By Richard Cockle, 4/6/2010 The Oregonian
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/04/power_corridor_will_spare_gran.htmlLA GRANDE -- A power company's preferred route for a 299-mile "big extension cord" power line through eastern Oregon to Idaho will bypass both Grant County and a prosperous onion-growing area near Ontario -- both hotbeds of opposition to the project.
Boise-based Idaho Power Co. unveiled its recommended route Tuesday for a 500-kilovolt line. The Hemingway Power Transmission Project would start near Boardman and wind through Morrow, Umatilla, Union, Baker and Malheur counties before ending at the company's Hemingway Substation near Melba, Idaho.
Oregon residents fought two earlier proposals, one that would have taken the line through scenic Grant County mountain and high-desert panoramas, and another that would have removed 1,500 acres of farmland from production near Ontario.
The project became doubly unpopular in Grant County after word got out that company workers went to a John Day pub after a March 2 public meeting and made fun of locals' objections and manner of speaking. The workers also said land would be seized through eminent domain. Company officials apologized and assured residents the workers had been removed from the project.
"It didn't go over at all well," said Mark Webb, chairman of the Grant County commissioners.
Residents, already up in arms over a threat by a group calling itself the Aryan Nations to build a national headquarters in John Day, declared: Neo-Nazis aren't welcome, and neither is the transmission project.
Idaho Power has said the line -- the first big power corridor proposed in Oregon in more than 20 years -- is needed, citing a U.S. Department of Energy report that says U.S. demand for electricity is likely to grow 40 percent in the next two decades. The construction of wind turbines across Oregon is expected to add to the need.
Idaho Power will submit its preferred route to the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management on April 15, said BLM spokesman John Styduhar. The Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council and Public Utility Commission also must approve the route.
Idaho Power originally hoped to begin building the corridor next year and have electricity coursing through by June 2013. Spokeswoman Piper Hyman said the company remains on schedule.
Styduhar, however, suggested that the project may run past the deadline. "I would say on a fast track it would take 1 1/2 to 2 years" to win approval, he said. "This is not a fast-track project."
Boise-based Idaho Power Co. unveiled its recommended route Tuesday for a 500-kilovolt line. The Hemingway Power Transmission Project would start near Boardman and wind through Morrow, Umatilla, Union, Baker and Malheur counties before ending at the company's Hemingway Substation near Melba, Idaho.
Oregon residents fought two earlier proposals, one that would have taken the line through scenic Grant County mountain and high-desert panoramas, and another that would have removed 1,500 acres of farmland from production near Ontario.
The project became doubly unpopular in Grant County after word got out that company workers went to a John Day pub after a March 2 public meeting and made fun of locals' objections and manner of speaking. The workers also said land would be seized through eminent domain. Company officials apologized and assured residents the workers had been removed from the project.
"It didn't go over at all well," said Mark Webb, chairman of the Grant County commissioners.
Residents, already up in arms over a threat by a group calling itself the Aryan Nations to build a national headquarters in John Day, declared: Neo-Nazis aren't welcome, and neither is the transmission project.
Idaho Power has said the line -- the first big power corridor proposed in Oregon in more than 20 years -- is needed, citing a U.S. Department of Energy report that says U.S. demand for electricity is likely to grow 40 percent in the next two decades. The construction of wind turbines across Oregon is expected to add to the need.
Idaho Power will submit its preferred route to the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management on April 15, said BLM spokesman John Styduhar. The Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council and Public Utility Commission also must approve the route.
Idaho Power originally hoped to begin building the corridor next year and have electricity coursing through by June 2013. Spokeswoman Piper Hyman said the company remains on schedule.
Styduhar, however, suggested that the project may run past the deadline. "I would say on a fast track it would take 1 1/2 to 2 years" to win approval, he said. "This is not a fast-track project."
