Several of us had an illuminating lunch Wednesday with Wayne Kinney, a former Argus reporter and aide to Senator Wyden. Wayne was very interested in what we are doing and although Sen. Wyden doesn't have jurisdiction over state matters, he certainly has clout and promises to use his influence in our behalf. We sent a notebook of materials back with Wayne.
Wayne looked at the maps and wondered why Idaho Power didn't want to use any of the alternate utility corridors, especially the ones through Idaho. Using an alternate corridor seems the prudent thing to do in order to avoid dealing with Oregon's energy regulatory agencies, which do not have a trouble-free history with Idaho Power in eastern Oregon counties.
We told Wayne that we are hoping to encourage Idaho Power to diligently consider alternate corridors, since Oregon's BLM has gone through the work of designating a corridor for the very purpose of transmission lines, unless, of course, Idaho's public utilities can preferably be sited on Idaho's own public lands.
