In this issue, Sharon Staz gave an update on NEPPA members attending the APPA Rally and conducting hill visits. Nevertheless, I wanted to share some insights that may have gone undocumented. While the visits were productive for NEPPA and its positions, it was even more dramatic for Mike Cloutier. Mike participated in almost every Massachusetts office visit, which were all Democratic. As we began the meetings, Mike was proudly wearing his Republican pin. Mike’s last meeting was with Representative Joe Kennedy, and in an action that can only be attributed to the Kennedy magic, upon leaving the office, Mike was seen throwing his pin into the waste basket! Just before he jumped into a cab for the airport, he was seen signing a petition in support of gun control and saying that he only wishes that Barney Frank would run for the open Senate seat.

Well after that, I have to tell you any doubt I had about the Kennedy magic was gone!

Sharon Staz and John Bilda participated in APPA-facilitated FERC meetings on behalf of NEPPA, and they also experienced dramatic events. The commissioners agreed that the structure of the ISO New England market was designed and implemented in a way that was detrimental to public power. They found the desire of ISO New England to increase their expenses by adding new staff unacceptable. They reversed their decision on self-supply, citing that a market could not dictate what an owner did with their own assets, without creating a form of pseudo government-endorsed monopoly.

The biggest surprise was the turnaround on transmission incentives! They found the incentive rates and adders on new transmission projects to be gouging the consumers and beyond the pale. They called for an immediate reduction to a flat 6%, which is only twice the lending rates and the average return on investment for other opportunities. I am not sure how directly these changes were related to Sharon and John’s visits, but commissioners were seen later in the week in slings and casts. They also announced new security protocols for the FERC offices.

During the days of our Hill visits, President Obama was also up at the Capitol reaching across the aisle to Republican members of Congress. His motorcade created some congestion and almost some tardiness by us to meetings. We then ran into him and his Secret Service escort in the halls. For those who have never experienced the Secret Service, they are mostly tall and wiry. They look like the antagonist in the Matrix, able to spring at you from great distances with ease.

 

As our group was moving through the halls, we were brushed aside by the Secret Service escort to allow the President to pass, but because of her size, Judy Gove was apparently glanced over and collided with the President. He bowled her right over. Being a good guy, he reached down and helped her up. He then attempted to make some small talk, but Judy being a great poker player thanked him for helping her up and stated that she could see by his face that his mind was elsewhere and she would not keep him. He was shocked by her honesty and asked if he was that transparent. She simply stated that bluffing might not be his strong suit. The President, being an avid poker player, decided to invite Judy to an evening game he had going.

Judy accomplished more in the three-hour game she had with the President than all of our combined hill visits to save tax-free municipal bonds. As she told the story to us, they were down to the final hand of the evening, and she had been baiting the President all evening by letting him win a little and building his confidence. In the final hand, she had a great draw. Joe Biden kept giggling at his hand and asking if anyone had any eights. Jay Carney, the Press Secretary, folded under pressure and former General Petraeus excused himself saying he had some place to be.

 

However, the President kept an icy stare on Judy. He knew the hand was down to the two of them. Then she saw what she needed. She saw the slight smile from the right side of his mouth that she had seen so many times in his Presidential debates and meetings with John Boehner. He was bluffing! So, she doubled down and put municipal bonds on the table. If she won, the tax-free municipal bonds would be off limits for the rest of his term. When her full house topped his pair, she saved our critical funding source. But he did get the last word. He whispered in her ear that tax-free municipal bonds were never in jeopardy, because of the amount issued by Chicago and his desire to have a place to live when he finished his term!