words will lie...

The following is from Charles H. Hamm and which I repeat not only because it serves a purpose here but because these words deserve to be remembered:

It is easy to juggle with words, to argue in a circle, to make the worse appear the better reason, and to reach false conclusions which wear a plausible aspect. But it is not so with things. If the cylinder is not tight, the steam engine is a lifeless mass of iron of no value whatever. A flaw in the wheel of the locomotive wrecks the train. Through a defective flue in the chimney the house is set on fire. A lie in the concrete is always hideous; like murder, it will out. Hence it is that the mind is liable to fall into grave errors until it is fortified by the wise counsel of the practical hand. –Charles H. Hamm

On Tuesday, Save the Ozarks filed a request to surreply in our case with SWEPCO, as we now try to hold them accountable for reimbursement of legal fees for our fight against a power line that was never necessary in the first place. With words, SWEPCO filed a response yesterday to have our request and accompanying affidavit and surreply stricken from the record. It is fascinating watching the gyrations of their multimillion dollar legal team as they simply make stuff up. There is a very good reason for SWEPCO attempting to have our materials stricken from the case. Our expert witness, one of the foremost transmission planning authorities in the world, called them out for their deliberate misconduct.

You can read it all here: APSC Docket 13-041-U with the greatest interest being the last three entries on the page. Click on the date and time of submission at right to see the pdf.

We can expect SWEPCO's lawyers to lie like crazy and make up rules of their own in their attempt to avoid paying legal fees. They would owe over $150,000.00 to Save the Ozarks, and another $100,000 or more to other intervenors in the case. They have attempted to skate off scot-free by simply withdrawing their disastrous application to build a 118 million dollar power line that was not needed in the first place.

My small organization, Save the Ozarks, saved SWEPCO from making its unnecessary investment, saved Arkansas ratepayers over half a billion dollars in charges to use the power line whether useful or not, and saved our corner of the state from senseless desecration. We hope we have shown others that it's possible to work effectively against multi-billion dollar corporations like AEP/SWEPCO.

Jean and I are on our way to New York for spring break.

Make, fix and create...