noLNG

LNG meeting: 'smacks of federal conspiracy'

Interesting article in the Daily Astorian about recent meetings between FERC and Northern Star that were off-limits to other concerned parties.

A meeting between Bradwood Landing representatives and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff was apparently closed to some intervenors while others were invited to attend.

Astoria resident Peter Huhtala, one of 10 intervenors involved in a dispute over the meeting, said FERC unfairly excluded legitimate parties from the talk and "it smacks of federal conspiracy."

Huhtala joined with Columbia Riverkeeper and other groups in filing a complaint against FERC staff and Bradwood Landing developer Northern Star Natural Gas Co. Their complaint is the Dec. 14 meeting violates FERC rules on "ex parte" or exclusive communications with project applicants.

FERC is the federal agency that will ultimately approve or deny the Bradwood Landing application to build an LNG facility 20 miles east of Astoria on the Columbia River. Intervenors are parties that have a voice in the approval process.

FERC spokeswoman Tamara Young-Allen said her agency takes "ex parte" rules "very seriously" and the Commission could decide to reassign the Bradwood Landing case to different

FERC staff as a result of the complaint. FERC has specific rules on agency meetings with project applicants. In many cases, intervenors are required to be invited, and public notice must be given even if the meeting isn't public.

According to the complaint document, no public notice was given for the meeting and some intervenors were refused by FERC staff when they tried to attend.

By CASSANDRA PROFITA The Daily Astorian

Complete article: LNG meeting: 'smacks of federal conspiracy'.

"The Case Against LNG" by Loretta Lynch

"The Case Against LNG" is a four part video of a talk by Loretta Lynch, who served as chair on the California Public Utilities Commission from 2000 - 2005. The video is of a talk given by Ms. Lynch June 20, 2006 at Cafe on A in Oxnard, California.

The Case Against LNG - Part One
The Case Against LNG - Part Two
The Case Against LNG - Part Three
The Case Against LNG - Part Four

Nice article on Ted Messing, one of our members

While fighting the proposed LNG sites along our river takes a lot of time, some of our members have lives beyond fighting the threatened blight of LNG. Amazing but true! grin

Ted Messing, along with his wife Cheryl Johnson, are active members of several groups committed to saving the river from heavy industrial development. The Daily Astorian has an article about Ted that focuses on these activities along with Ted's hand-carved manzanita burl vases. Take a look at the article, and if you happen to see Ted's work somewhere, check it out. He creates some beautiful objects of desire.

Artist carves his niche, loves the land and commits to protect it.

Roundup of recent articles

Did you know that the Daily Astorian has a special section where all of the articles on proposed LNG projects are collected? It's a convenient way to keep up on what is happening with Northern Star (Bradwood) and Calpine (Warrenton). Visit it by clicking here:

LNG Controversy section at The Daily Astorian

Here are a few recent articles  (click a headline to open the complete article in a new window)

General

Opponents say LNG would hurt state tourism

Northern Star / Bradwood

County pledges to open up LNG files (more on this here)

LNG safety concerns move to forefront of approval process

County to decide on LNG - but feds would handle an appeal

Bradwood LNG submits zone change, land-use requests

LNG pipeline may link with NW Natural>

Calpine / Warrenton

Ex-Calpine man looks to jump-start LNG

Calpine lease sold to Leucadia National

Latest LNG twist angers North Coast residents

Clatsop County publishes some Bradwood data

Clatsop County has published some of the Northern Star application documents on its web site (Clatsop County Oregon - Bradwood LNG)

From the site:

On Dec. 12, 2006, Bradwood Landing LLC submitted applications and supporting documents to Clatsop County Community Development to site a liquified natural gas (LNG) import terminal at Bradwood.  The applications and supporting documents are available using these links:

• Bradwood Landing LLC applications
• Bradwood Landing LLC findings in support of its applications
• Bradwood Landing LLC additional applications filed Dec. 15, 2006

There is also a PDF with county and public reaction to Northern Star's Notice of Intent (NOI) available at the site. (direct link)

Meeting: LNG ships on the Columbia River

This could be the lower columbia river!
Proposed liquefied natural gas (lng) sites on the river would mean tankers like this on our river 2 to 3 times each week.

• Will this impact your business?
• Will this impact the ports?
• Will this impact recreational use of the river?
• Will this impact city and county revenues

Please plan on attending this public forum on the impacts to private property owners, businesses, ports and recreational activities from proposed LNG terminals on the Lower Columbia River.

Saturday, January 13th
1 to 3 p.m.
Cowlitz PUD community room
Longview, Washington
Sponsored by:
Landowners and Citizens for a Safe Community

Northern Star restructures for IPO

As part of their preparation for an initial public offering (IPO) of stock, Northern Star has changed their status from LLC to C corporation. They have also filed their initial paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission (S1 form) and created a prospectus for potential investors. Both of these documents are available for your perusal (links below) online.

The prospectus seems to have more than the usual number of caveats including that the IPO will not be for enough to complete development of the three facilities NS have in the works. But there were a few things that jumped out at me. To wit:

We currently estimate that the remaining development cost as of September 30, 2006 for our three LNG terminal projects will be approximately $62 million, and expect that certain of these costs will be funded by the proceeds of this offering. However, we cannot assure you that our development costs will not exceed the amount raised from this offering due to unforeseen circumstances and delays in the permitting process.

I read that and thought: 62 million to develop three plants? Seems kind of cheap. But apparently develop means plan or something because the next point says:

The proceeds from this offering are not sufficient to construct any of our proposed LNG terminals. We must obtain separate and additional financing in order to construct our planned LNG terminals.

We currently estimate that the aggregate cost of completing our Bradwood and Clearwater LNG terminals will be approximately $1.4 billion, excluding interest during construction and financing fees and the cost of our Orion LNG terminal has not yet been determined.

Oh! So this offering is really a drop in the bucket for NS's theoretical three LNG facilities. Makes you wonder where the other billion is coming from, doesn't it?

The construction and operation of our proposed LNG terminals on the West Coast could be materially adversely affected by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, and other similar natural catastrophes.

But didn't they tell us we didn't have to worry about natural disasters?

LNG and oil facilities, shipyards, carriers, pipelines, and oil and gas fields and virtually all other energy-related facilities could be targets of future terrorist attacks. Any such attacks could lead to, among other things, bodily injury or loss of life or other property damage, increased operational costs, including insurance costs, and the inability to operate our LNG terminals.

But didn't they tell us we didn't have to worry about terrorists?

Based on the amount of convertible notes outstanding as of November 15, 2006, if we were to be required to redeem all of the convertible notes (on May 17, 2009) we would be required to make cash payments to convertible note holders in an aggregate amount of up to $103.5 million plus interest accrued through May 17, 2009, unless all or a portion of the convertible notes are converted by the holders or redeemed by us prior to such date.

That's a big bill for people with so little in the way of assets. But don't listen to me, listen to Northern Star:

We currently have no operating revenues and negative cash flow, and we may not be able to achieve profitability and generate positive cash flow in the future. We currently have no operating revenues. During 2005, we incurred combined net losses of $8.6 million and in the nine months ended September 30, 2006, we incurred net losses of $42.8 million. We will continue to incur losses and experience negative operating cash flow during the next several years through the development and construction stages of the LNG terminal projects. We do not anticipate that we will generate revenues until at least one of our planned LNG terminals is completed, which we do not expect to occur until 2010 or later. In addition, following the completion of our LNG terminals, we may continue to incur losses on our in-development projects which reduce or exceed any profits generated by these operating projects.

"But, where does the money go?" she asked only somewhat rhetorically.

Concurrently with the acquisition of Bradwood and Orion, we acquired intellectual property rights relating to LNG project conceptualization and development activities from an entity owned by our Chief Executive Officer and our President in exchange for a $5.0 million cash payment which was paid on May 17, 2006. This payment has been included as general and administrative expenses in the September 30, 2006 financial statements.

In addition, we issued shares of our common stock valued at $8.9 million to Mr. Lindner, one of our directors, and a former director, for consulting services provided during our formation and initial capitalization. These costs have also been included as general and administrative expenses in our September 30, 2006 financial statements.

California Office Rental

     On April 1, 2006 we entered into a lease for office space in California with Real Estate Energy Company, Ltd., an entity controlled by Mr. Lindner, a member of our board of directors. The lease period extends through May 31, 2007 and is terminable upon 30 days notice with no termination penalty. Payments for the lease are $2,000 per month, which we believe is indicative of the market rates for such commercial office space and services available in the local region.

Those are only a few highlights. I encourage all of you to read the document linked below. It's a bit of a slog but it's got some interesting tidbits hidden in there. If you find more that you think others should hear about, please post them in the comments section here. (please! sometimes I feel so alone talking to myself here)

 

Additional reading on the subject:
Northern Star's S1 filing at the SEC