Adam Bless from the Oregon Department of Energy and writer of the B2H Project Order, along with an aide and several members of SIP, took a 6-hour, 100-mile-round trip tour from Select Onions on Stanton Boulevard through Ontario farmland, through Nyssa and Owyhee to south of Adrian along the PP&L line, speaking with residents along the way. For dinner they met with about 30 people at Fiesta Guadalajara, including Jon Beal and Jim Nakano of the county court. Following a Powerpoint presentation by Roger Findley, Adam Bless fielded questions for over an hour.
The Project Order is a document that takes Idaho Power's Notice of Intent and applies Oregon regulatory statutes and administrative rules to it, including the local land use comprehensive plan. The Project Order is NOT a Site Certificate to build a transmission line; it is a step on the way to guiding Idaho Power's route to be in compliance with Oregon's requirements. (See "EFSC Process Chart")
The Project Order also addresses substantive public comments that have been made through the BLM scoping (public feedback) process, including how these transmission lines would affect people personally. Bless said he will be taking "substantive" comments for some time yet.
Bless said that he would lobby the Energy Facility Siting Council, which makes the final decision to issue the Site Certificate, to visit here as well. "I think it would resonate better with them if they came in person to see the same tour I saw," he said.
Bless stressed that the ODOE does not choose what route Idaho Power must use. IPCo must come up with their own route, based on guidelines from the Project Order. The Application for a Site Certificate is then either approved or sent back with more recommendations under a Draft Proposed Order.
In the Project Order for B2H, Adam Bless directs Idaho Power to "strongly consider" alternatives suggested by SIP, including the Option 2 route which would relocate the Sand Hollow substation, or to route it through Idaho counties or the I-84 corridor.
After visiting with Rod Price of Adrian, Adam Bless said, "I learned more than I ever thought I would about the Leaf Cutter Bee. It was Leaf Cutter Bee 101. . . For me, this tour brought to life the written comments that I have received about irrigation lines, radio controlled and GPS equipment, and aerial spraying." He ended by saying, "Making the case that alternative routes are reasonable alternatives--that's probably the best thing you can do."
