TRANSMISSION: $1B Mont.-Idaho proposal delayed again amid county, landowner resistance

http://www.eenews.net/ (subscription only) 4/22/1020 by Phil Taylor

The Bureau of Land Management has for a second time postponed its draft
environmental review of a 430-mile transmission line proposed for Montana and Idaho that has drawn sharp resistance from ranchers and some county commissions.

The $1 billion Mountain States Transmission Intertie project by South Dakota-based NorthWestern Energy would carry up to 1,500 megawatts of renewable wind power from central Montana to markets in the Pacific Northwest and desert Southwest. . .

The city-county council last month sent a letter to BLM and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality urging the agencies to consider routing the line over public lands rather than on private ranches, many of which already contain transmission lines. . .

A recurring theme

The project is the latest transmission proposal in the West to experience blowback over real or perceived threats to resources including property rights, scenic vistas, national security and wildlife. . .

NorthWestern Energy said it is working with state and federal agencies to identify alternative routes along public lands that will be included in the draft environmental impact statement (EIS), which is expected to be re leased in early June, having missed initial deadlines set for last fall and April 2010.

The company's priority, however, is to minimize environmental harm by following existing transmission corridors, said NorthWestern spokeswoman Claudia Rapkoch.

"We're disappointed with the delay," she added. But "we also understand it takes time to work through all these different issues."

Alternative routes and local routing options will be evaluated in the draft EIS, as well as a "no action" alternative, BLM said. A preliminary agency-preferred alternative will be identified in the document.

"We've worked very hard to work out those issues and move the lines off private lands to public lands where we could," said Mackiewicz.

The agency and MDEQ have received more than 100 written comments on the project from state, county and tribal governments and the public, Mackiewicz said.

Bingaman Bill Would Strengthen Energy Efficiency Standards for Appliances

http://www.bignews.biz/?id=848334&keys=Senator-Jeff-Bingaman-EnergyEfficientAppliances

3-5-2010

U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has introduced bipartisan legislation that would lead to the manufacture and use of more energy efficient everyday appliances. The measure is cosponsored by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), the committee's ranking member.

The bill aims to strengthen a 20-year Department of Energy's (DOE) initiative that establishes, updates and administers energy efficiency standards for over 33 consumer products – everything from dishwashers to ceiling fans. The initiative has led to the use of more efficient appliances, and in the process save consumers money, strengthen the economy, and reduce greenhouse gases. It is estimated that by 2020 the DOE initiative will reduce national electricity demand at least 15 percent below what it otherwise would have been.

But Bingaman would like to take additional steps to reduce energy consumption. His National Energy Efficiency Enhancement Act of 2010 would lead to more energy efficient furnaces, air conditioners, heat pumps and street lights – four appliances that consume a significant amount of energy each day. The bill implements improved energy efficiency standards negotiated agreements by energy efficiency advocates and appliance manufacturers.

"Greater energy efficiency strengthens our economy, enhances our security, saves consumers money, creates jobs and reduces greenhouse gas pollution. No single program or policy is going to completely end our nation's waste of energy or its carbon emissions, but increased energy efficiency through cost-effective energy standards for appliances and consumer products remains the single most-powerful tool for meeting these goals," Bingaman said.

Bingaman's bill would also change some of the ways the Secretary of Energy administers the program. For example, there would be changes to the criteria the Secretary uses to set efficiency standards in order to include the impact of the new or updated standards on average energy prices, and on the use of new smart grid technology.

The bill builds on Bingaman's American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009 (ACELA), which was approved by the Energy Committee last summer and awaits full Senate action. Additional savings from this new bill are estimated at 260 trillion btus of energy by 2020 – the equivalent of about 45 million barrels of crude oil. It is also estimated that the new bill will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 14.7 million metric tons.

PUC Comments

For those interested, I have uploaded comment documents for the April 20th OPUC meeting. I will add others as I get them.

Jean Findley

Pat Phillips

Patty Kennington

John Faw

Roger Findley Table 3.1

Roger Findley Table 10

Bruce Penn

Clinton Kennington

Evelyn Sayers

Gary Pearson

A Big Thank You

First of all, a big THANK YOU to everyone who showed up to listen at the Public Utilities Commission Hearing for Need. If you weren't able to hear, Gary Pearson got everyone's point across in a booming voice. Thanks for being there!!

Gary Pearson gives his comments to the ALJ at Tuesday night's OPUC Hearing for Need

From our hard-working Stop Idaho Power chair Roger Findley:

I just want to take this opportunity to say a big THANK YOU to all who participated at tonight's big PUC meeting. We packed the room out. PUC estimated there were at least 175 people present. They had to bring in more chairs. The presenters did a spectacular job (as usual). The presentations were polished and right on point. We can not worry about what the outcome will be....we did our part...we hope the process works!

A quote from an Idaho region National Trust official:

"The Stop Idaho Power group had a compelling, orchestrated series of speakers systematically taking on the issues of concern to the OPUC. It will be interesting to see how this plays out."

And a thank you to the Oregon Public Utilities Commission officials and Administrative Law Judge Sarah Wallace for coming all the way to Ontario to listen to our comments.

Oregon PUC at the FRCC Tuesday, April 20th

Idaho Power December 2009 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP)

The Commission is reviewing Idaho Power’s new Integrated Resource Plan (IRP).

Utilities regulated by the Commission must file IRPs every two years. The plan identifies projected growth and what resources the utility wants in order to serve its customers. One element of Idaho Power’s IRP is a proposal for a new transmission line.

If a new route is approved by the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council the Commission may also be asked to issue a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) for the construction of overhead transmission lines.

A CPCN would permit land to be condemned as a last recourse to complete the transmission project.

If Idaho Power makes this request, the OPUC will issue notices and hold public hearings.

All pertinent filing documents can be viewed at : http://apps.puc.state.or.us/edockets/docket.asp?DocketID=15980

You may mail written comments to the Commission at:

Attn.: LC 50
Administrative Hearings Division
Public Utility Commission of Oregon
P.O. Box 2148
Salem, OR 97308-2148

or

Make a comment online through this link: http://apps.puc.state.or.us/commentLC50/message.htm

To all parties in LC 50:

We have recently received some inquiries about the process for the April 20 public comment hearing in Ontario, Oregon. The hearing will start at 5:30 p.m. People will be asked to sign in if they wish to comment on the record, and I will call them up to the microphone to comment. I will be there to listen to comments and to answer questions, and so will representatives from Commission Staff and Idaho Power Company. A court reporter will also be there to transcribe comments for the record.

People do not need to arrive by 5:30 p.m. in order to comment. A sign-up sheet will remain by the entrance until 8:30 p.m. so people can sign in as they arrive. People will not, however, be permitted to sign in after 8:30 p.m. The hearing will continue until all those who sign in before 8:30 p.m. have commented. There will also be comment cards available to submit written comments. In addition, the Commission is setting up a link on its website for people to submit comments electronically. All comments will be part of the official record in the docket.

Please contact me with any questions.

Thank you,

Sarah Wallace

Administrative Law Judge

Idaho Power-Pacificorp MOU

http://www.idahopower.com/NewsCommunity/News/mediaCenter/NewsReleases/showPR.cfm?prID=2361

BOISE, Idaho and Portland, Ore. Wednesday, March 31, 2010--- Idaho Power and PacifiCorp today announced their companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to review potential partnership opportunities in providing essential electricity transmission to customers in the region. The two utilities already are working together on a segment of the proposed Gateway West Transmission Line between Downey, Idaho and the new Hemingway substation, located southwest of Boise. This new MOU will open discussions relating to the termination of certain existing agreements between the utilities to be replaced by joint ownership transmission arrangements and also the joint development, construction and ownership of new transmission projects associated with portions of the proposed Gateway West Transmission Line located in Idaho, and Idaho Power’s proposed transmission line between Hemingway substation and Boardman, Oregon. Though non-binding, the MOU reflects both companies’ commitment to reaching agreements on these matters, to the benefit of customers. The MOU enables strategic discussions between the companies with the purpose of more efficiently utilizing the existing transmission system and potential partnership on new projects to preserve the companies’ rights on behalf of, and for the benefit of, their native load customers and to satisfy their capacity expansion responsibilities under their respective Open Access Transmission Tariffs. Subsequent definitive agreements reached by the companies will be subject to applicable state and federal regulatory approvals. Additional information is available at www.idahopower.com or www.pacificorp.com by searching “OASIS”. Both companies anticipate finalizing these discussions with agreements by fall 2010.

Notice of Public Comment Hearing

The following public notice is the Hearing for Need for the Oregon Public Utility Commission to make a decision on whether the Boardman to Hemingway power line is needed, in conjunction with its 2009 Integrated Resource Plan. If Need is granted to Idaho Power, then the OPUC can assign it the right to condemn property for the purposes of the utility.

ORS 758.015 Certificate of public convenience and necessity. http://www.leg.state.or.us/ors/758.html
(1) When any person, as defined in ORS 758.400, providing electric utility service, as defined in ORS 758.400, or any transmission company, proposes to construct an overhead transmission line which will necessitate a condemnation of land or an interest therein, it shall petition the Public Utility Commission for a certificate of public convenience and necessity setting forth a detailed description and the purpose of the proposed transmission line, the estimated cost, the route to be followed, the availability of alternate routes, a description of other transmission lines connecting the same areas, and such other information in such form as the commission may reasonably require in determining the public convenience and necessity.

(2) The commission shall give notice and hold a public hearing on such petition. The commission, in addition to considering facts presented at such hearing, shall make the commission’s own investigation to determine the necessity, safety, practicability and justification in the public interest for the proposed transmission line and shall enter an order accordingly. The order shall be subject to review as in other cases. In any proceeding for condemnation, a certified copy of such order shall be conclusive evidence that the transmission line for which the land is required is a public use and necessary for public convenience.

*******************

The Public Utility Commission of Oregon will hold a public comment hearing in Ontario, Oregon to provide an opportunity for the public to comment or ask questions regarding Idaho Power Company's application for approval of its 2009 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP, including the B2H 500 kV power line) as follows:

DATE: Tuesday, April 20, 2010

TIME: 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.

PLACE: Four Rivers Cultural Center, Owyhee River Room, 676 SW 5th Ave, Ontario, OR 97914

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Sarah K. Wallace

You are invited to attend anytime from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. to learn more about the Commission's review of Idaho Power's application. Members of the Commission Staff, Idaho Power, and customer groups (including SIP and MIP) will be available to answer questions from the public during this time.

A court reporter will be present to record comments. If you are unable to attend in person, written comments may be mailed to the Commission at:

Attn: LC 50

Public Utility Commission

P.O. Box 2148

Salem, OR 97308-2148

For more information contact the Commission's Consumer Services Division at 1-800-522-2404.

Power corridor will spare Grant County, Ontario under new plan

By Richard Cockle, 4/6/2010 The Oregonian

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/04/power_corridor_will_spare_gran.html

LA 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."

Idaho Power's Chosen B2H Route

Click for a larger map

Since Spring 2009, Idaho Power has been working intensively with communities in eastern Oregon and western Idaho to develop proposed and alternative routes for the Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Line Project.

Three route alternatives were presented to communities last month at a series of meetings that were held throughout the project area. Team members were asked to review the three routes and data associated with each route, then provide comments about each route back to Idaho Power before March 25.

Idaho Power intends to submit its revised SF-299 application to the BLM this month, which will restart the NEPA review process. The SF-299 application will include Idaho Power’s recommendation that the Eastern alternative route be advanced into NEPA as the proposed route. A map of the proposed route is attached.

Idaho Power plans to host a Project Advisory Team meeting in your area in late April. The purpose of this meeting will be to present the proposed route that will be submitted back into the federal process and share with you how and why this route was chosen. At this meeting, Idaho Power will also provide information about how you can stay involved during the NEPA process.

Your input has been extremely valuable and we appreciate the time, effort and thought you and your community have contributed. We will be in contact with you about the date and location of the next Project Advisory Team meeting within the next few weeks.

Sincerely,
Kent McCarthy
B2H Community Advisory Process Leader
Idaho Power Company

"Portion of B2H moves off farmland"

At the Stop Idaho Power meeting Monday April 5th, a resident of Owyhee County asked about the placement of the 500 kV line, whether it was north or south of the PP&L line. I don't know if the March 2009 Owyhee Avalanche article, referenced below, answers this question. The Sand Hollow substation is also off the map.

Section near Homedale, Marsing, Adrian to shift to more BLM land

http://owyhee.com/B2H/Articles.html

After roughly four months of input, the launch of several grassroots landowners organization and re-evaluation by planners at Idaho Power, a portion of the proposed route of the Boardman-to-Hemingway (B2H) 500-kilovolt (kV) transmission line has been relocated. Its planned date of initial operation has been backed up slightly, as well, to 2014. Initial project schedules had given a start date of June 2013.

The section, formerly plotted north of the existing PacifiCorp 500kV lines west and south of Homedale, has been rerouted south of the line, away from private property and onto the West Wide Energy Corridor (WWEC). The line as now proposed stays on public land to a far greater extent — in that section — than it did before. It has also been moved west of the heavily cultivated strip south of Adrian, and has relocated on Bureau of Land Management ground, only returning to cultivated land north of the city as it turns toward the proposed Sand Hollow substation.

The move was announced just days prior to the Planning and Zoning-requested public meeting held Feb. 24 at the Marsing American Legion Community Center. Approximately 60 interested landowners, activists and legislators attended the meeting. Land-use expert Fred Kelly Grant served as moderator.

At the meeting’s outset, Grant said that Nevada-based BLM director Lucas Lucero had confirmed that the newly plotted route is under National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) examination. Lucero heads the Environmental Impact Statement studies for B2H.

The meeting was well-attended by a spectrum of those concerned, including numerous landowners, District 23 state Sen. Bert Brackett (R-Rogerson) and Rep. Stephen Hartgen (R-Twin Falls), all three Owyhee County Commissioners, county planning and zoning commissioners, Owyhee Cattlemen’s Association president Bodie Clapier, South Board of Control manager Ron Kiester and director Dave Shenk, Stop Idaho Power president Roger Findley, Boise BLM district manager Aden Seidlitz and Owyhee BLM field office manager Buddy Green.

Water Resources Strategy Open House April 7th

Although not having directly to do with Stop Idaho Power, you may want to be involved in an open house to help develop a water resources strategy for Oregon. State agencies will be setting limits for TMDL, Total Maximum Daily Load for irrigation water runoff, including water temperature and nutrient loss. This can adversely impact farming in Malheur County, so make sure your input is heard.

The open house will be held in Ontario Wednesday, April 7th, from 4-7 p.m. at the Holiday Inn.

More information can be found at the following website:

http://www.wrd.state.or.us/OWRD/LAW/Integrated_Water_Supply_Strategy.shtml

Oregon skeptical of Idaho Power line

Executives' loose bar chatter undercuts the utility's credibility in its effort to build a transmission project. By Rocky Barker 4/4/10

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/04/04/1140802/oregon-skeptical-of-idaho-power.html

JOHN DAY, Ore. - Signs declaring "United Against Hate" hang in the windows of nearly every business on the Main Street in this isolated timber and ranching town nestled in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon.

The signs went up earlier this year when Aryan Nations national director Paul Mullet came to the John Day River Valley, looking for a national headquarters.

"The community just came together and said 'We don't want you here,'" says Grant County Commissioner Boyd Britton.

The external threat sensitized people about how they talked to each other about race and other issues that rural Oregon was long able to ignore.

So when the next threat came to the valley - a proposed transmission line of 190-foot-high towers that would run through their ranches and obscure their scenic views on its way to the Columbia River - folks here knew that words mattered.

That was a lesson Idaho Power executives had to learn the hard way.

After a March 2 public meeting to talk about the power line, company executives and contractors went to John Day's Outpost Pizza, Pub & Grill for drinks and dinner. They loudly made fun of how local people talked, expressed disdain for the locals' complaints and said that in the end they would simply take their land through the utility's power of eminent domain. . .

"People were shocked and angry," said Tracey Watson, manager of the Outpost bar. "Both the Aryan Nations and the power line were coming from Idaho."

The company has made several return trips to Grant County to listen and apologize. In doing so, Idaho Power has learned that, away from its home turf, it has to fight in Oregon for its credibility as well as permission to build its transmission lines. . .

. . . When Ontario and Adrian residents protested the initial route in 2009, Idaho Power went back to the drawing board. It set up the community advisory process and began helping residents propose new routes and identify problems that would make it harder to get approval for the transmission line.

It was out of this process that the western route through the John Day River Valley was added. Idaho Power officials acknowledged at the public meeting Wednesday that the route was more expensive and presented the utility with several permitting challenges. Some residents took that as a hopeful sign the company will recommend a different route when its makes its decision this week. . .

The company hopes for final approval from all federal, state and county officials in 2011, with construction scheduled to begin in 2012. It hopes to put the line in operation by 2015. . .

"If you're talking behind people's back in John Day, you're talking behind people's back in Baker," said Nancy Peyron, chairwoman of a group formed in Baker to oppose the line, Move Idaho Power.

Peyron, whose ranch surrounds the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center just off Interstate 84, has her house just a half-mile from the cheapest proposed route. . . praised Idaho Power's community-advisory process. But when maps of the three proposed routes came back with most of residents' suggestions ignored, she said, it was apparent that even if the people putting on the process were listening, Idaho Power wasn't . . .

"It seems like they are acting like Idaho cowboys," Peyron said. "They're saying we can spit where we want and run our cattle through your back yards."

General SIP Meeting April 5th (2nd Notice)

We will be holding a general meeting for Stop Idaho Power Monday evening April 5th at 7:00 p.m. in the Boulevard Grange hall southwest of Ontario on Hwy 201.

We will be discussing the following:

• The final three route alternatives chosen by Idaho Power's Community Advisory Process.
• Possible outcomes as these routes are put through the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) process.
• The Oregon Public Utilities Commission Hearing for Need scheduled for April 20th in Ontario. Information as to place and time will be forthcoming.

Remember that the Hearing for Need addresses one of the EFSC (Oregon's Energy Facility Siting Council) standards for granting an application for building the B2H line. This is an opportunity for any individual or community along the proposed routes to make a case before the OPUC that this line is not needed and therefore should not be built.

Sage Grouse Not Protected by ESA, But Will Still Play Role in Western Energy Development

http://www.martenlaw.com/newsletter/20100328-sage-grouse-esa-protection (subscription required) March 29, 2010 by Jessica Ferrell

Earlier this month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (the “USFWS” or the “Service”) published its 12-month findings on three petitions to list the greater sage grouse as threatened or endangered under the ESA. The Service determined that listing the species is warranted under the ESA, but precluded at this time due to budget constraints and higher priority candidate species.

Despite the reprieve from an immediate ESA listing, developers – including energy developers – still confront a variety of federal, state, and local regulatory measures in the West related to sage grouse protection. The majority of regulatory restrictions on development activities will be dictated by: 1) the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”), the agency responsible for managing over 50% of sage grouse habitat; and 2) to some extent, the affected states . . .

. . . As a “candidate” species, the sage grouse is not provided any protection under the ESA, but the Service will review the species’ status annually, with the expectation of listing it in the future if its status does not improve. However, based on the Service's ranking of the species, the likelihood of listing anytime soon is small, and the sage grouse will remain near the end of a line of approximately 250 candidate species awaiting listing. . .

Ante up, Idaho Power

Baker City Herald Editorial Board March 17, 2010 http://www.bakercityherald.com/Editorials/Ante-up-Idaho-Power

Idaho Power Company has drawn a lot of lines on maps, but the situation looks to us pretty much as it did a year ago: The Boise company wants to build a major transmission line through Baker County.

We’re not surprised. That was, after all, the company’s initial proposal.

We’re also not surprised that quite a few Baker County residents aren’t pleased that Idaho Power still seems to prefer a Baker County route, even though the company decided last year to basically start over and consider a variety of other options. . .

But we hope the company’s critics, along with county commissioners, will exert political pressure that prompts Idaho Power to both minimize the harmful effects of the transmission line and to fairly compensate affected property owners.

The top priority should be to avoid fouling the views from Baker Valley and the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.

Fred Warner Jr., chairman of the County Board of Commissioners, thinks Idaho Power also should make regular payments to property owners whose land the power line crosses. We agree.

But we suggest one other, rather unorthodox, measure: Idaho Power should allow public access, for hunting and hiking, to the Daly Creek Ranch.

The company bought the 10,000-acre property near Richland in December 2006, but so far has kept it closed.

If we have to look at your towers, Idaho Power, at least let us walk around your property.