimate with all
12
the other rulings, but there’s nothing in the current
13
stipulation that is problematic for our construction in
14
this particular area.
15
CHAIRMAN:
16
All right.
I mean, I
I didn’t see any.
I
17
thought I’d ask you.
I mean, based upon --- not that
18
these things are ever eight inches thick in plain
19
manilla, but I understand what you all agreed to, and
20
I’ll ask staff at some point, is very consistent with the
21
ones we’ve entered into in the past?
22
A.
That’s correct.
23
CHAIRMAN:
24
Let’s look at your Direct Testimony.
25
And the reason I asked about the affiliate relationship
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is that there are some contractual agreements between you
2
and Westvaco and I assume all those were negotiated
3
onsite ---?
4
A.
That’s correct.
5
CHAIRMAN:
6
I’m fairly positive they were.
7
A.
Absolutely, absolutely.
8
CHAIRMAN:
9
The general size of the site for the
10
turbines that is proposed, how many acres is that?
11
you have any idea?
12
A.
13
figures that have been tossed around.
Do
I have to be careful with all these different
14
CHAIRMAN:
15
What I was trying to get a feel for is
16
having undertaken the few that we had, it seemed that the
17
site location is overwhelmed of the size of the Westvaco
18
tract that exists?
19
A.
20
tract.
My goodness, absolutely.
21
CHAIRMAN:
22
What is it?
Westvaco has a huge
I think your testimony
23
talks about 70,000 acres?
24
A.
25
I’ve got --- that I say what I ---.
That sounds correct.
I want to make sure that
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CHAIRMAN:
2
Well, it’s the bottom of page two is
3
what I’m looking at.
4
A.
5
is 70,000 --- approximately 70,000.
Thank you.
Yes, the land that Westvaco controls
6
CHAIRMAN:
7
So this is --- when we rode around up
8
there, it looked as if this site was pretty much nestled
9
in the woods of that entire 70,000 acre tract and I, for
10
one, only saw visibility of your existing towers from
11
very remote and sparse locations.
12
that will be the same circumstances with respect to the
13
33 that you’re getting ready to build?
14
A.
15
property consultant identified that that’s same case.
16
These new turbines will have a limited visibility from
17
the area.
Yes, it is.
Is it safe to say that
The testimony from our visual
18
CHAIRMAN:
19
The height of the new turbines is 500
20
and some-odd feet?
21
A.
Actually, it’s a maximum height of 497.
22
CHAIRMAN:
23
And since you mentioned the visual
24
expert’s --- if you could summarize generally, what was
25
their conclusion with respect to the visibility of these
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--- I take it they’re not nestled along I-64 or anything
2
like that?
3
A.
4
saying that because of the topography with the various
5
--- you know, various ridges throughout the area, because
6
these are set back into some of the more interior ridges,
7
you know, within a 20 mile radius around the project,
8
only about t3 percent of the area really will have a view
9
of the turbines.
That’s right.
The consultant was essentially
10
CHAIRMAN:
11
And you talked --- you mentioned in
12
response the Commissioner, you talked about the
13
Incidental Take Permit.
14
Take Permit permit you to do?
15
A.
16
are making efforts to minimize any take efforts of an
17
endangered species.
18
are federal --- there’s the ability to take us to court
19
if we do take an endangered species.
20
this effort with Fish & Wildlife, we investigate
21
different mitigation plans, modifying our operation of
22
the facility to minimize any Take so that if by chance we
23
do, we have shown good faith and made good efforts to ---
24
working with the officials to minimize any impact of
25
these species.
What exactly does an Incidental
It’s almost a ---.
It’s a process by which we
Without an asserted effort, there
By going through
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CHAIRMAN:
2
It’s not to be pursued --- perceived as
3
a license to take?
4
A.
5
--- do we think that this is a reasonable process you’re
6
going through?
7
placed; however, there are processes and things we can do
8
to minimize the impact of the environment.
Absolutely not.
It’s like do everything you can
There is a chance that something could be
CHAIRMAN:
9
10
Do you have -- and I realize it’s tough
11
to predict the timing of action of any agency, but do you
12
have any thought with respect to when you expect to
13
receive your incidental thing?
14
A.
15
There’s a lot of discussion going on with the Certs and
16
outside agencies and we continue to expect that we could
17
see something in the second quarter this year.
18
hopeful of that.
19
modifying our habitat and conservation plan.
20
then feeds into the environmental impact statement that
21
the service has prepared.
22
regard to this whole effort is it’s not just in Invenergy
23
and Beech Ridge, but it’s the industry as a whole.
24
There’s several other folks in the industry that are
25
going through the same process with different conditions,
We’re making very good progress with the Certs.
We are
We are going right now --- we are
And that
Part of what's going on with
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different stipulations.
So we are sort of caught up and
2
working across multiple developments as to what's the
3
best way to come through --- come up with a mitigation
4
plan.
5
A lot of what's been going on, we’ve been
6
participating in a number of studies over the last
7
several years, and there’s been a great deal of
8
correlation with regards to bats and that.
9
a lot of people don’t even understand the nuances of how
First of all,
10
bats act in the wild; however, there’s been a lot of
11
studies that identify wind speeds and temperatures as
12
factors that may impact the take of a bat.
13
what's been going on has been modifying what's known as a
14
cutting speed for turbulence at certain times of the day
15
and certain times of the year so that the turbines don’t
16
begin spinning --- the logic is the turbines, they don’t
17
begin spinning until there’s such a time when one would
18
expect fewer bats to by flying.
And a lot of
High wind speeds.
19
CHAIRMAN:
20
There was some discussion --- I want
21
you to put it on the record, that there were in fact some
22
enhancements or advances or some sort of state-of-the-art
23
improvements that have already been made with respect to
24
some of the turbines you’re going to be putting up in
25
that regard.
Provide for the record, if you will, what's
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different about new turbines that will make them more
2
efficient, more proficient, more bat protective or
3
whatever else?
4
A.
5
the ability to modify wind cutting speeds over time.
6
It’s basic logic in the software of the --- actually,
7
it’s a lot more work than we originally expect to be able
8
to get these to work together so that they don’t turn on
9
at certain times of the day at certain wind speeds.
Well, some of the very basic modifications are
And
10
essentially when I say turn on, the basic logic of the
11
turbine is that they often times will sit idle at very
12
low wind speeds and add about three meters per second,
13
about seven miles an hour.
The turbine will sense that
14
it’s a certain wind speed.
The blades will then pitch
15
and engage the wind and begin turning.
16
So what this new logic, these enhancements are
17
that they will pith at a higher speed.
There’s a logic
18
on that --- there’s a great deal of research going on in
19
the industry, General Electrics, to modify the edges of
20
the blades.
21
That’s a little bit further down the road.
22
great deal of research going on with regard to that.
That, and to eventually not affect bats.
There’s a
23
CHAIRMAN:
24
We visited the site up on the mountain
25
that was sort of the center on the map, at least.
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37
1
it that the oversight, the review, the control, if you
2
will, of the turbines and what you just discussed takes
3
place, is it there or somewhere else?
4
A.
5
takes place.
6
so that it senses a particular wind at that turbine and
7
whether it pitches --- it pitches the blades, it rotates.
8
And that can vary across the terrain of the project.
9
Actually, there’s almost three places that it
Each turbine has its own operating system
We also have an operating system.
All that
10
information is then fed back to our operations and
11
maintenance building, which is there on top of the
12
mountain, so that our technicians and our staff can
13
monitor the project.
14
information back to our 24 hour operations center back in
15
the Chicago area.
16
And our technicians are on a 60 minute, 24 by 7 on-call,
17
you know, if anything happens out there in the field.
18
the logic is in several places that they can be modified
19
or affected.
And then we also send that
So we monitor this on a regular basis.
20
CHAIRMAN:
21
Who has all of the control?
Chicago would, right.
So
Chicago?
22
A.
In fact, part of what
23
Chicago does, too, is work with the grid in terms of the
24
performance.
25
of grid needs, we can do that there.
If there’s ever a need to shut down because
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CHAIRMAN:
2
And all agreements and consents with
3
respect to the operation of the project, after its
4
construction in order to deliver power to the grid,
5
that’s all been completed?
6
A.
7
correct.
8
power on our current connection, whereby we still have
9
about 85 megawatts of capacity that we can deliver to the
10
The ability to deliver to the grid, that’s
With this project, we are basically adding more
grid.
11
CHAIRMAN:
12
My point is that’s been agreed to by
13
the Allegheny Chesapeake ---
14
A.
That’s correct.
15
CHAIRMAN:
16
--- centers?
17
A.
Yes, it has.
18
CHAIRMAN:
19
All right.
You talked in your
20
testimony about your experience and success with other
21
projects.
22
projects you’ve been involved with.
23
A.
24
the first projects I was involved with was here at the
25
original Beech Ridge.
Tell me a little bit about some of the
It’s interesting to me because I did --- one of
I have since taken more
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responsibility in the Midwest, supervising construction
2
of about 600 megawatts of wind power in Illinois and
3
Michigan over the past couple of years.
4
essentially more of --- you know, if you will, Midwestern
5
farm type of installations that are probably, if
6
anything, a little bit closer to houses and neighbors and
7
communities than even here up in the mountains like we
8
have with Beech Ridge.
9
Those are
We’ve been very successful in terms of being
10
able to sell the power, work with communities for sound
11
placement and then working very closely in terms of
12
construction to minimize the impact to the community and
13
then turning that over to our operations team; whereby we
14
can continue to provide jobs and revenue into the
15
communities.
16
CHAIRMAN:
17
Have there been advancements in sound
18
--- monitoring?
Or Jesus, the word muting comes to mind.
19
But in addressing the sound of the turbines in the past
20
that’s caused some problem?
21
A.
22
areas where there’s been changes.
23
of the mechanical sounds that may be coming from the
24
units themselves, you get a lot of them that would be
25
part of the gearbox.
There has.
There’s been a couple different
Number one, in terms
You have a generator that’s up
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there.
There’s been a lot of changes whereby we
2
insulated --- insulate those mechanical systems much
3
better than we had five, six, seven years ago.
4
CHAIRMAN:
5
There would be ---?
6
A.
Absolutely.
The industry as a whole has seen
7
that as problematic and the manufactures have taken steps
8
to make sure that sound insulation is robust on these.
9
The second would be the performance.
The swooshing, if
10
you will, of the turbine blade itself, and blade
11
technology has continued to be modified so as to get
12
greater power out of the turbines as well as minimize
13
noise.
14
CHAIRMAN:
15
So they have a swooshing sound?
16
A.
Yeah.
There are different things you can do to
17
the blade.
18
GE or others for that.
19
continue to be under way to minimize as that blade cuts
20
through the air how much sound comes off of it.
And I’m not a technical expert, so I defer to
But there are efforts that
21
CHAIRMAN:
22
Well, since we’re talking about sound,
23
I take it that your sound monitoring experts have
24
concluded that sound is not a problem on the project?
25
A.
That’s correct.
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CHAIRMAN:
2
You refer to the ECS, electric
3
collecting system.
4
generally that system for these turbines.
5
A.
6
individual generator and it produces power there at the
7
top.
8
power then comes down and is connected to a --- it’s
9
inverted to an AC and then it’s stepped up in voltage.
Sure.
How will that be --- describe
The collection system, each turbine is an
There’s a generator up on the cell at the top.
The
10
So you’ve got a transformer right there at the base where
11
we step up our voltage.
12
more efficient to transmit at the high voltage.
13
run underground cables, three large cables for the
14
electrical power, along with a fiber cable and the ground
15
wire all buried three, four feet under ground.
The reason for doing that is
We then
16
CHAIRMAN:
17
So they’re not wires stretching?
18
They’re on the ground --- or in the air from wind turbine
19
to wind turbine, this is all underground?
20
A.
21
--- because of the nature of this area, we’re running
22
them pretty much in the logging modes of the adjacent
23
roads.
24
back to our existing substation.
25
It’s all underground, right.
Essentially, we’re
We dig up trenches there and run it all the way
CHAIRMAN:
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Were there any --- again, does any of
2
that create or cause water or hydrology problems?
3
your experts address that?
4
A.
5
have to be careful during construction for any spilled
6
water prevention plan, but once we go ahead and do the
7
digging, burry the cable, compact it back into place,
8
there’s no topical influence or hydrological issues
9
associated with having that buried cable there.
Our experts looked at that.
It does not.
10
CHAIRMAN:
11
Is there anything significantly
Did
We
12
different in BR II from BR I with respect to the
13
foundations of these towers and how they’re constructed
14
or the depth of it or anything?
15
A.
16
spread footing.
17
a bit different, so the size may be a bit different.
18
still have to go through and do our soil borings to
19
evaluate a specific --- you know, specific soil
20
conditions; although at this point, we expect them to be
21
very similar to BR I.
22
spread footings as the current system has.
They’re essentially a very similar foundation,
The low-lying kind of foundation may be
So we expect that we will have
23
CHAIRMAN:
24
I didn’t have the pleasure of
25
participating in BR I.
What is the relative height of
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the towers at BR II versus BR I?
2
A.
3
plans are to add a 96 meter tower and a 100 meter rotor,
4
497 total.
5
and a half meter rotor on it, so I don’t know the
6
calculations in my head, but ---.
Beech Ridge II is identified --- right now, our
Beech Ridge I has an 80 meter tower and an 87
7
CHAIRMAN:
8
I certainly can't help you, but I
9
understand.
They’re slightly smaller.
10
A.
Slightly smaller.
I mean one of the things is
11
that as technology has changed, you have a lot of --- get
12
more power out of the system.
13
CHAIRMAN:
14
You talked about the safety controls
15
that would be implemented --- and again, there was some
16
discussion about the differences or really the
17
advancements that have been made in the last five to ten
18
years.
19
safety standpoint in comparing BR I and BR II,
20
particularly as it relates to being ---?
21
A.
22
both very, very similar.
23
access to the turbine, it’s a long pole with a locked
24
door.
25
Is there anything significantly different from a
I mean standing next to the turbine, they’re
I mean in terms of safety,
There’s no issues there.
In terms of the safety of the turbine itself,
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the operation, they are in no way less safe.
If
2
anything, we continue to learn more about the operation
3
of these systems and how they can be, you know, shut down
4
and extremely efficient.
They are in no way less safe.
5
CHAIRMAN:
6
Access up the mountain with respect to
7
the turbines and the blades and the --- up the mountain,
8
is the task that you face with respect to BR II
9
significantly different from the one you faced with BR I
10
and is there a difference in impact?
11
A.
12
phase and it would be very, very similar.
13
will come off of I-64, down Highway 60, make a turn onto
14
Route 1 and go up to the mountain the same way.
15
difference is when they get to the top of the mountain,
16
essentially, instead of turning right, they’re going to
17
turn left to go down the ridge line.
18
similar process.
19
project.
Actually, we learned a great deal on the first
The components
The
So it’s a very
That’s one of the benefits of the
20
CHAIRMAN:
21
Turn to page 14 of your testimony, and
22
I’m looking at your Direct.
I think you may have updated
23
this somewhat in your rebuttal, but it didn’t seem to me
24
that there was a great deal of change.
25
down with you the permits and approvals and you tell me,
I’d like to walk
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for the record, what the status of these are.
2
A.
Certainly.
3
CHAIRMAN:
4
Obviously the Siting Permit, we’re here
5
about, but Storm Water Permit?
I’m on page 14 of your
6
direct.
7
A.
8
finalize our location and then as we finalize those
9
locations, where we would put the 33 turbines, then we
The Storm Water Permit, that requires us to
10
have to go in for our Storm Water Permit, but we can't do
11
that until we micro-site, if you will, all our turbines
12
and associate rows.
13
CHAIRMAN:
14
Okay.
Where are you in respect to ---?
15
A.
We are currently working with Fish & Wildlife.
16
We are coming to an agreement on a Memorandum of
17
Understanding with those two groups, along with the
18
Catawba Tribe and that currently is with the Tribe for
19
review.
20
CHAIRMAN:
21
The Catawba Tribe?
22
A.
That’s correct.
23
CHAIRMAN:
24
Where is the Catawba Tribe located?
25
A.
Obviously, Greenbrier County ---.
Your Honor, I
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would have to say I don’t know the specifics of the
2
nation it’s serving.
3
CHAIRMAN:
4
All right.
We talked about your
5
Incidental Take Permit FAA approvals?
6
A.
7
locations.
8
--- We’ve done some preliminary reviews with the FAA and
9
see no problems, but we’ll have to give the exact
10
Again, those will require our micro-sited final
Once we have those locations, we’ll submit
location of each turbine, similar to the DEP Permit.
11
CHAIRMAN:
12
You talk about approvals that may be
13
necessary, one being a 404/401 Certification with the
14
Army Corps.
15
A.
16
navigable streams associated with the Corps, but we put
17
that in there as a precaution.
18
various roads and work will preclude us from having to do
19
that.
We don’t really expect to have to cross any
But we expect that our
20
CHAIRMAN:
21
Same with the stream activity ---?
22
A.
23
to ever do that.
24
have to do that.
25
Our desire typically is to stay away from having
We would relocate turbines so we don’t
CHAIRMAN:
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Air Quality Permit?
2
A.
That would really be associated with just the
3
batch plant for the concrete and that will be secured
4
once we would secure the contractor.
5
CHAIRMAN:
6
Flood Zone Construction Permit?.
7
You’re not in a flood zone on the top of that mountain?
8
A.
9
cross every T.
We don’t expect, but we have to dot every I and
10
CHAIRMAN:
11
And you either cleared or are clearing
12
everything with the Department of Highways?
13
A.
14
just when we get our delivery of our turbines through GE,
15
they have a transportation group that gets all the State
16
Highway Permits.
Right.
One of the biggest things right there is
17
CHAIRMAN:
18
And prior to construction, you will
19
either have those permits or have waivers for those
20
permits?
21
A.
That’s correct.
22
CHAIRMAN:
23
Project financing.
Obviously, you
24
don’t do your financing until you have all your permits
25
and authorizations, certifications.
How will you finance
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the construction of those projects?
2
A.
3
--- a construction loan, for the project.
4
typically have a debt component and an equity component.
5
We will take short-term loans for both components, a
6
equity loan and a construction loan.
7
term converted once we go operational.
We’ll finance the construction through a loan
Our projects
That will then be
8
CHAIRMAN:
9
Well, let me ask you, is there any
10
current plan --- are there any current plans that you’re
11
aware of to market this project?
12
A.
Absolutely.
We can get, you know ---.
13
CHAIRMAN:
14
So you’re going to market it, after you
15
construct it, to sell it to another individual?
16
A.
17
to sell to another individual, no.
No, no, no, sir.
To market the power, yes.
But
18
CHAIRMAN:
19
Let me look briefly at the testimony of
20
some of the other witnesses and see if there’s anything
21
we haven’t already talked about.
22
aviation migration studies for the Beech Ridge Project.
23
What was the --- I’m not sure I see it here.
24
the conclusion that he reached with respect to the
25
project?
Mr. Young sponsored the
What was
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A.
He saw that there was nothing unusual about the
2
location that would have a negative impact to the
3
environment.
4
CHAIRMAN:
5
All right.
6
about --- let me make sure.
7
about, ---
8
A.
By and large, we’ve talked
The acoustic study we talked
Yes.
CHAIRMAN:
9
10
--- the visual resource assessment,
11
which is a fancy word for how much of it you can see;
12
right?
13
status of that?
14
A.
15
will be a slight impact --- well, there will be an impact
16
during construction while we put the components up.
17
then post-construction there will be, essentially, from
18
an operations standpoint, minimal impact because it will
19
just be our operations pick up trucks going up there and
20
maybe an increase with tourists going up to take a look
21
at the turbines.
We talked about that.
Traffic study, what's the
Essentially, the traffic study is that there
22
CHAIRMAN:
23
All right.
24
was adjusted slightly ---?
25
A.
And
And that we’ll see --- that
That’s correct.
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CHAIRMAN:
2
And McCoy talked about the hydrology
3
and wind review.
His conclusion was?
4
A.
5
turbines up there, they have no impact to the hydrology.
That it was satisfactory.
Just like the
6
CHAIRMAN:
7
And the SHPO status and the discussions
8
between Gray & Pape, where is that now?
9
A.
Regarding the memorandum?
10
CHAIRMAN:
11
Regarding any agreements that you have
12
had made or have to make with SHPO with respect to any of
13
the sites that are anywhere near you projects.
14
A.
15
--- there was a church and cemetery that had been
16
identified as near.
17
visually impacted by the turbines.
The petition identified that none of the sites
But based on the studies, it’s not
18
CHAIRMAN:
19
I think we drove by the church, did we
20
not?
Was that the first stop we stopped beside?
21
ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
22
No, it’s a different church.
23
A.
24
more towards the north of the project.
25
I think it’s a different church.
I think it’s
CHAIRMAN:
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Well, in any event, the conclusion was
2
that there was no impact on it?
3
A.
That’s right.
4
CHAIRMAN:
5
Any other sites that were ---?
I guess
6
what I’m getting at is are you going to be doing anything
7
special with respect to SHPO that we should know about?
8
A.
9
them, we haven’t identified any impacts.
No.
What we’ve done is in consultation with
Therefore at
10
this time, there are no plans to do anything special.
11
And our understanding with them is that, going forward,
12
if we run into --- we have a procedure and if we run into
13
anything during construction, there’s a methodology that
14
we need to follow if something is found.
15
CHAIRMAN:
16
All right.
And we talked about the bat
All right.
Any further questions?
17
risk assessment.
18
Redirect?
Any
19
ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
20
Your Honor, just a couple questions in
21
no certain order.
22
REDIRECT EXAMINATION
23
BY ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
24
Q.
25
Exhibit 10.
Mr. Parzyck, look at page 10 of your Direct.
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A.
Right.
2
Q.
Up there at the top, about the fifth or sixth
3
line down is a sentence about how much acreage is
4
disturbed by the turbine, and down at the bottom it talks
5
about how much acreage or how many miles of new roads.
6
Is that a fair answer to the Chairman’s very early
7
question to you about how much of that 70,000 acres might
8
be ---?
9
A.
That is correct.
So approximately 2 acres per
10
turbine, 33 turbines, 66 acres on that.
11
Q.
Out of 70,000?
12
A.
Out of 70,000, that’s correct.
13
Q.
Okay.
14
bottom of the page, there will be four miles of new road?
15
A.
16
though, only have about a 16 foot wide width for our
17
operations trucks to access it.
18
minimal impact.
19
Q.
20
Commissioner McKinney asked and the Chairman asked ---
21
you did a really good job explaining all the issues at
22
the turbine that could be a mitigation plan.
23
usually another piece to an ITP; right?
24
A.
That’s correct.
25
Q.
Don’t tell us on the record where any purchases
And there will be --- as I read the
After construction is complete, those new roads,
Okay.
Couple more.
So it’s another thing,
With respect to the ITP,
There’s
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might be, but explain that concept.
2
A.
3
--- securing lands that currently have hibernacula for
4
bats to secure a ---.
We are working with the service in identifying
5
CHAIRMAN:
6
I assume to secure the hibernaculars
7
(sic) was to eliminate ---.
8
A.
Right, that’s correct.
9
anyhow.
Not develop it.
Secure it for long term,
10
BY ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
11
Q.
12
we don’t think we’ll need 404, 401 and stream activity.
13
We have already got a wetland survey that was approved by
14
the Corps of Engineers; correct?
15
A.
That’s correct.
16
Q.
So we know where everything is and they know
17
where everything is, and the job is to avoid it?
18
A.
Our job is to avoid it, that’s correct.
19
Q.
I might sound a little confused here about our
20
MOA or MOU with SHPO and Fish & Wildlife Service.
21
reason we’re still uncertain is we haven’t heard from the
22
nation --- the Catawba Nation; right?
23
say we got a deal because there’s somebody else out there
24
that has to sign off on the piece of paper; right?
25
A.
There was a little bit of discussion there about
That’s right.
The
So it’s hard to
We’ve been able to negotiate with
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two of the groups, we still need a third.
2
Q.
3
asked you if all the conditions here are the same as have
4
been, more or less, in all other Siting cases.
5
think I heard you say you weren’t an expert on all that
6
or however you said it.
7
extent there might be some differences in the conditions,
8
we’ve examined all those conditions and feel like we can
9
live with them?
And maybe just one other area.
The Chairman
And I
Is it fair to say that to the
So to the extent they might be different
10
than at another site in West Virginia, we focused on what
11
the conditions mean to us and we’re okay with all them?
12
A.
That’s correct.
13
ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
14
That’s all I have, Your Honor.
15
CHAIRMAN:
16
Mr. Trivelli, do you have any
17
questions?
18
ATTORNEY TRIVELLI:
19
No questions.
20
CHAIRMAN:
21
Staff?
22
ATTORNEY AUVILLE:
23
Just a couple.
24
CROSS EXAMINATION
25
BY ATTORNEY AUVILLE:
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Q.
Just a couple.
Take you back --- way back when
2
Mr. Palmer was asking you about the removal of turbines
3
two and three and alternate three.
4
came about in discussions with NCRA.
5
with the protests that have been filed in this case,
6
specifically Mr. Libelly (phonetic) and Mr. Shiftlet
7
(phonetic) was the other landowner that was in the area
8
of the project that had written in.
9
those turbines address by and large the concerns of of
You mentioned that it
You’re familiar
Would the removal of
10
Mr. Shiftlet and Mr. Libelly?
11
A.
12
Whether it addresses them fully is up to them, but it
13
would certainly address their concerns that were raised.
14
Q.
15
them about that?
16
A.
No, we haven’t.
17
Q.
But removal of those turbines removed --- places
18
the nearest turbine to both Mr. Libelly’s current house
19
and Mr. Shiftlet’s piece of property further away?
20
A.
That’s correct.
21
Q.
I’m sort of curious to try to understand talking
22
about the Incidental Take Permit.
23
I is being operated under an agreement that was made in a
24
settlement in the Federal District Court; correct?
25
A.
It certainly would address those concerns.
You all haven’t had any further discussion with
Currently Beech Ridge
Correct.
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Q.
And there’s parameters about the number of
2
turbines you can build and operational times and that
3
sort of thing?
4
A.
Right.
5
Q.
Will the Incidental Take Permit have --- will it
6
be a conditional operation?
7
just trying to figure out exactly how that works.
8
US Fish & Wildlife have those same sort of operational
9
conditions for you and do you have to follow them?
Is that how it works?
I’m
Will
Or
10
are they more like we think you should follow these and
11
if you don’t, then you will be in trouble, or if you do
12
take an endangered species, it will be worse for you?
13
A.
14
to keep these steps, so it will be a condition of that
15
Take Permit and it could be reopened if we don’t satisfy
16
those conditions.
17
Q.
18
parameters, cutting speeds, don’t operate during certain
19
sensitive times of the year, that sort of thing?
20
what you would expect ---
21
A.
Yes.
22
Q.
--- the conditions to be?
23
A.
Right.
24
nearly as extreme as they are right now, but they
25
certainly affect operation.
We are agreeing in our habitat conservation plan
Okay.
But there could be potential operational
Is that
Operational conditions that --- not
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Q.
There will be some --- maybe not like the
2
conditions now.
3
A.
Right.
4
Q.
And that will cover all, not just bass, which
5
has been mainly the focus of the Federal District Court,
6
but also any potential --- any endangered species?
7
A.
8
toward bass.
The operational conditions are really geared
ATTORNEY AUVILLE:
9
10
11
Okay.
All right.
That’s all.
Thank
you.
12
CHAIRMAN:
13
A couple more questions.
The insurance
14
--- I use that with a small I, and the security and the
15
concerns that are often expressed about site removal, if
16
and when the project terminates and you constructed the
17
towers and facilities.
18
different --- slightly different position in the past
19
than typically.
20
at the moment?
21
A.
I know that Staff has taken a
Is there a dispute with respect to that
No, there is not.
22
CHAIRMAN:
23
All right.
You are willing --- you are
24
essentially agreeing to the Staff position with respect
25
to that?
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A.
Yes, we are.
2
CHAIRMAN:
3
All right.
Just as a general
4
proposition, you’re familiar --- you’ve indicated you’re
5
familiar with the testimony that’s been filed in the case
6
by all the parties?
7
A.
Yes, I have.
8
CHAIRMAN:
9
You’re familiar with the stipulation
10
itself?
11
A.
Yes, I am.
12
CHAIRMAN:
13
Do you --- does Invenergy --- does your
14
Employer agree to all the terms and conditions that have
15
been set forth in the stipulation?
16
A.
Yes, we do.
17
CHAIRMAN:
18
All right.
And do you think those
19
terms and conditions are reasonable?
20
A.
Yes, I do.
21
CHAIRMAN:
22
Do you recommend them to the
23
Commission?
24
A.
25
move forward on the Siting Certificate.
We recommend to accept those stipulations and
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CHAIRMAN:
2
All right.
Mr. Trivelli, would you
3
state for the record your position with respect to the
4
stipulation?
5
ATTORNEY TRIVELLI:
6
Sure, Your Honor.
7
The Building Trades
signed and supports the stipulation.
8
CHAIRMAN:
9
All right.
Staff?
10
ATTORNEY AUVILLE:
11
Staff, as I understand, agrees with the
12
stipulation.
I think now would be a good time to address
13
you to ask earlier about --- you said you would ask Staff
14
if there are any different conditions in the Certificate.
15
If you look at page seven of the Joint Stipulation under
16
general construction and operations ---.
17
CHAIRMAN:
18
All right.
19
Joint Stipulation, page
seven?
20
ATTORNEY AUVILLE:
21
Yes.
Obviously, it relates to the
22
setback, which has not been a part of the certificates.
23
And (g) is also a condition that has not been a part of
24
previous certificates and it relates to Beech Ridge
25
agreeing that --- it basically stands behind this
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application and the reports and studies therein.
2
CHAIRMAN:
3
All right.
4
ATTORNEY AUVILLE:
5
I guess the other thing is, you know,
Anything further?
6
Staff did have some concerns, which is why I asked him
7
about the removal of two and three, about possibly
8
interfering with conditions that were put on Beech Ridge
9
I’s certificate in relation to the outline of turbines
10
and Mr. Libelly and the removal of those turbines
11
basically and any concern Staff may have had about that.
12
CHAIRMAN:
13
So you’re satisfied?
14
ATTORNEY AUVILLE:
15
Absolutely, yes.
16
CHAIRMAN:
17
All right.
18
All right.
19
SHORT BREAK TAKEN
Okay.
Anything further?
Give us about five minutes and we’ll be back.
20
CHAIRMAN:
21
Mr. Feinberg, we’ve read all the
22
testimony that was filed, we’ve read the stipulation,
23
we’ve listened to your witness.
24
addressed any concerns that we had with respect to the
25
project.
I think that he has
And the Decision of the Commission is that we
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will approve this project subject to the submission of an
2
Order from all the parties.
3
but it will be from --- well, we’ll draft it, or you can,
4
but it will be a lot faster if ---.
We’ll ask you to draft that,
5
ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
6
I’d be happy to, Your Honor.
7
CHAIRMAN:
8
And it will address some of the
9
statements that were made today.
It will obviously pick
10
up all the conditions in it and when that’s available
11
as ---.
12
BRIEF INTERRUPTION
13
CHAIRMAN:
14
There’s Mr. Trivelli.
15
ATTORNEY TRIVELLI:
16
I’m sorry.
17
CHAIRMAN:
18
It’s all right.
We just were saying
19
that we heard the testimony and the development of the
20
record, and we’re comfortable with the testimony and it’s
21
addressed our concerns.
22
enter an Order approving it upon submission of an Agreed
23
Order by the parties.
24
you have the Order, you can attest that all parties have
25
agreed to it. Hopefully that won’t be a problem.
And that we will be prepared to
And so we’ll --- with that, when
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submit it and we’ll see that it’s entered promptly.
2
ATTORNEY FEINBERG:
3
Thank you very much, Your Honor.
4
We
will be happy to do that.
5
CHAIRMAN:
6
Is there anything else to come before
7
us?
If not, we’re adjourned.
Thank you.
8
* * * * * * * *
9
HEARING CONCLUDED AT 10:49 A.M.
10
* * * * * * * *
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
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CERTIFICATE
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I hereby certify, as the stenographic reporter, that
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the foregoing proceedings were taken stenographically by
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me, and thereafter reduced to typewriting by me or under
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my direction; and that this transcript is a true and
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accurate record to the best of my ability.
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Sargent's Court Reporting Service, Inc.
(814) 536-8908