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:
- What would happen if the line were not built or built later than proposed?
- Could projected electrical needs be met by purchasing power?
- Would additional local generation make the line less necessary?
- If a line is needed, are these the right termination locations?
- Is the proposed capacity too large or too small to meet projected needs?
- Can demand management and efficiency reduce the size of line needed?
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.
