"Project Order and Idaho Route Meeting"

In response to a request for a meeting concerning our reservations about the outcome of the mostly-Oregon mapping, we have been invited to meet with Idaho Power officials Monday, November 30th, 4-8 p.m. at the Community House of Kirkpatrick Church in Parma, Idaho.

Please RSVP Kara Veit at (208) 377-9688 if you want to attend this meeting.

Meeting objectives:
• Discuss the Oregon Department of Energy’s Boardman to Hemingway Project Order
• Discuss the (presumptive?) project area and proposed routes in Idaho

4:00 p.m.
Welcome and introductions
• Welcome – Kent McCarthy, Idaho Power, CAP Project Leader
• Introductions and agenda – Rosemary Curtin, facilitator
4:10 p.m.
Project Order – Adam Bless, Oregon Department of Energy
• Overview
• Questions and answers
5:10 p.m.
Boardman to Hemingway project area – Dave Angell, Idaho Power
6:10 p.m.
Dinner
6:30 p.m.
Presentations and discussion with:
• Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) – Idaho representative
• U.S. Forest Service (USFS) – Idaho representative – (Tentative)
• BLM recently participated in three panel discussions for the CAP. (Correspondence from the BLM is available for reference.)
7:30 p.m.
Next steps

Adam Bless of the Oregon Department of Energy will present information on the Project Order, which encourages Idaho Power to route an Idaho corridor as a valid solution to the problems of routing through Oregon. We understand that the ODOE itself does not choose the route, but the Energy Facility Siting Council has the power to deny what routes are proposed across Oregon.

More importantly, it is the disregarding of our requests for information and meetings providing for even-handed mapping of Idaho routes, (as in IPC's original Treasure Valley Electrical Plan loop around the greater Boise area, including the proposed Gateway West south corridor,) that has us wondering why all Idaho routes have been jettisoned in favor of ANY viable alternative through Oregon.

We hope these concerns will be addressed Monday evening.

PGE’s New Power Line: Is This Something We Really Need?

"Cascade Crossing" picks up where Boardman to Hemingway leaves off.

by Dennis Newman, Nov. 13, 2009 http://www.naturaloregon.org/2009/11/13/pges-new-power-line-is-this-something-we-really-need/

In the past two weeks, Portland General Electric has held several public meetings about its plans for a new high voltage power line.

Called Cascade Crossing, PGE wants to build a 200-mile, double circuit, 500-kilovolt power line from Boardman to Salem. Along the way, it crosses two national forests and the Warm Springs reservation. If all goes according to plan, construction will begin in late 2012 and the power line will be operating during the first half of 2015. . .

Do We Really Need This Power Line?

PGE warns that our current transmission system to close to capacity. Despite the growth in population and the increased demand for electricity over the past 25 years, no new major power lines have been built. Without this power line, PGE says our grid may become unreliable, raising the odds of power outages or brown outs. It also says this line will help bring in more renewable energy from the wind farms in Eastern Oregon. It says that will help Oregon meet state mandates to get 15% of our power from renewable energy by 2015. . .

As we’ve seen recently, PGE isn’t the only company proposing a new power line in the area. The Bonneville Power Administration is looking at a 70-mile high voltage line in SW Washington and a 28-mile line that runs through the Columbia Gorge Scenic Area. In Eastern Oregon, Idaho Power wants to build a 300-plus mile high voltage line from Boardman to SW Idaho.

How Do Projects Like These Affect The Forest and Wildlife?

. . . (Amy) Harwood (of the environmental group Bark) says energy corridors impact the forest in a number of ways. Creating a new path of clear cut makes it easier for invasive weeds to spread into the forest. Not only does it give them a foothold, but without tree cover the weeds thrive and become harder to control. . .

The Coalition for Agriculture's Future

Southwest Idaho group forms around concern for farmland's future
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/11/southwest_idaho_group_forms_ov.html

(AP) Nov. 22 A coalition concerned about protecting farmland from uncontrolled growth and development in southwest Idaho has formed.

The Coalition for Agriculture’s Future includes about 30 groups with interests ranging from farming to food processing to wine making to meat-packing .

George Crookham, the coalition’s chairman, told the Idaho Press-Tribune that the coalition is concerned about the future of valuable farmland. . .

From the Coalition's website: http://www.agriculturesfuture.org/Index.htm

"The Coalition works to help maintain agricultural lands for the future by developing mechanisms that incorporate future looking planning in land use issues that will allow both development and protection of our agricultural heritage and traditions.

"Our ultimate goal is to preserve for future generations a critical natural resource that feeds the world and a heritage that helps define the character of its society. "

Idaho Power's 2009 IRP

Rocky Barker still on the job reporting on Idaho's energy needs

Will Idaho Power shut down some of its coal plants in the next 20 years? by Rocky Barker, 11/10/2009

http://voices.idahostatesman.com/2009/11/10/rockybarker/will_idaho_power_shut_down_some_its_coal_plants_next_20_years

I sat through Idaho Power’s Integrated Resource Planning meeting last week. That is where the utility lays out its future plans to a group of customers, environmental advocates and Idaho Public Utility Commission staff for their comments. The idea is the company gets feedback for its plans to build or buy power generation for the next 20 years.

It’s hard for anyone to look at what will be going on 20 years from now and the plans they make this year will clearly be changed as the utility moves along. But there are key decisions that will set long term paths that will have a major impact on Idaho Power’s rates as time goes on.

When will the company need to build its proposed transmission line from Boardman, Oregon to the Hemingway substation west of Boise? Will it be cheaper over the long run to build expensive solar generation plants in the deserts of Idaho or on people’s roofs than to build more natural gas plants?

Idaho Power’s preferred alternative is to build the transmission line and use natural gas plants to meet its peaking needs.

Earlier this year, the company’s shareholders voted strongly to push the company to do more to prepare to do business in a time of climate change. Its immediate plans don’t seem to reflect that much.

But when you move out to the second 10 years of its planning cycle the utility clearly is looking at a regulatory world where actually reducing existing coal generation makes sense. Its preferred alternative depends on natural gas wind power and the completion of the Gateway West transmission line into Wyoming to meet the need.

Idaho Power is looking at choosing that over keeping all of its coal plants operating. The preferred alternative doesn’t including nuclear, solar or more geothermal as its so-called “nuclear/green” alternative recommends.

Ultimately the most power will come over the next 20 years from improvements in energy efficiency and virtually all experts seem to agree. That’s why the $47 million smart grid stimulus grant is so influential in the company’s future.

Some industrial customers worry that Idaho Power may consider retiring some of its coal plants before the plants are paid off, leaving customers with the stranded costs. And environmentalists worry they may put more capital expenditures in old coal plants like the Boardman Coal Plant shared with Portland General Electric and others.

PGE including adding all the pollution control devices that would be needed to keep the Boardman plant open in its own integrated resource plan proposal. If PGE’s proposal is approved, the plant would require $600 million in new investment. Idaho Power's share is 10% or $60 million, said Betsy Bridge of the Idaho Conservation League.

Bridge thinks that $60 million would be better invested in alternative energy or efficiency programs. Perhaps Idaho Power’s first test for its own commitment to curtailing its coal resource over time will be whether it commits to spending the $60 million for Boardman.

Nuclear Plant Plan on Track

Second firm looks at Payette County for site of a new nuclear power plant
By Brandi Stromberg Argus Observer Nov. 18, 2009 http://www.argusobserver.com/news/doc4b044530ca4a2777545774.txt

Payette — The spokesman for a firm looking to build a nuclear power plant in Payette County said atomic energy is more cost effective than conventional sources.

Don Gillispie, 66, Eagle, one of seven owners of the firm Alternate Energy Holdings, Inc., said his company first began to look at Idaho as a viable place for a nuclear power plant several years ago. . .

Gillispie said the proposed plant could produce at least 5,000 jobs during its construction and about 1,000 jobs during operation. He said the tax intake, alone, will be beneficial to the county as a revenue, generating nearly $100 million in property taxes. Construction costs would be near $10 billion and will begin after land acquisition, hopefully in 2013. The plant has a 60-year life span and will essentially be more efficient and beneficial to the county than a solar or hydro-energy power plant, he said. Gillispie said the average salary for a nuclear power plant engineer is around $80,000.

Gillispie said the company currently operates eight plants in the Midwest. He said the proposed plant is an advanced plant, and no others exist in the world like it. Gillispie said he enjoys being a good neighbor to local businesses, charities and the population in general. He said they donate their time, resources and thousands of dollars annually.

“We try to be good neighbors,” Gillispie said. “Part of this company is trying to give back to the people.”

The Payette County Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. Thursday regarding the proposed nuclear plant. If anyone would like to contact Gillispie or visit the Web site, Gillispie encourages questions, concerns and comments about the proposal. The Web site address is www.aehipower.com and the email is info@aehipower.com. . .

Idaho's generation capacity

We've reported on Alternate Energy Holdings' efforts to establish a nuclear energy presence in Idaho. In looking over their website, http://www.alternateenergyholdings.com/ you might find the following pdf article interesting:

"Idaho ranks near the bottom of western states preparing to add generation capacity" http://www.alternateenergyholdings.com/Portals/51/Media/Files/aehinews052609.pdf

The date of the article is May of this year, so perhaps the effort to get CHP and solar energy online since then, are an effort by Idaho Power to rectify the situation.

One man's trash: Landfill operator plans gas generator

http://www.magicvalley.com/news/local/article_0d72324c-cdc2-11de-87fb-001cc4c03286.html Nate Poppino, Magic Valley Times News 11/10/09

That bag of trash you're about to toss could soon power someone's home.

Southern Idaho Solid Waste is looking to build a methane-fueled generator at Milner Butte Landfill, which was established in the early 1990s in southern Cassia County and houses trash tossed by residents of seven south-central Idaho counties.

A methane-gas collection system came online in September and is currently feeding data to Josh Bartlome, the environmental specialist conducting the system's initial testing. The landfill's methane gas currently flows at between 315 and 330 standard cubic feet per minute, more than enough to support a generator in the future, Bartlome said. . .

Milner Butte would become only the second landfill in Idaho to generate power from methane gas and sell it back to a utility. The only landfill that currently has such a sales agreement is the one run by Ada County, said Gene Fadness, spokesman for the Idaho Public Utilities Commission.

There, county officials partnered with a private company four years ago to set up generators now supplying 3.2 megawatts to Idaho Power Co. - enough to power 2,400 homes. The company supplied and owns the generators and buys the gas from the county, paying about $225,000 a year, said Ted Hutchinson, Ada County's landfill manager. The arrangement works well enough that the county is currently drilling more gas wells that the company might then expand to include. . .

Power line packs the house

by Scott Callister 10/28/2009 Blue Mountain Eagle http://MyEagleNews.com subscriber only

JOHN DAY - More than 70 people turned out last week to pore over maps and charts as Idaho Power unveiled recent, close-to-home proposals for its 500-kilovolt transmission line.

For many, the information was sobering.

"Grant County doesn't stand to get anything out of this, but it would rob us forever of being a premier jewel in terms of scenic and recreational attractions. . . "

. . . The line has drawn stiff opposition in some . . . counties, where residents recently suggested shifting the route to the west - through Grant and Harney counties. . .

(. . . or east into Ada and Gem counties. . . )

Routing meeting cancelled

We received the following emails over the past week:

The November 4th email:

We anticipate to hold a meeting next week on Thursday, November 12th to discuss the Project Order and routing in Idaho (for more information about the Project Order please go to http://www.boardmantohemingway.com/odoe-efsc_documents.aspx).

Several Project Advisory Team members have requested a meeting to specifically discuss these issues and we are working diligently to meet this request. We are currently waiting to confirm a facility and schedule Idaho panelists before this date is confirmed.

Please save the date November 12th and by the end of the week we will notify you to confirm this date. If the meeting is not held next week it will be scheduled for the first or second week of December.

Thank you for your patience. We appreciate your continued participation in the Community Advisory Process.

The November 9th email:

The November 12, 2009 meeting to discuss the Project Order and routing in Idaho meeting has been cancelled. We are currently working to reschedule this meeting. Our goal is to have this meeting before our fourth Project Advisory Team meeting to be held in December.

Idaho Power hopes to submit its 2009 IRP, including viable route(s), by the end of December.

Initial Proposed B2H Routes

If you haven't been to the Boardman to Hemingway site lately, you can take a look at the routes proposed during the mapping sessions. The link can be found here:

http://www.boardmantohemingway.com/idaho_power_CAP_maps.aspx

N, C and S stand for North, Central and South team member routes. Some are conceptual and some are more accurately drawn. Information on individual routes and comment responses has been made available by Idaho Power.

You can download the "Initial Proposed Routes Map" pdf here:

http://www.boardmantohemingway.com/documents/CAP_PATInitialRoutes_1.pdf

Report Argues for a Decentralized System of Renewable Power Generation

10/30 by Jim Witkin http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/report-argues-for-a-de-centralized-system-of-renewable-power-generation/

Most states could meet their demand for electricity with renewable energy sources inside their own borders, according to a new report from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a nonprofit group in Washington that advocates for local sustainability solutions.

The report, called Energy Self-Reliant States, examined the commercial potential for wind, rooftop solar, geothermal and small-scale hydro projects.

Thirty-one states, mostly west of the Mississippi, could meet all their electric demand, and all states could generate at least 25 percent of their demand using these in-state resources, the authors of the report suggest. . .

The report advocated strongly for state and local control over these renewable energy assets and a decentralized approach to electricity generation: building small-scale, distributed energy facilities and upgrading the transmission and distribution systems within each state. . .

President Obama Announces $3.4 Billion Investment to Spur Transition to Smart Energy Grid

Where the smart grid money is coming from. . .

The White House Office of the Press Secretary October 27, 2009
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/president-obama-announces-34-billion-investment-spur-transition-smart-energy-grid

Applicants say investments will create tens of thousands of jobs, save energy and empower consumers to cut their electric bills

ARCADIA, FLORIDA – Speaking at Florida Power and Light’s (FPL) DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center, President Barack Obama today announced the largest single energy grid modernization investment in U.S. history, funding a broad range of technologies that will spur the nation’s transition to a smarter, stronger, more efficient and reliable electric system. The end result will promote energy-saving choices for consumers, increase efficiency, and foster the growth of renewable energy sources like wind and solar.

The $3.4 billion in Smart Grid Investment Grant awards are part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, and will be matched by industry funding for a total public-private investment worth over $8 billion. Applicants state that the projects will create tens of thousands of jobs, and consumers in 49 states will benefit from these investments in a stronger, more reliable grid. . .

An analysis by the Electric Power Research Institute estimates that the implementation of smart grid technologies could reduce electricity use by more than 4 percent by 2030. That would mean a savings of $20.4 billion for businesses and consumers around the country, and $1.6 billion for Florida alone -- or $56 in utility savings for every man, woman and child in Florida.

One-hundred private companies, utilities, manufacturers, cities and other partners received awards today, including FPL which will use its $200 million in funding to install 2.6 million smart meters and other technology that will cut energy costs for its customers. In the coming days, Cabinet Members and other Administration officials will fan out to awardee sites across the country to discuss how this investment will create jobs, improve the reliability and efficiency of the electrical grid, and help bring clean energy sources from high-production states to those with less renewable generating capacity. The awards announced today represent the largest group of Recovery Act awards ever made in a single day and the largest batch of Recovery Act clean energy grant awards to-date. . .

Wind energy's success creates a power grid challenge

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/10/wind_powers_success_spurs_new.html

by Matthew Preusch 10/29/2009 The Oregonian

The rows of white turbines spinning over wheat fields and ridgelines in eastern Oregon are ample evidence that renewable energy from wind is real and growing.

So much so that the aging network of transmission lines and power stations that carries energy around the region is loaded to its limits.

But wind developers are just getting started. And thousands of miles of new power lines carried by skyscraper-sized steel towers will need to be laid across deserts, farms and forests as more wind farms rise in farther-flung corners of Oregon and the West.

It won't be cheap, or without controversy.

More than half of Oregon is public land that Oregonians value for recreation, unobstructed vistas and habitat for sensitive species. And the cleared corridors that accommodate such transmission lines cut a wide swath. . .

Oregon ranks fifth among states for wind power capacity. It now gets 7 percent of its power from wind, versus 1 percent a few years ago. And the state will require large utilities to source a quarter of the power they sell from renewable resources such as wind by 2025. . .

Northwest projects

PGE proposes building a 200-mile, 500-kilovolt line from near Boardman in northeast Oregon, across the Cascade Mountains and into the Willamette Valley, one of a half-dozen or so proposed transmission projects in the Northwest. . .

PGE hopes to break ground in 2013 and have the line up and running two years later.

But building a transmission line is complicated. Terrain varies. Transmission towers are up to 190 feet tall, and they are built in corridors 125 to 250 feet wide that have to be kept clear of trees.

"These corridors have a long-term environmental impact in that they are permitted clear-cuts. Most of the time they are hundreds of feet wide, and that impacts wildlife habitat and clean water," said Erik Fernandez, wilderness coordinator for the group Oregon Wild. . .

New lines often mean new rights of way, and across the American West, there are about 10,000 miles of new high-voltage lines -- those exceeding 200 kilovolts -- being considered in the next 10 years, according to the Western Electricity Coordinating Council. At a meeting of Western governors in June, Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal lamented that transmission lines could make his state look like a jumbled plate of spaghetti.

"We are talking about in a very short time span having a massive build-out of the power infrastructure. And if we do this the wrong way, there's going to be a large price tag environmentally," Fernandez said. . .

Idaho counties back Gateway West power line alternative

I'm late posting Andre Meunier's August 19th Oregonian story: http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/08/idaho_counties_back_gateway_we.html

BOISE -- Five counties plan to back an alternative route for a proposed Wyoming-to-Idaho power transmission line next Monday, contending the path now favored by two utilities bankrolling the $2 billion project cuts a disruptive swath through too much private land. . .

The alternative favored by Idaho's Bannock, Oneida, Power, Cassia, and Twin Falls counties includes a detour further south along Idaho's border with Utah and Nevada.

The counties and a lobbying group that calls itself "Move It" have been working with the BLM and private contractors for several months to develop an alternative transmission corridor for Gateway West, as well as any other transmission projects. . .

The existing Gateway West proposal would cross about 42 percent federal lands, 10 percent state lands and 48 percent private lands.

The dispute illustrates the challenge utilities are increasingly facing: Satisfying demand for energy, while appeasing private landowners, environmentalists and local governments with clashing fears over how huge projects will affect them. . .

Idaho Power, responsible for the Gateway West section covered by the Idaho counties' alternative, was forced earlier this year to abandon its original plan for another proposed transmission line in southwestern Idaho, after residents of the farming town of Parma complained about private property impacts. . .

Idaho Power proposes four route options for transmission line

Informational meetings have now been held in Grant and Harney counties in Oregon. We haven't heard of any additional meetings to be held in Idaho counties.

One proposal could cut through a portion of Harney County By Debbie Raney Burns Times-Herald 10/28/2009

http://burnstimesherald.info/2009/10/28/idaho-power-proposes-four-route-options-for-transmission-line/

Over the next 20 years energy consumption in the United States is expected to increase by 0.5 percent. To keep ahead of the anticipated need, Idaho Power has proposed construction of a 500 kV transmission line from the Boardman Substation to a new substation in Melba, Idaho, called the Hemingway Substation.

To initiate the proposed project, called the Boardman to Hemingway Project, Idaho Power has begun the siting process, which includes accepting public input. Before developing a route for the lines Idaho Power consideration must be given to the regulatory and engineering criteria, as well as community criteria. At this point, four basic route options have been mapped, with sub-options stemming from these.

One of the options would site the transmission lines through the northwestern portion of Harney County. As it is currently mapped, after this route leaves Boardman and goes through Grant County, five alternate routes have been suggested.

The next step in the planning process will be compiling input and suggestions from the communities involved. Open house meetings were held in John Day and Burns last week to help Idaho Power get a broader scope of what the communities are thinking. Advisory committees from the areas will begin meeting in the next two weeks, to review comments and ideas.

“Our first objective is to find a route that is permitable,” said David Angell, delivery planning manager for Idaho Power. “We’re looking for an acceptable route with the least impact.”

. . . Idaho Power has estimated that the project will be in the construction phase by January 2013, and the line will be in service by June 2015.