The PUC Open House

The Oregon PUC sent out a Notice of Public Comment Open House regarding the B2H line. Two meetings were held in Malheur and Baker Counties March 26th and 27th, in response to Stop Idaho Power's petition campaign from last November, when we gathered over 1000 signatures. The OPUC sent their Administrative Law Judge Allan Arlow and Matt Muldoon of the PUC's Utility Program. We appreciate their coming here.

These meetings were not meant to be showcases for Idaho Power's Integrated Resources Plan. IPCo will have its chance before the OPUC in mid-April. This was an open house for affected persons who wanted to comment and ask questions.

We were told to limit our comments to less than 10 minutes. We were repeatedly warned by Idaho Power's legal team not to stray from the topic of "need." We were told that Idaho Power would make a short presentation of less than 10 minutes.

At Ontario's FRCC meeting, after 45 minutes and two Powerpoints, Judge Arlow asked Idaho Power representatives to cease. This was after telling them to keep their presentations short for the sake of the gathered citizens. He later apologized for not stopping them sooner. In Baker County, he stopped the Idaho Power speaker after 30 minutes. Judge Arlow compensated the time lost to citizens by allowing the meeting to go on as long as needed.

The Idaho Power presentations included new data that should never have been added to an addendum to a 2006 IRP; the place for such data is the June 2009 IRP. The addendum is an attempt to make an end run around what should have been an orderly process by asking for acknowledgement of a future project as part of a past plan.

When we have been assured that the original proposed routes are off the table, it makes one wonder why the fast track is still in place when it comes to the PUC's power to condemn property.

The following is the Baker City Herald's comprehensive and community-minded article on their March 27th meeting:

Message to PUC: Keep power line out of Baker County
Written by By Mike Ferguson March 30, 2009 01:07 pm

http://www.bakercityherald.com/Local-News/Message-to-PUC-Keep-power-line-out-of-Baker-County

By the time he gaveled Friday’s Oregon Public Utility Commission hearing to a close, administrative law judge Allan J. Arlow had heard from 23 residents stretching from Malheur to Morrow counties — virtually all of them opposed Idaho Power’s plan to run a 500-kilovolt transmission line through Baker County.

Friday’s hearing — and the extent of the PUC’s role in the matter — was to help the regulatory commission determine whether the region’s power grid requires the capacity the new line would add.

Comments were transcribed by a court reporter and will be sent to the PUC’s three commissioners — Lee Beyer, John Savage and Ray Baum, who did not attend Friday’s open house, nor a similar one that attracted almost 400 people in Ontario Thursday evening.
Baker City’s open house, held at the Community Event Center, drew more than 100 people.
According to an order Arlow issued March 19, the PUC will determine whether the need exists by this summer. The date for that hearing is still to be determined.

If the PUC approves the application, Oregon’s Energy Facility Siting Committee (EFSC) will determine where the line will traverse five counties in Oregon as it runs from Hemingway, near Murphy, Idaho, to Boardman.

Citizens groups have been formed in Malheur and Baker counties opposed to the project, and Idaho Power is forming a citizens board to advise the company on concerns over its proposed routes, which have been withdrawn for the time being.

The case for the power line

Arlow allowed Idaho Power to make its case first.

Mark Stokes, the company’s power supply planning manager, said that Idaho Power is looking not only on the supply side — growth that’s necessitating the new line — but the demand side, conservation and efficiency that might delay the need.

The problem is, the supply side is dominating the equation.

“We have a need for (increased transmission capability, including the 225 megawatts that Boardman to Hemingway will carry) if we could get it on line this summer, but that’s just not possible,” Stokes said. At the earliest, B2H will be switched on in 2013.

Kip Sikes, Idaho Power’s manager for transmission policy development, said the takeaway he intended from Friday’s presentation should be that “if resources need to move through Idaho and Eastern Oregon, there is no transmission to do that today. We’re hitting operating limits every summer, and that’s creating regional bottlenecks.”

Sikes said Idaho Power has received 36,000 megawatts worth of inquiries from power generators that wish to connect to its transmission system, including 478 megawatts from prospective wind farms in Baker County. As it’s now configured, Idaho Power can transmit 32,00 megawatts.

“We’re required to hook them up if they choose to move forward, but very few move forward,” Sikes said.

The public has its turn

“It is clear from an environmental and cultural standpoint this project requires much greater discussion and community input,” testified Alice Trindle of Haines. “As a citizen of Baker County, a life-long participant in the ranching and tourism industries, and one who intensely values our heritage and the view-scapes this land affords us as East Oregonians, I highly request the Public Utility Commission intensely weigh the issues regarding ‘need’ for this transmission line, and find alternatives that do not disrupt our values for this place we call home. “Oregon has always been a state that is willing to make difficult choices in protecting our homeland. Please continue this tradition!”

John Milbert of La Grande asked the commission whether it’d be more economically feasible to construct local generating facilities near Hemingway, where Idaho Power’s load growth is occurring.

He and others also wondered if technology developments two decades from now “will render such a transmission line obsolete.”

Karen Yeakley, the former mayor of Baker City, said she has “grave environmental concerns with this line being constructed on farmland. We all like to eat and so will future generations. ... We need to re-evaluate the projected needs, study alternative forms of power, partner with (the Bonneville Power Administration), Pacific Power and our own OTEC. We need to respect Oregon residents and their land.”

Maurizio Valerio of Medical Springs likened Idaho Power’s proposal to the way railroad companies disregarded local needs when constructing the transcontinental railroad during the latter half of the 19th century. “That’s not a model we want any part of,” he said. “If Idaho Power wants to be a productive partner, they would work with us to find a solution that will be sustainable.”

“It may boost (the county’s) tax revenues, but that doesn’t seem worth the sacrifice,” said Durkee rancher Diane Bloomer. “Our love for our communities doesn’t include being part of a national power corridor.”

Peggi Timm, a founder and board member of Oregon Trail Electric Consumers Cooperative, said the transmission line “would stare down on our (Interpretive Center), a magnificent place you really should get a look at,” she said to Arlow. “The day is going to come — maybe in my lifetime — where a machine the size of a washing machine provides my power,” making the B2H line obsolete.

“This is like playing checkers,” she added. “You’ve got to plan ahead.”

Diane Carlile compared the Idaho Power proposal to Alaska’s “Bridge to Nowhere, except this one would be built with tax incentives for private benefit.”

Whit Deschner of Sparta joked that the citizens group Move Idaho Power should consider changing its name — to “Move Idaho.”

Ken Rockwell allowed that “there is a need, but folks in Idaho are living beyond their needs. Farmers and ranchers have learned to live within the capability of their land. Look at the needs of the people of Oregon,” Rockwell asked of the PUC. “We need growth where the power is, instead of putting it on the transmission line.”

Not all residents threw water on Idaho Power’s proposal.

“I’ve heard Idaho Power get bad-mouthed a lot today, but they’ve been one of my best neighbors,” said Gary Bloomer, who said he has 4-5 miles of transmission line that pass through his property in Durkee. “I’d like to see this go through if it’ll cause more renewable energy. If it weren’t for these big (property tax) ratepayers, I’m not sure we could afford to live in Baker County.”

Morrow County Planning Director Carla McLane said that not only was her county a large producer of electricity, it consumes a lot too — and “there are times when we don’t have enough power. We recognize the need to improve the grid, and (Idaho Power) does, too. The B2H line is part of that effort.”

After the hearing, Matt Muldoon, senior economist with the PUC, said that Friday’s exercise will prove valuable to the commission.

“Everything we heard today as staff we will ask Idaho Power,” he said. “Some of it is overlap, but it does inform the process.”

There are two ways to participate in the PUC’s formal proceedings that will lead up to the commission either acknowledging the need for the B2H line or denying the need. A person or a group can file a petition to intervene to become a party to the proceeding. Parties may file testimony, cross-examine witnesses and be cross-examined themselves.

Because formal participation is more demanding, that level of involvement is normally used by organizations with the ability to hire attorneys. The administrative law judge must approve party status; phone the PUC’s Administrative Hearings Division, 503-378-6607, for more information. The deadline to become a party to the proceeding is April 3.

A less rigorous role is that of an interested person. Interested people receive copies of all documents generated by the PUC, including notices, rulings and orders.

To contact the PUC by mail, write to Public Utility Commission, PO Box 2148, Salem, OR 07308-2148.

The Ridenbaugh Press Northwest

We had a nice mention by the Ridenbaugh Press Northwest (Wayne Kinney, Senator Wyden's aide, told me about it) so I've started following their public affairs blog. It's good to see cool heads keeping track while some of us have to keep the snippy comebacks under control.

You can find March 24th's "The IPCo grid, and the blowback" post at: http://www.ridenbaugh.com/index.php/2009/03/24/the-ipco-grid-and-the-blowback/

Industry trend: burying transmission lines

Tyson & Breanna Cameron, our partners on Kennington Farms LLC, took this photo along Legacy Highway north of Salt Lake City

Two articles having to do with buried transmission lines.

Why won't ATC bury the lines?
Critics say there's no good reason they can't be out of sight
Vikki Kratz on Thursday 10/25/2007, Madison, WI

http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=11741

It's been done in Chicago, Boston, San Diego and San Francisco. The state of Connecticut passed a law requiring it whenever possible. And it's commonplace in Europe, Asia, Australia and Canada. Burying transmission lines — even at voltages as high as 500 kilovolts — is an industry trend worldwide.

"Typically, they just get buried and left there," says Ian Hiskens, a professor of electrical engineering at UW-Madison. "No one really thinks about it too much." Yet American Transmission Company adamantly opposes burying any part of the 345-kilovolt line it wants to build in Dane County. . .

But much of what the company alleges about underground lines — high cost, maintenance issues and environmental concerns — has been called into question.

Last year, a group of Beltline business owners and local officials formed the Coalition for an Underground Alternative. The group says building a huge transmission line along the Beltline corridor could depress property values, hurt sensitive economic development projects and ruin the UW's Arboretum. And the group says ATC is misleading the public about the feasibility of undergrounding. . .

"Within five years, it's possible all [transmission lines] will be underground," says (CUA Attorney Harvey) Temkin. "The country is moving in that direction. Do we want to be the last place that's just got these god-awful overhead lines?"

. . . Black & Veatch, a consulting firm that works on underground projects . . . noted that, in the U.S., it typically costs $10 million-$13 million per mile to bury a 345-kilovolt line. In Europe, the cost for undergrounding lines drops to $6 million per mile. (An overhead line costs between $2 million and $6 million per mile.)

. . . At a meeting this July, Middleton Ald. Bill Hoeksema asked Mark Williamson, ATC's vice president of major projects, how much the monthly charge for ratepayers would be. "He did some math and said, 70 cents a month," recalls Hoeksema. "It winds up being a small cost. . .

Overhead lines are subject to damage from lightning, wind, ice, even an out-of-control semi on the Beltline. But underground lines are not affected by any of that. "Once a cable is buried, there are no maintenance issues at all," says Hiskens. "Really, the only issue is if some turkey digs it up."

Even then, it can be a relatively easy fix. When a bulldozer accidentally pulled up a 400-kilovolt line in Sydney, Australia, says Hiskens, "they had it fixed within a week."

The Coalition for an Underground Alternative recently received a letter from a consultant who suggested that an overhead line could reduce property values by 14% or more. . .

CUA's website: http://www.burytheline.com/

Outside of Portland, Oregon

Overhead poles need a quick burial
Monday, May 09, 2005 By MARIA SAPORTA The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

http://www.hopeofgeorgia.com/?script=articles/view&id=FC0BB0BAFFCD4B279AB10671033C7DD2

Ask just about anyone how they feel about overhead power lines, and a chorus answers in unison: Bury them. The general public — from business leaders to community activists to developers and urban planners — can't understand why we are still installing huge power poles with high intensity transmission lines in our cities, towns and countryside. About the only voice, albeit a powerful one, speaking against burying transmission lines is that of the Georgia Power Co.

The utility's main rationale is cost. Georgia Power officials say it costs about three times as much to bury lines than to install poles as high as 170 feet and as wide as 7 feet to carry lines with 230 kilovolts of power. . .

Harry Orton, a Vancouver, British Columbia-based international consultant on transmission lines, was flabbergasted when told that overhead transmission lines had just been installed in central Atlanta. "I'm just amazed," Orton says. "Almost every city I've worked in around the world, they wouldn't even contemplate putting in overhead lines in the downtown area because of the aesthetics, the safety concerns and concerns of electromagnetic fields. It's crazy."

Less than a year ago, Connecticut passed a law requiring that new high-voltage transmission lines be buried. "It changes the focus of the design from looking at the least cost, most technically feasible way of doing it to expanding the design to look first at underground," says Frank Poirot, a spokesman for Northeast Utilities. "We first look at underground rather than overhead when we design new transmission lines."

That is the norm in major world capitals, Orton says. "In most cities around the world, there are no alternatives," he says. "You have to go underground." Orton says it is more expensive to bury lines. But when the lifetime costs of maintenance, repair and efficiencies are included in a budget analysis, the differential narrows.

What is not included in that analysis is the societal costs of placing gigantic overhead lines in communities experiencing an economic renaissance. "When you install 230 kilovolt overhead lines in your area, the property values go down dramatically," Orton says. "It's a cost savings for the utility but unfortunately, everybody else loses out. It's very shortsighted because you destroy the aesthetics. Suddenly a beautiful area becomes a not-so-beautiful area. . . "

Now the choice for Atlanta and Georgia is to bury or not to bury — whether we will favor long-term beauty over short-term cost savings. It is up to us.

1000 Friends of Oregon

Kate Kimball, Senior Policy Analyst for 1000 Friends of Oregon, wrote the following letter of support to Idaho Power Company Vice President Dan Minor and Adam Bless of the Oregon Department of Energy (with permission):

Dear Mr. Minor:

On behalf of 1000 Friends of Oregon, I am writing to request that Idaho Power select a different route for the Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Line Project. 1000 Friends of Oregon is a membership nonprofit organization that works with Oregonians to enhance our quality of life by building livable urban and rural communities, protecting family farms and forests, and conserving natural and scenic areas.

We are particularly concerned about the adverse impacts of the transmission line on farmers and ranchers in the region. For example, we understand that the onion growers in Malheur County generate an annual farm gate value of about $50,000,000. During difficult economic times, it does not seem prudent to put at risk Oregon farm-related jobs and income. Oregon agriculture is responsible for over 10% of jobs in Oregon, according to Oregon State University – jobs that won’t be outsourced overseas. There is a strength in eastern Oregon’s agricultural communities that the proposed route could undermine at this vulnerable time.

As I am sure you know, Oregon is not neutral when it comes to protecting farmland. For over three decades, Oregon’s pioneering land use planning program has protected Oregon’s family farms and ranches from conflicting uses such as utility facilities. The project route would be sited on land that is zoned for Exclusive Farm Use (EFU). Oregon law requires under ORS 215.275(2) that reasonable alternatives to siting a utility facility on EFU land be considered. We urge you to work with affected farmers, ranchers and community members to develop such an alternative proposal that addresses their concerns. We are confident that this alternative can be developed, and look forward to your leadership in this regard.

Thank you for your consideration.

Kate Kimball
Staff Attorney

We would like to thank Kate and the 1000 Friends of Oregon for their support and encouragement.

PUC Presentations

It would take a week of blog posts to put all the great stuff up that we heard last night at the PUC hearing. So I'm going to post what I've got. You can download and read them.

Not everything is here, so I'll post it as I get it.

Jean Findley's presentation
Tom Phillips' notes
Pat Phillips' Powerpoint
Grant Kitamura's notes

Gary Pearson's notes NEW

Bruce Penn's presentation NEW

Farrell Larson's presentation NEW
Stacie Trenkel's presentation
Bruce Corn's presentation
Clinton Kennington's notes

Rod Price's testimony
Patty Kennington's notes
Wall Street Journal Article
Evelyn Sayer's Powerpoint
Evelyn Sayer's Notes
Evelyn Sayer's spreadsheet
Roger Findley's Powerpoint

Channel 2 News Story

Here it is!


http://www.2news.tv/news/local/41960072.html

"Thorough and intellectually rigorous"

Our story led the Channel 2 Eyewitness News. Fortunately for us, the NCAA playoffs delayed the news until we got home from the three hour Oregon PUC Hearing, so we could watch Bruce Corn alternatively driving a John Deere over Wettstein farm ground, and standing on the edge of Kennington Farms property overlooking the Malheur Butte. You did good, Bruce. Thanks, Kiersten and your videographer.

I won't say much tonight because I have visitors driving in from Yakima. But I will quote the OPUC's Administrative Law Judge following 45 interminable minutes of Idaho Power corporate Powerpoint filibustering. It didn't do your PR efforts any good, guys.

Here's what Judge Allan J. Arlow said after Stop Idaho Power's Board of Directors each gave testimony: "I've been to a number of these PUC meetings, and this is the most thorough and intellectually rigorous set of presentations that I have ever seen."

Well done, presenters, and well done to all who attended Standing Room Only. Your support is much appreciated.

Welcome to the Oregon Public Utilities Commission 7:00 FRCC tonight

It's been twenty years since the Oregon Public Utilities Commission has been over this way for a hearing. The reason they're here is because so many Malheur County residents signed the petition asking them to have the hearing in Ontario rather than Salem, so they've graciously accepted to come.

Let's give them a grand welcome at the Four Rivers Cultural Center, 7:00 tonight! We have two hours of entertaining testimony planned to give about the NEED for a 298-mile, 500 kV electrical transmission line at this point in time. If you're ready to give a comment, we'd love to hear from you.

Deregulation, Wheeling & Stranded Assets

Energy deregulation may force wide scale distributed energy
March 31, 2008
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2008/03/374115.shtml

In 1992 electricity began to be viewed less as an essential service and more as a commodity when deregulation was enacted with the passage of the Energy Policy Act. Previously, public and investor owned utilities controlled power generation, transmission and distribution within a set region. The Energy Policy Act, however, allowed for the trading of electricity over wide geographic areas, known as long distance “wheeling”, to the highest bidder. The promise of deregulation was that competition in a free market would keep electric rates low.

After four years of litigation, in 2000, FERC Order 888 went into effect mandating the wheeling of electric power over long distances. The ‘single machine’ grid, however, was never designed to manage this type of ‘trading’. Electricity trading jumped immediately upon enactment of Order 888 and so did dangerous levels of transmission line congestion. Transmission loading relief procedures (TLRs) increased by 6 times within a month and the promised lower rates have in fact risen significantly since 2000 in deregulated states.

Another consequence of deregulation was that no incentive remained to build new power generation plants. In fact, investor owned utilities profited from electricity shortages and as we learned from the Enron catastrophe actually induced artificial shortages to drive up wholesale prices. A December 2001, Wall Street Journal article noted, “The profits on the trades… of cubic feet of gas it didn’t extract or burn, of kilowatt-hours it didn’t generate, and of fiber-optic lines it didn’t light… sent Enron’s revenues soaring.” . . .

Transmission lines take years to complete and cost $1M per mile. In cities like Chicago and New York the cost can be $10M per mile. Wheeling losses, (capacities available but not utilized) the inefficiency of electrical transmission is almost 10% globally equaling the combined energy demands of Germany, France and the UK.

These costs, the time required and wheeling losses are some of the reasons New York City is installing more distributed CHP generation. Combined heat and power (CHP) generators capture the heat normally lost in the production of electricity and use it to heat buildings, districts or neighborhoods where the generators are installed. The Christian Science Monitor recently wrote, “A typical electric plant uses only one-third of its fuel's energy to push turbines. The other two-thirds are lost as waste heat. Boilers, on the other hand, can achieve up to 85 percent efficiency.

By combining both processes, CHP can capture between 70 and 80 percent of the energy in the fuel. Theoretically, cogeneration delivers the same energy as separate generation, but with half the fuel and emissions. Because of close proximity to the end-user, relatively little electricity is lost in transmission.”

Reliability of electric service is another primary benefit of distributed generation. During the 1998 ice storm in Canada hundreds of transmission towers buckled leaving over 4 million people in Canada and parts of the US without power. Multiple deaths were reported, many from hypothermia. Power was restored fairly quickly to urban areas however almost 700,000 rural residents were without power in the middle of winter for over three weeks.

CHP generators require fossil fuels but renewable distributed power generators like small wind and solar are viable and once installed not dependent upon the vagaries of foreign policy, market demands, regulatory actions or the expense of maintaining a decaying grid to allow for long distance commodities trading. Ironically, decentralizing may be forced by the consequences of energy deregulation and the free market theory so dependent upon centralization. . .

Rural America . . . is uniquely suited to deployment of wide scale distributed energy to relieve already congested transmission lines. The capital costs of installing distributed generators at the local, neighborhood and district level are significantly less than the standard centralized model. The value of energy independence for rural communities is priceless.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_magix_080330_energy_deregulation_.htm

Wheeling Charges
One outcome of the ownership of parts of a national grid by different utility companies is the concept of "wheeling charges," which refers to payment for the movement of electricity, owned by a power supplier and sold to retail or wholesale consumers, over transmission and distribution lines owned by a third party. The concept of wheeling can be compared to a toll road.

Idaho Power alluded to this when it mentioned in its 2006 IRP Addendum that it would benefit our area if the company owned the entire Boardman to Hemingway transmission route, and pass cost savings onto us. This might be true if Idaho Power subsidizes its local service area with wheeling charges, since the purpose of the B2H line is as a regional supplier of electricity, with only a small portion imported into the local service area.

How are wheeling charges calculated? The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers's website says this: "From the economic point of view, lower energy cost does not necessarily mean lower utility cost. The cost of wheeling charges and other factors have to be figured into the calculation. . . there is no standard formula to calculate wheeling charges within the utility industry."

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/login.jsp?url=http%3A%2F%2Fieeexplore.ieee.org%2Fiel5%2F28%2F19538%2F00903144.pdf%3Farnumber%3D903144&authDecision=-203

Stranded Assets
The most controversial element of deregulation legislation has been the proposals by utilities for recovering their investments in facilities which can't generate electricity at competitive prices. These older plants are called stranded assets. Utilities propose that rate payers pay the stockholders for writing them off.

The recovery provisions for stranded assets have created an obstacle for other companies, who otherwise might consider selling electricity in these newly-opening markets. They have to produce electricity cheaply enough so that, even with the surcharge for stranded assets, they can undersell the existing utilities. Some states mandate a rate rollback of 10-15%, which forces them to produce at an even lower cost. Utilities, on the other hand, can subsidize their prices using the money received in compensation for stranded assets.

http://www.oe.energy.gov/DocumentsandMedia/primer.pdf

"Preapproved Ratemaking"

This is an update of a blog post with the same title from January 20th.

Two articles below describe the Idaho Senate and now House bill allowing "preapproved ratemaking" that will protect Idaho Power from failed investments:

Idaho panel OKs PUC bill; power users still leery
March 4, 2009 3:41 PM ET by John Miller

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - An Idaho Senate panel voted 7-1 Wednesday to give utilities more reassurance they'll be able to recoup billions of dollars for new transmission lines and plants from ratepayers, even if the projects sour.

Big customers of Idaho utilities fear this "preapproved ratemaking," which would allow regulators and utilities to agree to rules governing how to recover such investments well in advance, could unfairly shift risk away from utilities. . .

Regulators have traditionally set cost recovery rates for transmission lines, gas-fired power stations and other projects only after they've been completed. . .

Utilities like Idaho Power Co., the state's largest, have complained it has grown more difficult to attract capital for big projects, in part because ratings agencies and investors fear that regulated utilities won't be able to recover their investments should something go awry.

Kjellander said that could drive up interest rates for the projects, forcing all customers to pay more later.

Under the proposal, if something unforeseen occurs and a utility must halt work on a project that's been preapproved by Idaho regulators, it would still be able to recover its investment in the project. . .

Still, the Industrial Customers of Idaho Power voted unanimously last month to oppose the bill on grounds it's a radical departure from existing ratemaking procedures. . .

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=AP&date=20090304&id=9667276

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/03/04/ap6126292.html

Idaho House panel backs regulatory ratemaking plan
March 24, 2009 1:48 PM ET

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - An Idaho House panel unanimously approved a plan to shore up money lenders' confidence that regulated utilities like Idaho Power Co. will be able to recover investments in big transmission or generation projects.

So-called "preapproved ratemaking," modeled after an Iowa law, already passed the Senate and now goes to a House vote.

Big customers of Idaho Power, the state's largest utility, objected, saying it shifts risk to customers. But lawmakers were convinced preapproved ratemaking will help lower future interest costs that will inevitably be borne by ratepayers.

Idaho Power already is planning a $427 million gas power plant near New Plymouth in western Idaho that could take advantage of the new rate setting, if it becomes law.

Regulators support this plan to fix ratemaking rules before a plant is built, not after, as is done now.

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=AP&date=20090324&id=9724550

Local Need or Regional Revenue?

We visited with Greg Walden, U.S. Representative for Eastern Oregon, before the regular Chamber of Commerce session Saturday morning in Ontario. Walden answered questions on federal energy legislation, as well as discussing with us why IPCo is so devoted to fast-tracking its B2H transmission line, and why its public relations division is trying to convince us that these lines will benefit us locally, the answer to which may be linked with its complete lack of interest in crossing public lands at all.

"What I've tried to do is convey from our office what we've heard from all of you," Congressman Walden said, acknowledging all the letters his office has received from Malheur County residents. "We've kept pressure on (Idaho Power)."

His conclusion about the B2H line as a purveyor of regional electrical power: "That would be my message. It's for a public purpose. We have public land, let's look there first."

Local need?
What is apparent is that Idaho Power is presenting this B2H line as a local benefit for our hospitals and schools. It originally tied the concept of Boardman to Hemingway to an electrical loop around the Treasure Valley, two projects it has now agreed to separate.

This perhaps because only a small percentage of the power on the B2H 500kV line would be imported into the Treasure Valley, including the miniscule portion that would come to Malheur County.

As far as IPCo's planned 500 kV Treasure Valley (TVEP) loop, the economic downturn is adversely affecting fast track "need" when it comes to current transmission capacity, not to mention overstated projections of ever-increasing numbers of residential customers.

Regional revenue
The real revenue would come from the payment of "wheeling charges" and construction costs, etc. from other utility companies wanting to use the B2H line right of way, in effect, as a transmission toll road. In this case, private landowners would be more useful as utility easements than paying customers.

This local/regional issue may also have something to do with who pays and who benefits more: the ratepayer, or the shareholder. Watch for a future blog post on this subject.

Senator Wyden's Letter to Idaho Power

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 20, 2009

Wyden Urges Idaho Power to Find a New Transmission Line Route; Cites Concerns on the Impact of Line on the Agriculture Economy of Eastern Oregon

Portland, OR – Citing concerns about the adverse economic impact of a proposed transmission line through Eastern Oregon, Senator Ron Wyden today asked Idaho Power to work more closely with affected Oregon counties, the State of Oregon and residents to find a route that does not cause a major impact to farm and ranchlands.

“While I certainly agree that there is a need for additional transmission capacity, it appears the current proposal for the routes in Eastern Oregon could have a very adverse impact on farms and ranches, and could create significant difficulties for the agricultural community in the state,” Wyden said in a letter to Idaho Power about its proposed Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Line Project. The proposed line cuts a swath through public and private land in five northeastern Oregon counties.

“I am particularly concerned that a considerable number of people in Malheur and Baker counties in Oregon feel that the siting process has not included sufficient examination of routes that would make less of an impact on their properties,” Wyden wrote.

“People living in areas that will be affected by the project have fears that the routes chosen by Idaho Power will result in significant harm to their farms or ranches,” Wyden wrote. “Many believe that the project will reduce farm acreages, significantly impact irrigation operations, lower property values, and ultimately interfere with their ability to farm.”

Wyden also said there were local concerns that siting the towers along the current proposed routes would require changes in zoning and penalties under Oregon’s farm use laws. “As you must certainly be aware, any loss of farm income during these current economic times would hit these farmers and ranchers and their communities very hard,” Wyden wrote Idaho Power.

You can read the letter to Idaho Power's CEO LaMont Keen HERE

The letter's final paragraph:

"I urge you to work much more closely with these Oregon counties and the Oregon Department of Energy, along with my constituents in Malheur and Baker counties, to find a route that does not cause a major impact to farm and ranchlands. Please contact Wayne Kinney in my Bend office to let me know what steps Idaho Power intends to take to address these concerns."

Send Senator Wyden a Thank You: http://wyden.senate.gov/contact/

Thank you Senator Wyden!

PUC Open House Thurs. 26th at FRCC 7:00 p.m.

This will be one Four Rivers Cultural Center meeting Idaho Power can't prevent us from attending. They might just fall to pieces if we mention anything besides "NEED" so we'll be as helpful as we can.

The Oregon Public Utilities Commission will be holding a "Hearing for Need" regarding the B2H 500 kV transmission line, or, if you got the notice in the mail, the 'Open House for Public Comment regarding IPCo's "Application for Acknowledgement of February 2009 Addendum to its 2006 Integrated Resource Plan."'

Aside from the fact that IPCo has a regular 2009 Integrated Resource Plan to submit this June, begging the question of Why does it NEED an addendum for an IRP three years old, the open house comments are supposed to stick to the following:

1. What would happen if the line were not built or built later than proposed?


2. Could projected electrical needs be met by purchasing power?


3. Would additional local generation make the line less necessary?


4. If a line is needed, are these the right termination locations?


5. Is the proposed capacity too large or too small to meet projected needs?


6. Can demand management and efficiency reduce the size of line needed?

IPCo is terribly worried that we'll stray into other topics, so let's do our best to gather up enough information on the above subjects to last awhile.

We all agree that electricity is great for hospitals and schools, ranches and ranchettes, Holsteins and animal shelters. But there are other factors that make this high-voltage line not quite so fast-track necessary as we were told it had to be last fall.

We'd love for everyone to attend this meeting as can. If you've done research and have some good points to present, by all means, sign up to make a comment. If you don't have a particular topic to speak to, sign up to make an oral comment anyway, even if all you say is "I agree with what he said."

Or you can make a written comment. Either way, just showing up will make a statement.

HB 3153: Your Help Needed!

Remember, Senator Ferrioli's bill was Senate Bill 644, this is a House Bill with Rep. Cliff Bentz on the commitee.

New Bills Report for March 11, 2009
Oregon House Bill 3153

Prohibits establishment of utility facility in area zoned for farm use, forest use or mixed farm and forest use if majority of utility service provided by utility facility will be used within urban growth boundary.

Relating to utility facilities.

We need to contact all the members of the Sustainability and Economic Development Committee to ask that the bill be taken out of committee and given a hearing. This needs to be done IMMEDIATELY.

Members of the committee are:

Tobias Read, Chair
900 Court St. NE, H-490, Salem, OR, 97301
503.986.1427
rep.tobiasread@state.or.us

Cliff Bentz, Vice-Chair
900 Court St. NE., H-475, Salem, OR, 97301
503.986.1460
rep.cliffbentz@state.or.us

Larry Galizio, Vice-Chair
900 Court St NE, H-282, Salem,, OR, 97301
503.986.1435
rep.larrygalizio@state.or.us

Jules Bailey
900 Court St. NE, H-488, Salem, OR, 97301
503.986.1442
rep.juleskopelbailey@state.or.us

Vic Gilliam
900 Court St. NE, H-389, Salem, OR, 97301
503.986.1418
rep.vicgilliam@state.or.us

Paul Holvey
900 Court St NE H-275, Salem, OR, 97301
503.985.1408
rep.paulholvey@state.or.us

Kim Thatcher
900 Court St NE, H-472, Salem,, OR, 97301
503.986.1425
rep.kimthatcher@state.or.us

Brad Witt
900 Court St. NE, H-374, Salem, OR, 97301
503.986.1431
rep.bradwitt@state.or.us

"Green Tag" Sale

The following two stories have to do with Idaho Power's renewable energy certficates: (1) An explanation of what they are and how they work, and (2) March 16th's argument before the Idaho PUC that IPC should use these green tags to benefit customers rather than retain them as proof that they have a "green" portfolio.

The first article:
'Green tag' sale: Idaho Power ahead of federal rules
POSTED: Monday, February 23, 2009 by Zach Hagadone
http://www.idahobusiness.net/archive.htm/2009/02/23/Green-tag-sale-Idaho-Power-ahead-of-federal-rules

Idaho Power sees the handwriting on the wall regarding renewable energy. With President Barack Obama’s pledge to make 10 percent of the country’s power come from green sources by 2012, the Gem State’s largest utility is banking its renewable energy certificates, or “green tags,” to prove to regulators that it buys clean power.

Awarded for each megawatt hour of energy produced from a renewable source like wind, solar or geothermal, green tags are not only proof that a utility, homeowner or company purchases clean energy, but can be used as commodities for sale on a special market.

By opting to hold rather than sell its green tags, Idaho Power hopes to count that energy toward any potential federal renewable mandate. But some, including the group Industrial Customers of Idaho Power, think that because Idaho Power isn’t currently held to any state or federal renewable standards the tags should be sold and the revenues passed on to customers in the form of rate relief.

“The green tags have value on the open market, and they have no value to Idaho Power because they’re under no obligation to meet a renewable portfolio standard,” said attorney Peter Richardson, of Richardson & O’Leary, who represents ICIP. Idaho Power’s green tags, which it gets from buying power from the Elkhorn wind farm in Oregon and the Raft River geothermal project in western Idaho, are estimated to be worth about $2 million on the renewable energy market, which currently values each tag at about $5. But if they’re sold, Idaho Power can’t count them toward any standards.

. . . In a release from the (Idaho Public Utilities) commission, it said that Idaho Power applied $16 million in proceeds from sulfur credits to it PCA in 2008 and $70 million in 2007, reducing the surcharge paid by customers. Another alternative would be for Idaho Power to sell its green tags until they are needed, placing revenues in a dedicated account for future renewable power purchases. “That way, the purchase of renewable energy could actually cause more renewables to be acquired than otherwise might be,” commission staff wrote.

. . . ICIP . . . has filed a petition with the utilities commission to reconsider its decision allowing Idaho Power to hold onto the tags.“Holding onto these in anticipation of a federal standard isn’t an option,” Richardson said. “[I]t’s not a very good insurance policy and it’s an expensive one. They’re just talking about $2 million this year, and the market is actually heating up. … “Our position’s not a wild position; it’s not radical in any sense. It’s simply saying this is a ratepayer-funded asset… and as a result the ratepayers should get the benefit of it.”

The second article:
From Monday's KTVB News Channel:
http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-mar1609-energy_credits.4005e183.html
Regulators to rethink Idaho Power green tag sale
Associated Press
BOISE -- State utility regulators say they will reconsider an order allowing Idaho Power Co., to hold on to its renewable energy credits.

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission announced the decision Monday after some of the utility's biggest industrial customers filed objections.

Those customers say Idaho Power should sell the so-called green tags and use the proceeds to benefit customers.

The commission ruled in January that Idaho Power could hold on to the credits, valued late last year at $1.9 million.

Idaho Power is awarded the credits annually for the renewable power generated at its geothermal power plant in southern Idaho and its wind farm in eastern Oregon.

The utility sought to hold on to the credits to help offset future state or federal mandates requiring utilities to expand renewable energy portfolios.

Environmental Alliances

Oregon Department of Agriculture's Jim Johnson and Parma resident Nancy Carter have encouraged us to contact environmental and land use groups with our concerns. Listed below are organizations you may want to contact for information and support:

Idaho Conservation League
Box 844
Boise, Idaho 83701
208.345.6933
Fax 208.344.0344
http://www.wildidaho.org/
icl@wildidaho.org

1000 Friends of Oregon (Land use group has worked with Farm Bureau)
534 SW Third Ave.
Suite 300
Portland, OR 97204
503-497-1000
info@friends.org
http://www.friends.org/

Oregonians in Action
PO Box 230637
Tigard, Oregon 97281
503.620.0258
oia@oia.org
http://www.oia.org/

Stewards of the Range (Fred Kelly Grant & Owyhee County)
Post Office Box 1190
Taylor, TX 76574
512-365-8038
e-mail
https://www.stewards.us/

Nice Landscape

It appears that Lisa @ Idaho Power is standing in front of a lovely rural landscape.

Houses and power lines would just ruin this, don't you think? Let's run the lines through cities and residential areas instead!

RPS, HTS and Distributed Generation

Hair-thin, ribbon-shaped HTS (high temperature superconductor) wires can conduct 150 times the electricity of similar sized copper wires. This power density advantage enables transmission-voltage HTS cables to utilize far less wire and yet conduct up to five times more power – in a smaller right of way – than traditional copper-based cables. When operated at full capacity, the new HTS cable system is capable of transmitting up to 574 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to power300,000 homes. (See more about HTS half way through the blog post below.)

Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS)
You may remember the National Clean Energy Project: Building the New Economy Roundtable held in Washington D.C. Feb. 24th, attended by Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Energy Secretary Stephen Chu, Harry Reid, and T. Boone Pickens, among others.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/02/us-interior-secretary-says-department-will-play-large-role-in-transmission

Notable quotes:

Ken Salazar, Interior Secretary: “The Department of the Interior can play some significant roles--first with respect to siting and second with respect to transmission. . . "

Highlighting the importance of the public lands and offshore areas under the Department of the Interior’s jurisdiction, the Secretary pointed to “. . . a whole host of other items in the portfolio of renewable energy.”

Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker: "We are also hopeful that this year we will be able to pass a renewable electricity standard - President Obama is proposing 25 percent by 2025. We can build a superconducting smart grid . . . "

Whether you like them or not, Renewable Portfolio Standards, mentioned in an earlier blog post, require a certain percentage of a utility’s power plant capacity or generation to come from renewable sources by a given date. EPA maps of states in compliance: http://epa.gov/CHP/state-policy/renewable_fs.html

Energy's Broadband: High Temperature Superconductors (HTS)
An article from April 2008 in the Wall Street Journal discusses HTS, or High Temperature Superconductors, as a possible solution to the NIMBY problem with giant transmission structures:

http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2008/04/30/live-wires-can-new-high-voltage-cables-help-renewables-beat-back-nimby/

We’ve noted before that electricity transmission is one of the big hurdles to adding more power to the electric system, especially for renewable energy. Micro-generation and distributed power, like personal wind turbines and small solar panels, work in isolation. But utility-scale generation projects need a way to carry the juice to where people live and work. But building new transmission lines is often a source of friction between utilities and environmentalists . . .

Long Island Power Authority unveiled last (year) a half-mile pilot project using (liquid nitrogen-cooled, high-temperature) superconducting transmission cable. It packs three to five times more electricity in the same amount of cable, doesn’t lose as much electricity as traditional copper cables do, and could make it easier for utilities to secure permits to build transmission lines in densely-populated areas.

The wires, made by Massachusetts-based American Superconductor Corp., could become to transmission what broadband was to the Internet. (Much more info here.) Notes Clean Tech Investor:

“This will be a way to move massive amount of power without disturbing the surrounding environment,” said Greg Yurek, chief executive officer of American Superconductor, in an interview. “It’s like putting an energy superhighway in the middle of a city.”

But there’s always a ‘but.’ Superconducting cables cost more than traditional transmission systems. The Long Island project was half-funded by the U.S. Department of Energy as part of a program to help modernize the electricity grid. The DOE has been researching superconducting transmission systems for 20 years. . . http://oe.energy.gov/hts.htm

See some HTS animations: http://www.amsc.com/products/hydra.html

Distributed Generation
Renewable energy is dependent on the concept of "Distributed Generation," which refers to smaller-scale energy generation in locations close to consumers. These include technologies such as photovoltaic arrays, wind turbines, microturbines, reciprocating engines, fuel cells, combustion turbines, and steam turbines; energy storage devices (e.g., batteries and flywheels); and combined heat and power systems (CHP). http://oe.energy.gov/de.htm

Large electrical generation plants may have economies of scale, but usually transmit electricity long distances. Distributed generation is another approach. It reduces the amount of energy lost in transmitting electricity because the electricity (between 3 kW and 10,000 kW) is generated very near where it is used, perhaps even in the same building. This also reduces the size and number of power lines that must be constructed. The usual problem with distributed generators are their high costs.

Oregon's PUC wrote a report in response to the 2005 Federal energy legislation, outlining how Oregon could overcome regulatory barriers to the development of distributed generation. The question now is what funding may come from promised federal energy legislation, since at present the costs outweigh the potential of distributed energy generation.

Public Land T-Shirt Available

Nancy Peyron and Move Idaho Power have ordered "Public Good, Public Land" t-shirts. The t-shirts take about 10-12 days to be finished, and another couple of days for distribution. Email moveidahopower@gmail.com with your request. Please put "T-shirt Order" on the subject line.

Orders must be in by March 16th at latest in order to have them in time for the 3/26 meeting. Orders can still be placed later than March 16.

The border around the picture has the websites of all our groups. Outfit your family. Proceeds from sales will be used for the Move Idaho Power legal defense fund.

The shirt is charcoal with a light greenish-gray ink design. See the pdf file HERE.

- Cost: $15 per shirt

Don't forget to include the sizes you want when you order.

Wyden against FERC

Senator Ron Wyden has long stood up for Oregon's energy interests, including introducing a bill last year that would "strip federal energy regulators of their exclusive siting authority . . . and hand the decision back to the states." http://www.dailyastorian.info/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=398&ArticleID=50371&TM=73897.49

In a Washington D.C. climate that threatens to create a national grid by FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) fiat, Senator Wyden's office has been in contact with SIP members and assured us that he is ready to go to bat if need be. FERC would disregard state and local laws and site power grids wherever they want them.

You may want to contact Sen. Wyden's office to let him know we appreciate his support. And contact our new Senator Jeff Merkley while you're at it!

Senate Contact Information:

Senator Ron Wyden
223 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-3703
Phone: (202) 224-5244
Bend Office: (541) 330-9142
http://wyden.senate.gov/contact/

Senator Jeff Merkley
SDB-40B Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-3703
Phone: (202) 224-3753
Portland Office: (503) 326-3386
http://merkley.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm

Jim Johnson, Oregon Dept of Ag

Lou Wettstein of the Malheur County Court, Ken Teramura, Jim Johnson of the Oregon Dept. of Ag, County Zoning and Planning's Bill Lawrence, and Bruce Corn at a midday lunch meeting in Nyssa

Jim Johnson was one of the writers of Oregon land use law ORS 212.275. If you aren't familiar with this law, it became Oregon statute about nine years ago. ORS 212.283 allows utilities to be sited on exclusive farm use land, but ORS 215.275 spells out the need for alternative utility corridors analysis, a legal definition which Idaho Power is finally realizing they have not been in compliance with.

Members of Stop Idaho Power took Johnson on a tour along the original proposed Idaho Power transmission line route Tuesday, March 10th, talking to property owners along the way. At a Twilight Cafe lunch meeting, Johnson reminded us that if Idaho Power is worried about feasibility problems in siting an alternate route, "there are no feasibility problems staying in Idaho."

Johnson also attended a dinner with members of SIP's Board of Directors. He gave us some valuable advice and said he would be giving his input to Oregon agencies, including ODOE and EFSC, that have jurisdiction over issuing a site certificate to Idaho Power.

Jean Findley, Reid Saito of Idaho-Oregon Onion Growers, and Les Ito

Reid Saito, president of the Onion Growers, told about how "vectors" of iris yellow spot virus caused by thrips would be untreatable under transmission towers, according to Stan Bybee, who does aerial spraying six to eight times a year. "You can lose a field in a matter of days," Saito said.

24,000 acres of onions are currently being grown in western Idaho and eastern Oregon ,providing 26% to 40% of all onions consumed in the U.S. It is a "mature industry--there is no more farm ground to expand to."

"It disrupts at the least and destroys at the worst," added Bruce Corn, an Ontario and Nyssa onion grower.

Jay Chamberlin, Owyhee Irrigation District

Jay Chamberlin of the Owyhee Irrigation District brought up the real concern that water rights might be taken away from landowners whose property would be Idaho Power right-of-ways. "We've spent $250,000 in automation equipment and canal improvements. Our growers have become water micro managers. The outcome could be catastrophic" if transmission lines would disrupt the carefully orchestrated interplay of water and prime farmland.

Chamberlin is also worried about the 75-year-old, 4 1/2-mile-long Owyhee Siphon, which would suffer from accelerated degeneration from electrolysis if the transmission line were situated anywhere nearby. "Equipment gets bigger," he said, referring to clearances around the towers and below sagging lines, and the loss of farmable land. "Costs to growers keep increasing. We ARE Ag. There is nothing else here."

Bill Lawrence of Malheur County Planning and Zoning brought land classification maps, since county land use requires utility siting to take place across the lowest classified land (Zone 8) before it crosses higher zoned land. Most of the land under original routes is Class 1, 2 and 3 exclusive use farm ground, and he noted that most Class 4 farm ground has been improved and becomes prime farm ground under irrigation.

Jean Findley showing the latest alternative route maps and describing how sage grouse leks need to be verified and mitigated.

Jean Findley, a range botanist who helped write Oregon BLM's Resource Management Plan and studied Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, reported how TetraTech, the hired company that sited IPCo's original and alternative routes, rejected SIP's alternate route Option #1, saying it was 100 miles longer than the preferred route. "We measured the route," Jean said. "It is only 40 miles longer," a length that Jim Johnson, a writer of Oregon's statute, said was "not unreasonable" extra cost, reminding us that cost "is not an individual determinant" in siting utilities in the state of Oregon.

Jean also said that problems concerning sage grouse have to do with predators perching on electrical towers, noting that placing spikes on towers could do much to mitigate this problem.

Committee Hearing Addresses

Senator Ted Ferrioli's Senate Bill 644 limiting the size of transmission towers crossing exclusive farm use ground to 400,000 kV may not be the only bill dealing with this issue.

Oregon House Representative Brian Clem, D-Salem, also plans to introduce land use legislation that would generally follow Farm Bureau policy:

1) Condemnation of Farmland by Cities - Restrict city, utilities, and special districts' ability to condemn farmland and require payment at Urban Growth Boundary values.

2)UGB Planning and Expansion - Require that cities plan for their utility, open space, school, commercial, and industrial needs inside the UGB and prohibit using such zoned land for residential or other uses.

3) Remove utilities and other urban type uses as "permitted uses" in EFU (exclusive farm use) zones. Every piece of farmland that changes to a non-farm use, be it a school or a UGB expansion, hurts ag infrastructure.

While these bills may eventually be combined and altered in some degree, the main effort now will be to get the bills a hearing, i.e. out of committee, so write your letters asking that Senate Bill 644 be given a hearing.

Listed below are the addresses of Ferrioli's Environment and Natural Resources Committee, as well as Rep. Clem's contact information to encourage him in the writing of his land use bill. You can always go to http://www.leg.state.or.us/ to find Senate and House contacts, including email and telephone (click the Senate and House links along the top, then click "Senator Information" or "Representative Information").

While you're at it, invite Representative Clem to come take a tour of Malheur County!

Senate President Peter Courtney
900 Court St NE S-203
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1600Capitol
sen.petercourtney@state.or.us

Sen. Jason Atkinson
900 Court St NE S-415
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1702
sen.jasonatkinson@state.or.us

Sen. Brian Boquist
900 Court ST. NE S-305
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1712
sen.brianboquist@state.or.us

Sen Mark Hass
900 Court St. NE S-419
Salem, OR 97301
503-641-2742
sen.markhass@state.or.us

Sen. Floyd Prozanski
900 Court St NE S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1704
sen.floydprozanski@state.or.us

Sen. Jackie Dingfelder
Committee Chair, Environment and Natural Resources
900 Court St NE S-407
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1723
sen.jackiedingfelder@state.or.us

Rep. Brian Clem
900 Court St. NE, H-284
Salem, OR, 97301
503-986-1421
rep.brianclem@state.or.us

The Blitz Begins

Along with Monday's press release, the morning meeting in Ontario, and a visit by IPCo representatives to the Argus following the meeting, Malheur County's Planning and Zoning office was paid a visit by Portland-based attorneys for Idaho Power. IPCo's Manager of Delivery Planning Dave Angell announced on radio that southern Idaho residents will be invited to comment on a possible route for a new transmission line. The Blitz is on!

Two articles of interest covering the Monday morning meeting:

Larry Meyer of the Argus Observer wrote the following:
Firm to launch outreach plan
http://argusobserver.com/articles/2009/03/10/news/doc49b69f2de9b64486087928.txt

ONTARIO — Idaho Power announced Monday it is launching a community advisory process regarding its Boardman to Hemingway transmission project, aimed to determine the route of a 500-kilovolt transmission line through Eastern Oregon and southwest Idaho.

The project has been steeped in controversy because preliminary blueprints showed the line going through prime farmland in Malheur County.

Idaho Power’s intention is to conduct a comprehensive and inclusive public process to identify proposed and alternative routes required for this project to proceed, Lisa Grow, Idaho Power’s vice president of delivery engineering and operations, said. “We will be meeting with cities and counties, land-use groups and state and federal agencies,” David Angell, Idaho Power’s delivery planning manager, said.

The purpose of the effort is to get a recommendation on a proposed route for the transmission line and any alternatives identified, which will be submitted to the United States Bureau of Land Management and the Oregon Energy Facilities Siting Council, both of which will be acting on Idaho Power’s proposal.

Three advisory teams will be formed, each representing a different region. The teams will have approximately 30 members, Angell said. One team will include people from Malheur, Owyhee, Canyon and Payette counties. The other two teams will represent Baker and Union counties and Umatilla and Morrow counties, respectively.“Representatives of the three teams will be picked for the coordinating team,” Angell said.Each advisory team will recommend a route and alternatives for their area, and the coordinating team will work to make sure the routes connect.

The advisory teams will have at least four meetings, Angell said, followed by open houses for the public to respond. The coordinating committee would have additional meetings. Idaho Power intends to complete the process sometime this year.

Echo Chadwick, Idaho Power corporate communications, said the selected route would be submitted to the BLM and the siting council so each agency can begin its review process. As for the maps identifying the preferred route, alternative routes or other routes considered, Chadwick said those proposals are still on the table for the teams to use as starting points, or they can discard those proposals.

“We are reaching out into the community,” Angell said, adding he will be contacting city and county leaders for recommendations of people to serve on the teams. The first meeting is scheduled for April. Chadwick said the power line project is needed because when Idaho Power’s system is operating at its peak, there is no additional capacity.

“I’m encouraged,” Roger Findley, chairman of Stop Idaho Power group, which has been working to keep the line away from farmland, said.

He said the organization will keep up its pressure and will participate on the advisory teams.

He also said, the Oregon Public Utilities Commission will hold a public hearing from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. March 26 at the Four Rivers Cultural Center to receive comments on whether there is a need for the transmission line.

Also, Jim Johnson, land-use specialist with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, was in Malheur County Monday to tour the area and meet with local producers about the proposed line. He said Monday night, at the Stop Idaho Power meeting, he will be looking at whether there are reliable alternatives to exclusive farm use routes and identifying possible impacts to farming practices from the transmission and how those impacts could be mitigated.

Idaho Power: All routes on the table
Baker City Herald's Mike Ferguson wrote the following:
http://www.bakercityherald.com/Local-News/Idaho-Power-All-routes-on-the-table

Idaho Power Co. is going back to square one as it seeks to build a 500-kilovolt transmission line through Baker County and four other counties in Oregon plus a handful in Idaho. . .
. . . the biggest announcement from Monday’s meeting might be that the company is erasing its existing slate of proposed routes to begin anew.

Well, not quite.

“We have a starting point (Hemingway, Idaho) and an ending point (Boardman). But we’re not going to toss any of the information we’ve put together,” said Dave Angell, Idaho Power’s delivery planning manager.

The company must also determine the route for the 298-mile project within the constraints already identified, Angell said, including wildlife habitat, river crossings, other landscape features, sage grouse habitat, the fact that the current transmission system is close to capacity — and, not insignificantly, cost. Each mile of the project will cost about $2 million, including substation construction, he said.

“Cost has to be a constraint,” Angell said. “We don’t have a blank check. (Cost) will be part of the siting criteria.”

It will be up to the citizens groups to determine which criteria are important to local residents.
“We will bring in folks to talk about the siting process so we are all educated,” Angell said. “We’ll talk about types of towers, tower heights, all their concerns.

“Then we’ll generate a list of criteria that will guide the routing. We’ll pull out the maps and let the committee members put tape to those maps, and let each member of the committee review and rank the routes.

“Then we’ll generate a proposed action, with proposed routes and alternatives.”

Idaho Power has used the citizens advisory process both with other siting processes and for its Integrated Resource Planning document, which spells out the region’s electricity needs for the coming years. . .

While Idaho Power relied on a contractor to come up with the route alternatives that have drawn protest, especially in Baker and Malheur counties, Angell said he personally will be “managing the process going forward.”

He also said the the company doesn’t have a preference for whether the transmission lines are sited on public or private property.

“When you get into public lands, you are dealing with the (Bureau of Land Management) and other agencies that manage the wildlife and habitat. As long as you mitigate habitat issues, there is no concern about being on public lands. If you look at our transmission lines today, a lot of them are on public lands.”

That’s what Nancy Peyron, founder of the citizens group Move Idaho Power, came to hear.
“We are going to stick with our mantra: If it’s for the public good, put it on public land,” Peyron said. “We just want them to hear our message, and we want people to get involved.”

Other Baker and Union County residents who attended Monday’s meeting expressed cautious optimism about the company’s new approach.

“Idaho Power acknowledged they had made a real mistake in policy, and it sounds to me like they are willing to go back to the beginning,” said Curt Martin, a North Powder rancher and member of Move Idaho Power.

Martin said one fear for local landowners is that a line through Baker Valley would complete a federal energy corridor and open the door for more electrical and natural gas lines to run through Baker County.

“We could be inundated with power lines,” he said. “I am concerned with ranching practices to a small degree, but mostly it’s the open space we all guard. It would never go back to what it was. You don’t know what you’ve got until you lose it.”

“I visited with Idaho Power people after the meeting,” said Baker County Commission Chairman Fred Warner Jr. “They’re going to try to restart the process, but they’re finding out it’s a difficult process. I’m afraid their constraints are mightier than what they thought they were . . .

Idaho Power to build Payette County plant

Facility to be situated off Interstate 84’s Exit 9 near New Plymouth
By LARRY MEYER ARGUS OBSERVER Tuesday, March 10, 2009
http://argusobserver.com/articles/2009/03/10/news/doc49b69eeb12bd5665865079.txt

(Keep in mind the Oregon PUC's March 26th Hearing for Need for the proposed B2H line 7:00 p.m. at the FRCC while reading the following:)

NEW PLYMOUTH — A site in Payette County, directly south of New Plymouth along Interstate 84, has been selected by Idaho Power Company as the location for a new natural gas-fired power generation facility the company plans to build, according to a company announcement issued Monday.

The company filed for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission March 6, which will be available on the IPUC Web site.

“Idaho Power’s 2004 and 2006 Integrated Resource Plans both identified the need for additional baseload generation to reduce projected energy and capacity deficits. The resource need was reaffirmed in the 2008 IRP update,” the announcement quoted Karl Bokenkamp, company general manager of power supply operations and planning, as saying.

Vern Porter, general manager of power production, said, “This facility will generate 300 megawatts during the summer and 330 watts during the winter.” Situated at exit 9, on the south side of the Interstate, Porter said the plant will be situated beyond the first row of hills from the freeway, so it will not be readily visible, although some of it may be seen from different vantage points. The plant itself will only take up about 10 acres.

Isn't it nice that the plant will be out of nearby view sheds?

Parma won't back down on ill-conceived power line

by Margaret Watson http://www.idahostatesman.com/opinion/story/692860.html

Idaho PowerCo. 's poorly conceived plans to build a major new electric transmission line on a route that runs directly through our small city's area of impact has forced us to undertake what can only be termed a battle for the future of Parma.

This battle should not have happened. It could have been avoided. But faced with decisions that have a huge impact on our future, we will not back down, because too much is at stake.

For reasons that are still a mystery, Parma - its citizens and elected officials - were entirely left out of the planning for this huge new project. There is no question that the proposed 298-mile, 500-kilovolt Idaho Power transmission line between Boardman, Ore., and the Hemingway substation, 25 miles southwest of Boise, would severely impact Parma's future commercial and resident development, stifle future growth and damage property values. . .

Why, then, were Parma city officials left out of Idaho Power's planning? Idaho Power representatives made no effort to open a dialogue with those of us who stand to receive the most impact from their proposed project. . .

Idaho Power now calls its failure to notice the incompatibility of its transmission project with the city's planning for the future an "oversight." Some oversight.

From this difficult and costly experience, I've taken away a couple of important lessons. We can all agree that providing electricity in a reasonable and cost-effective manner is essential and that new transmission lines will be sited in the western United States. At the same time, the burden must be on the developers of these massive projects to first consult with and understand in detail the very real impacts in our communities. Had Idaho Power made this effort, I am convinced we could have saved them time and money and prevented weeks of heartburn for people in and around Parma.

Second, real community involvement and engagement that occurs before lines are drawn on a map is essential. It is the responsibility of project proponents to consult and collaborate with city officials, business owners, landowners, school districts and residents who will be impacted before they make wide-ranging and, in Parma's case, seriously ill-informed decisions.

We strongly believe that Idaho Power's decision to site transmission lines in the area where Parma intends to grow must not stand. An urbanizing area such as Parma is no place for a huge electric transmission line - a position we would have put forward forcefully to Idaho Power early on, had we been given the opportunity.

Now, we have no choice but to fight for the future of our community.

Margaret Watson is the mayor of Parma.

"Public Good, Public Land"

Monday night at the Boulevard Grange, the packed and enthusiastic crowd learned what went on in the private meeting with Idaho Power representatives Monday morning at the Ontario Holiday Inn:

1) Approximately 30 people were invited from Malheur and surrounding counties. Adam Bless of the Oregon Department of Energy was also in attendance, plus 20 representative from Idaho Power.

2) IPCo says "There is no map anymore. We are starting with a clean slate."

3) IPCo intends to separate the B2H process from the TVEP loop.

4) Sand Hollow substation, once central to the Treasure Valley Electrical Plan (TVEP), is now off the table.

5) IPCo conceded that routing over public land is a viable option.

IPCo wants to form three citizens' groups by April in order to develop new proposed and alternate routes by December.

Roger Findley, chairman of Stop Idaho Power's Executive Committee, says he is "cautiously optimistic" about what he heard, but he won't be satisfied until he sees actual construction out of farm ground. "The ODOE process through EFSC is still going forward. Three OPUC hearings for need are still going forward, which would result in giving IPCo condemnation rights, and the Federal NEPA process is still going forward. The game is not over."

SIP needs to stay active, Roger says, since IPCo's new process will most likely involve a media blitz.

Bruce Corn added his observations: "Idaho Power depended on us to not get organized and to lose interest, and on picking us off one at a time. If anything, our solidarity is greater now. We're still in the ballgame, but we can't let down our guard."

Rod Price, one of those invited to the Monday morning meeting, added, "They were very cordial. They wanted to heal up any problems that had been there. They've looked at the whole show and they know we're serious. They are willing to say, 'We don't need the Whole Show,'" speaking of the intention to route the B2H transmission line separate from the TVEP loop.

The discussion on the PUC's Hearing for Need (to be held in Ontario Thursday, March 26 at 7:00 p.m. in the FRCC) will be part of a later blog post.

Marsing's meeting February 24th with Idaho Power resulted in a new map moving the route south of the Pacificorp line. IPCo is going to tap this 500 kV line for 225 mw, something which does not appear in the IRP addendum.

Nancy Peyron and Diane Bloomer of Baker County exclaimed, "Thank you, thank you, Malheur County" for getting organized and out in front of this before any of the other counties realized it was happening. 70 miles of the route goes through Baker County, which is 52% public land and 48% EFU, making it difficult to avoid EFU land.

"We are building momentum," Nancy said. "The Cattlemans' Association is getting on board, and we've had excellent newspaper coverage."

Baker County will have "Public Good, Public Land" t shirts for sale soon.

Gary Rohwer of the Parma Impact Task Force reported that their organization is still committed to obtaining a statement from IPCo that it will not place the 500kV transmission in Parma's impact area. PIT heard from IPCo meeting that the routes on the map have disappeared but all the current processes such a NEPA, Oregon Siting, and Oregon PUC have not stopped. PIT wonders how you do this without a map?????

PIT members attending the IPCo’s March 9, 2009 meeting believe they heard IPCo indicate it is possible to locate on public lands, B2H is their focus and B2H is viewed separately from the Tresure Valley Energy Plan.

Rohwer feels the new routes requested by IPC0 from the citizens groups already exist and are in scoping, SIP #1 and SIP #2.

Parma has benefited from the efforts of its Mayor, Margaret Watson, and a lot of press.

"We need to be a little bit cautious about lulling us into being another Treasure Valley planning group, putting us in a box," Rohwer said. "If it's possible we could put this on BLM land, keep it off our farmground and keep it off our cities." Rohwer believes we now have Idaho Power’s attention.

Nancy Carter from Parma told about her collaboration with the Idaho Conservation League, an environmental group. She suggested that groups such as the Audubon Society and the Nature Conservancy would be of help to our effort. "They were asking, 'Why aren't they using corridors that already exist?'" Nancy reported.

Jim Johnson of Oregon's Department of Agriculture (more on his visit in a later blog) recommended a liaison with the 1000 Friends of Oregon and Oregonians in Action.

Stay tuned! There will be more about Jim Johnson's tour of Malheur County Tuesday, the PUC Hearing for Need March 26th, Ted Ferrioli's Oregon Senate Bill 644 (including committee member addresses for letter writing), Greg Walden's visit to Ontario March 21st, and other items of interest.

March 9th Meeting Reminder

Don't forget to attend the Stop Idaho Power meeting Monday, March 9th, 7:00 p.m. at the Boulevard Grange on Hwy 201.

A lot of good things have been happening, so please come join us.

Larry Meyer of the Ontario Argus Observer has an article on Sen. Ted Ferrioli's Oregon Senate Bill 644 limiting the size of transmission towers crossing exclusive farm use land to 400,000 volts.

You can read the article at this link: http://argusobserver.com/articles/2009/03/08/news/doc49b3758708f9c675402790.txt

Payette County meets with Idaho Power

Many citizens of Payette County have been wondering why they have been left behind in the transmission line siting process. A recent article in the Argus may not be all that reassuring. . .

Idaho Power meets with Payette County Commissioners By Scott Ford
Argus Observer Thursday, February 19, 2009 11:13 AM PST
http://argusobserver.com/articles/2009/02/19/news/doc499da6252e1fe111389057.txt

PAYETTE — About 30 people attended Tuesday’s Payette County Commissioner meeting regarding a potential plan by Idaho Power to route a transmission line through the area.

The transmission line, dubbed the Hemingway to Boardman Transmission Project, will consist of a single circuit 500-kilovolt transmission line which will start at a proposed substation situated southwest of Boise (Hemingway) and end at a Boardman substation in Morrow County, Oregon.

Tuesday, Idaho Power representatives Mike Barrie and Mike Ybarguen spoke with commissioners Larry Church, Rudy Endrikat and Marc Shigeta and described for the local elected leaders the progress of these transmission line routes. Barrie stated the process of looking into possible transmission line routes is in the preliminary stage.

“We are looking at different routes to run this line,” Barrie said. “We have an updated map showing a proposed route and alternate routes, but they are just preliminary routes.”

Barrie said the maps, which were present at the meeting Tuesday, were already outdated because of new information Idaho Power received after the maps were printed.

“We are still in the process of evaluating routes. There are things out there we know about and cannot interfere with, but then there are things out there that we do not find out about until we physically see them in the field,” Barrie said. “It’s an on ongoing evaluation, and we are at least 2 1⁄2 years away from construction.”

Barrie said a lot of things come into play when determining the location of the lines. Constraints on federal lands have pushed some of the proposed line sites into the private sector, and, even then, Idaho Power is listening to the land owners’ concerns.

Barrie added, a crossing point into Idaho from Oregon still has to be determined, and Payette County, Owyhee County and Canyon County are all being looked at as viable objectives.

Church voiced a couple of concerns he said he has been hearing from Payette County residents to Barrie and Ybarguen. One of those concerns was the condemning of private land to run the transmission lines. Church asked where Idaho Power stood on that topic, and on the stories he has heard of 40 percent of private land owners securing permission to access land, and then Idaho Power using condemnation to acquire the remaining 60 percent of land needed.

Barrie said Idaho Power does have the right of way to acquisition power, but added the “60 percent of the lands being condemned” was not true.“We do have condemnation powers, but we do not use them. In fact, we have not used them in 32 years,” Berry said. “There has been three or four times in the past 22 years that condemnation papers have been filed, but we ended up negotiating. If we cannot come up with an agreement with the land owner, then we will just go around.” (This must apply to Idaho, since IPCo does not have condemnation right of way powers in Oregon unless it is given them by the Oregon PUC.)

He added that Idaho Power does not make it a practice to condemn lands for its needs. Instead, the company uses an independent appraiser to set a range of land values so Idaho Power has a place to begin negotiations.“Land owners are fairly compensated,” Barrie said. Another concern Church had was the size of the towers that will carry the lines. Barrie stated the towers will vary in size depending on location and terrain. Barrie added the towers south of Marsing are 500 kV towers, and the towers Idaho Power plans to use will look a lot like those.

“The average height of these towers will range from 125 feet to 150 feet,” Ybarguen said. “But the higher the tower, the longer the span and the less ground disturbance there will be.” If the line does come through Payette County, Barrie said there will be a 250-foot easement placed on the lines, 125 feet on either side. He added it would not interfere with farming or agriculture.

“We will not run these lines over homes or structures we will either go around them or move them if possible,” Barrie said. “We listen to all concerns, and we will look for the best way to go about it.”