Central Oregon, powered by water?

Irrigation pipes may soon power more than agriculture in Central Oregon, as two local irrigation districts move ahead with plans to generate electricity from water flowing through their canals.

Swalley Irrigation District plans to have a small hydropower plant north of Bend up and running as early as April 2009, and the Central Oregon Irrigation District could connect to the electric grid by May 2010, managers of the districts said.

The projects could eventually power about 4,000 homes and help prevent taxes on water users from increasing. They would also produce renewable energy, and because irrigation canals need to be piped to create pressure for the hydropower turbines, the projects would save water that seeps out of open canals, said Steve Johnson, COID’s general manager.

The irrigation districts are seeking Deschutes County’s approval, which they want to obtain before applying for licenses from Oregon’s Water Resources Department and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

At a public hearing Monday, the districts and Deschutes County commissioners debated how to include hydropower facilities in the county code.

No decision was made, and commissioners are scheduled to continue the discussion Aug. 28.

Time crunch

For Swalley, the issue is urgent.

The district is trying to finish the project by April, when its power-purchase agreement begins with PacifiCorp, parent company of Pacific Power.

If the district fails to obtain approval for the hydroelectric facility in time, it will also have a water pressure problem next spring. Two phases of piping on Swalley Canal will be complete, said Jan Lee, general manager of the district, and the piping will increase the velocity of water.

“When it comes out of the pipe, it’s going to be an explosion of water,” Lee said.

A small hydroelectric plant would absorb the water’s energy, but if it is not ready in time, the district may have to buy a $250,000 bypass valve to slow down the water, Lee said.

Lee said Swalley’s 1-megawatt plant would supply energy to about 1,000 homes. The hydropower plant would cost $1.5 million, and the piping project would cost about $9.5 million.

COID has a longer timeline for its project, which would cost an estimated $20 million to $21 million for pipes and the hydropower plant. Still, the district needs the county’s land use approval before it buys 10 acres for the plant, east of U.S. Highway 97 and north of Bend, from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, Johnson said.

The district plans to begin construction on the 5-megawatt plant and canal piping in October 2009, and connect to the electric grid no later than May 2010, Johnson said.

Although the plant’s capacity is higher, it would initially operate at 3.3 megawatts, Johnson said. The plant would produce electricity to power about 3,000 homes, said attorney Liz Dickson, who represents the two districts.

The two projects could only operate during irrigation season and use water already diverted by Central Oregon and Swalley irrigation districts, Lee said.

Hood River’s Middle Fork Irrigation District has a similar plant, she said, and COID has an existing hydropower facility on the Deschutes River south of the Bill Healy Memorial Bridge. But it diverts water outside of the irrigation season so it can run year-round.

Small-scale projects

Jan Mitchell, a spokeswoman for Pacific Power, said small-scale energy projects are generally common in Oregon.

“Oregon actually has a higher number of small power projects than other states,” Mitchell said, referring to the five other states where Pacific Power operates — California, Idaho, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Recent legislative changes in Oregon have made small hydropower projects more attractive, said COID’s Johnson. A business energy tax credit was expanded during the 2007 legislative session to make projects up to $20 million eligible for credits on up to 33 percent of the cost. The program was formerly capped at $10 million and credits could only cover up to 25 percent of costs, Johnson said.

Revenue from the projects would mostly be plowed back into the districts, Johnson and Lee said. The Swalley Irrigation District would use funds for future capital projects and to prevent tax assessments for water users in the district from going up too much, Lee said.

Johnson said much of COID’s earnings from the new hydropower plant would go toward paying off loans taken out to finance it, and toward future projects.

“It’s additional cash we don’t have to borrow,” he said.

Hillary Borrud can be reached at 541-617-7829 or at hborrud@bendbulletin.com.