Iberdrola ~ Just How Good is Their Word ? Can They Be Trusted?

It wasn't that long ago when Iberdrola was involved in the Energy East merger~

Federal and New York Officials Reward Spain’s Iberdrola at the Expense of U.S. Taxpayers, Job Seekers, and Electric Customers
by Glenn Schleede
March 1, 2010 ~

Consider, for example, the connections between:

Spain-based Iberdrola’s recent announcement that its net profit had doubled, and
Actions affecting Iberdrola during the last few months by members of the New York State Public Service Commission (NYS PSC), NY Senator Charles Schumer, US Energy Secretary Steven Chu, and US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

read more -->here<-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Senator Schumer:


"The Future is over my shoulder"


When foreign wind companies are allowed to destroy our communities where is our future?
Why aren't our politicians protecting us ? 




  Senator Schumer said that the acquisition of Energy East by Iberdrola was Ok in his book if a couple of things were done. One condition was if Iberdrola were to put a large part of their profit from this deal into a pool to keep the rates down.
 Another condition was that Iberdrola would not only produce wind energy in NY , but the manufacturing component would be based in New York state as well , thus creating thousands of new jobs. Senator Schumer also stated that he would be watching this deal like a hawk to see that rates stay down, and he said the same thing about creating and manufacturing for wind . 
As you can see from the articles below Iberdrola has done neither
~~~ IBERDROLA Company presents wind farm plan
tags:Jimmy Lawton JOHNSON NEWSPAPERS 

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2010 According to representatives from Iberdrola at a recent Town Council meeting, plans call for the installation of 75 towers that are approximately 66 feet taller than the windmills at Maple Ridge Wind Farm in Lewis County.

 In the Video above Senator Schumer described this as a win situation and I am afraid he is right. Unfortunately it is win-win for Iberdrola and Lose-Lose for the rate payers and New York State. 

Iberdrola seems to have a game plan and it does not include keeping its promises. 

Apparently they are planning new money generating projects and these cost big bucks to build. Ultimately we are the ones who pay for these projects. So there you have it, we will sacrifice for their new money generating scheme in Hammond.
 What will be the next condition that is violated by a wind company? 
Will we continue to let the fox guard the hen house until there is nothing left of our state?

Wind Power Does Not Equal Job Power By JONATHAN KARL Feb. 9, 2010 Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the flow of money to foreign companies an outrage, because the stimulus, he said, was intended to create jobs inside the United States.
 "This is one of those stories in Washington that when you tell people five miles outside the Beltway, or anywhere else in America, they cannot believe it," Schumer told ABC News, "It makes people lose faith in government, and it frankly infuriates me."

 Several of the large European turbine manufacturers had limited manufacturing facilities in the United States, but there was nothing in the stimulus plan that required that the turbines, or any other equipment needed for the wind farms, be made here, said Rogers. There are strict "Buy America" provisions in the Recovery Act, but this Green Energy Stimulus initiative turned the existing tax credits into cash grants, bypassing the "Buy America" provision. Iberdrola, one of the largest operators of renewable energy worldwide, is based in Spain and has received the most U.S. stimulus dollars -- $577 million.
 It buys some of its turbines from another Spanish manufacturer, Gamesa, which has a U.S. connection. Gamesa has two facilities to manufacture turbine blades in Pennsylvania, but the company said the market forced it to temporarily lay off nearly 100 workers.

  click here for full article ~~~~ Where are those thousands of jobs?

Schumer: Energy East Is Violating Its Deal With NYS WBNG-TV: 
U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today wrote to the Public Service Commission asking them to reject Energy East's request to raise gas and electric rates on nearly 1.5 million New York ratepayers.
In his letter, Schumer outlined a host of reasons for the PSC to dismiss their request, contending that it violated several of the terms established by the PSC in approving Iberdrola's purchase of the utility and also made questionable claims in an attempt to justify the rate increase.
 “This rate hike application reeks of profit mongering by a company that promised not to do just this as a condition of the approval of its merger. Just as New Yorkers are struggling to make ends meet, Energy East is trying to pull a fast one on its customers. The PSC should reject this application without any hesitation,” U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer said. Iberdrola, a Spanish utility company, recently purchased Energy East, which is the parent company of NYSEG and RG&E, serving over 1.5 million ratepayers, spanning communities across Western NY, the Finger Lakes Region, the Southern Tier and Hudson Valley, the Capital Region and North Country. During the regulatory approval process, Iberdrola committed to setting aside a $275 million pool of funds -- or Positive Benefits Adjustments (PBA) -- to keep customer rates low.
 At the time, Schumer said he would only support a deal containing provisions that would keep customer rates low. The final deal stipulated that a rate hike increase could not be requested for 13 months after the merger and that the $275 million Positive Benefits Adjustments be used to reduce rates or offset costs of the merger. Today, Schumer asked the PSC to determine whether the company was planning on using the $275 million in PBAs to offset the proposed rate hike, and if not, to determine how the company intended to use that fund. All tolled, Energy East is looking to gain $227 million from New York ratepayers per year through increased charges.
 to read the full story click link --> here<--