Kangaroo Justice
The Badge logo for deserves some explanation. First and most obvious is the five pointed star, which is the customary symbol of authority for law enforcement personnel such as a sheriff or marshal. However, each point of this star is labeled with different authorities – legislator, sheriff, judge, jury and appeals. In our representative democracy, these powers are always distributed among three separate but equal branches of government to ensure fairness and due process. However in the domain of FERC, it has assigned a corporate-monopoly (AEP) all of these roles for administration of the SMP.
Why the kangaroo with the baby in its pouch? This symbolizes the Kangaroo-Justice system of regulation and enforcement currently in-place between the FERC and AEP.
Who is in Who’s pocket? Consider this fact … AEP pays FERC an annual license fee of $950,000 for the Smith Mountain Project, which ultimately funds FERC staff salaries. This is a palpable conflict of interest – the regulator is predisposed to act in the best interest of its licensee, not us.
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