Category Archives: Law

News about CCA’s private prison Project Excel expected at Thursday’s VLCIA board meeting

Thursday’s Industrial Authority retreat and board meeting are both open meetings, which the public can attend. And at the 2PM board meeting apparently there will be news about Project Excel, CCA’s private prison.

VLCIA Executive Director Andrea Schruijer clarified on the telephone just now that Thursday’s 9AM-2PM board retreat is an open meeting; the public can attend. She said the agenda was made by the facilitator, and she had not seen it. The purpose of the retreat is for board members to talk about their experiences and roles as board members. The retreat is not for discussing specific projects.

Regarding the 2PM board meeting Thursday, she said she thought the agenda was on VLCIA’s web pages. When we looked and found it wasn’t there, she said apparently there was some confusion due to the rescheduling of the meeting, and the agenda would be there soon.

I asked her whether the Project Excel Project Excel, the CCA private prison, she said the Preliminary Specifications ( see section 1.6.1) had been received. She said they had been received, and they were simply a site diagram, a copy of which was hanging on VLCIA’s office wall. From discussion with her, it appears to be this site plan: Continue reading →

Does Georgia Power own the sunshine?

While opening a solar site in Richmond Hill last Friday, Dr. Sidney Smith said Georgia Power thinks it owns your sunshine:
It’s a personal freedom issue and a personal rights issue. And also it’s an issue of our future generations.

But I know that we’re going to come out on top…. The reason we’re going to come out on top. You’re going to choose a higher power bill, or a lower power bill? Now, I know you’re going to say I want a lower power bill.

Here’s the video:


Does Georgia Power own the sunshine?
South Eastern Pathology Associates,
Selling Power, Lower Rates for Customers LLC (LRCLLC),
Richmond Hill, Bryan County, Georgia, 17 February 2012.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

As Dr. Smith told the AP a few days later:

We have a property rights issue: Who owns the sunshine, and does a property owner get to do anything he wants with it?” Smith said. “Georgia Power says he can use it to grow grass, get a sunburn, but he’s not allowed to change it to electricity. That’s not correct.”
And it goes beyond just generating your own power for lower rates for yourself as a customer. Why not be able to sell it to somebody else who wants it, too?
This is just the first step. In a way and a process that we’re ultimately going to be able to sell power out of Bryan County back to Atlanta, bringing dollars back from Atlanta to Bryan County.
And Lowndes County can do the same. Atlanta wants our water? Sell them sunshine instead!

SB 401 can help with that. If you want it to pass, you can sign the petition or call your state senator.

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Georgia Power opposes SB 401 and Lower Rates for Customers

Is anyone surprised that Georgia Power has come out in opposition to Georgia SB 401, which will let you generate solar power and sell it to whomever you like? If you do want to do that, you can call your state senator today.

Errin Haines wrote for AP 18 Feb 2012, Georgia Power balks at Senate solar power proposal,

“The power company ought to be doing this, but they don’t want to buy it from anybody that produces it,” said state Sen. Buddy Carter, the bill’s main sponsor.

The state’s main electricity provider, Georgia Power, is opposing the legislation, pointing to the state’s Electric Service Act. Created nearly four decades ago, the law established assigned territories for the power company, along with 42 electric membership cooperatives and 52 cities with municipal systems, all competing for customers.

Spokeswoman Christy Ihrig said in a statement that the proposed bill would illegally infringe on the company’s territory and that the introduction of a new supplier could drive up rates for customers because utilities would be required to hike costs. She added the company is supportive of solar power and is working to provide solar as an option to customers.

Ah, the old territoriality law! “Competing” through assigned territories. Does that seem right to you?

You know, it’s not illegal if the legislature changes the law….

If you want lower rates for customers, call your state senator today. Around here, that would be Senator Tim Golden, tim.golden@senate.ga.gov

Capitol Office:
121-A State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334
Phone: (404) 656-7580
Fax: (404) 463-4226
District Office:
110 Beacon Hill
Valdosta, GA 31602
Phone: (229) 293-0202 (O)
(229) 241-1284 (H)
(229) 241-7732 (F)

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“I’ve found that Minnesotans do not want their laws written by the lobbyists of big corporations” — MN Gov. Mark Dayton

Remember American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the big corporate lobby group that helps CCA push for private prisons? The one that lobbied 24 states to pass “anti-immigration” laws that create new misdemeanors and felonies to send more customers to CCA prisons? One governor has decided he’s had enough of that.

Zaid Jilani wrote for Republic Report 15 February 2012, Minnesota Governor Calls Out Corporate Front Group ALEC, Vetoes Its Bills

It has grown so powerful that it now has nearly one-third of all state legislators under its umbrella.

ALEC has worked with legislators to pass bills ranging from issues as diverse as stripping unionized workers of their rights to making it harder for low-income citizens to vote. It is usually able to do so because it hands its corporate-written template bills to state legislators and gets them passed without any public scrutiny as to the origin of this legislation.

Late last week, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton (D) decided that corporate front groups like ALEC should not be able to write his state’s laws. Dayton decided to veto a series of “tort reform” bills that would’ve restricted the rights of citizens to sue to hold big corporations responsible. In a press conference discussing his vetoes, Dayton condemned ALEC for providing the templates for the bills. “I’ve found that Minnesotans do not want their laws written by the lobbyists of big corporations,” said Dayton.

Here’s video: Continue reading →

There are some things only government should do: FL Senate ends prison privatization

There are just some things that only government should do. And jailing for profit is not the public good. That’s what the Florida Senate decided Tuesday, ending an attempt to legislate privatization of prisons.

David Royse in wctv.tv yesterday, Florida Senate Kills Prison Privatization,

A bipartisan coalition of senators bucked the chamber’s Republican leadership Tuesday and rejected a proposal to privatize several prisons, but got warnings from leaders that it will have a cost in further budget cuts.

In a dramatic showdown with Senate President Mike Haridopolos and three other top leaders one of whom controls the Senate’s budget, one who controls the calendar and one who will be the next president opponents of the bill managed to kill it on a 19-21 vote.

The odd coalition that lined up against the bill included Republican populists who have become occasional mavericks, Democrats and some members of the GOP caucus that almost always vote with their party, but come from areas laden with corrections officers who opposed the idea.

Private prison proponents tried to sell it as cost savings. If prison privatization really does save money, why did the legislature previously try to hide it in a general budget bill, which was thrown out by a judge back in September?

This time, senators weren’t buying that baloney. Continue reading →

Help pass GA Senate Bill 401 to facilitate distributed power cogeneration

SB 401 intends to modernize Georgia law to make distributed power generation easier. You can help.

Drs Sidney Smith and Pat Godbey not only have started Tabby Power, which sells solar power directly to customers. They also have an outfit called Lower Rates for Customers, which is about generating solar power in one place and selling it in another. There are various legal impediments to doing that.

Charlie Harper wrote for the Courier-Herald and Peach Pundit 9 February 2012, A Little Sunshine On A Battle To Expand Renewable Energy,

Essentially, customers with solar panels meter not only power coming into their house from the existing grid, but also the amount of power returned to the grid. The generating company — Georgia Power in most of the state — is required to buy surplus power back based on their state granted regulated monopoly status. Currently, projects are limited in size to 10 Kw for residential customers and 100 Kw for business customers. SB 401 removes these caps.

More intricate details of the bill provide for private ownership of these systems, as opposed to current law which requires the owner of the property to also own the attached grids. This will allow for manufacturers of solar grids or interested third parties to enter into financing or lease agreements which pay for the systems long term out of cost savings for the customer. By allowing for these arrangements, many customers can access these systems with no money up front, as opposed to the high initial capital costs which would take years to recover.

Here are the details and text of SB 401. It has six cosponsors:
  1. Carter, Buddy 1st
  2. Chance, Ronnie 16th
  3. Carter, Jason 42nd
  4. Williams, Tommie 19th
  5. Rogers, Chip 21st
  6. Stoner, Doug 6th
We’ve seen Doug Stoner before, at last June’s Southern Solar Summit, talking about renewable energy. It looks like he and others are actually trying to do something about it.

You can help, by signing this petition.

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Has CCA already breached the private prison agreement with VLCIA?

And also in her recent response about the Notice to Proceed (NTP), VLCIA Executive Director Andrea Schruijer didn’t answer the other question, which was whether VLCIA had received the Preliminary Specifications ( see section 1.6.1) that appear to have been due at least half a year ago, according to the Development Schedule in Schedule 1.6.2 of the Agreement. Without those Preliminary Specifications, maybe CCA has already breached the contract.

She copied VLCIA’s attorney. Probably he could interpret the termination clauses of the contract that way….

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Third extension option offered by VLCIA to CCA for private prison?

Update: Andrea Schruijer’s answer of 21 February 2012.

Also in her recent response about the Notice to Proceed (NTP), VLCIA Executive Director Andrea Schruijer she didn’t mention this paragraph:

5.1.2. Expiration. If the Company has not issued the NTP by the expiration of the Term of the Option Agreement, then this Agreement shall expire and terminate, without any further liability on the part of any Party to the other, except as otherwise expressly provided in this Agreement.
The current, second, extension term expires 13 March 2012, one month from Monday. If there’s no NTP and no third extension before then, there’s no private prison (see 5.1.2).

So has VLCIA sent CCA terms for a third extension option? If not, this thing may be over in a month and a few days. If yes, what are those terms?

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Development Schedule for CCA and VLCIA private prison

In her recent response about the Notice to Proceed (NTP), VLCIA Executive Director Andrea Schruijer cited and paraphrased paragraph 1.6.2 of the Purchase and Development Agreement. The same paragraph points out the Development Schedule is already in the Agreement, as Schedule 1.6.2.
The Development Schedule contains, among other things, milestones for the work and assignments of responsibility to the Parties for the attainment of certain milestones.
Here it is:

So it’s not clear why she said CCA hadn’t provided a Development Schedule.

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VLCIA has not received a Notice to Proceed from CCA for the private prison

Received Wednesday. -jsq
From: Andrea Schruijer
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2012 3:38 PM
To: ‘Matt Flumerfelt’
Cc: ‘Steve Gupton’
Subject: RE: Notice to Proceed and Preliminary Specifications

Dear Mr. Flumerfelt,

In regards to your email of February 6, 2012, CCA has not given to the Authority a “Development Schedule” and has not received from CCA a “Notice to Proceed.” Under paragraph 1.6.2, except for some due diligence provided for in the agreement, the Parties have no obligation to proceed with design, permitting, installation or construction of the Project, prior to receiving a NTP from CCA. CCA has absolute discretion in issuing or withholding the NTP. After the issuance of the NTP the parties shall proceed with the development of the project in accordance with the Development Schedule.

Sincerely,
Andrea Schruijer

Continue reading →