Irrigators
pursue power rate options
Klamath
Water Users Association looks for compromise
By
TY BEAVER
H&N
Staff Writer
July
13, 2006
H&N
photo by Andrew Mariman A
small irrigation system waters a parcel of land south of Klamath Falls on
Crossroads Lane, while larger sprinklers can be seen in the distance.
Klamath Project water users are seeking options to counter increased power
rates which will increase by 1,500 percent after a seven-year phase-in period.
Greg Addington, executive director of the Klamath Water Users Association,
said officials are looking at any means necessary to curb PacifiCorp’s rate
increase. Numerous options exist but finding one that will benefit all 1,400
of the Project’s irrigators is the key, Addington said.
“We’re not gonna hang our hats on this, we’re gonna control our own
destiny,” he said.
The Klamath Water Users Association’s first move was to work through
the California and Oregon PUCs and courts to negotiate a rate that won’t
strain irrigators or hurt PacifiCorp.
Unfortunately, there have been setbacks in those areas, causing water users to
look at other energy options, Addington said.
Other power sources
Energy from wind, solar or geothermal sources are attractive because they
don’t require fossil fuels to support them, Addington said. The problem is
building the necessary infrastructure and finding ways to distribute the
energy.
Board member Scott Seus said he holds the most hope for any option involving
alternative energy. There are ridges in the Tule Lake area that have potential
for wind energy generation, but he said that a combination of energy sources
would probably be the solution.
The association also has a controlling interest in the region’s four dams.
Hydroelectric power could be distributed through a people’s utility
district, but that would involve using infrastructure belonging to PacifiCorp
that would likely be a drawn-out and nasty process to acquire, he said.
Flood irrigation
Other problems will arise as a result of the rate increase, Addington said.
Farmers will level their fields and revert to flood irrigation, which uses
less power but wastes water.
For decades, irrigators who were part of the Klamath Project benefited from a
relatively low power rate of six mills, or 0.6 cents, a kilowatt. The four
hydroelectric dams in the region and benefits to the Klamath River justified a
rate that only covered the generation of the electricity, Addington said.
In April, irrigators began the phase-in process to the standard rate
PacifiCorp charges
to customers outside the Basin. That rate, on average, is 69.8 mills or 7
cents per kilowatt, Pacificorp spokesman Dave Kvamme said.
Oregon law requires a seven year phase-in for large rate increases, putting
this year’s rate at 9 mills. California has no such law, but the California
Public Utilities Commission and PacifiCorp negotiated a four-year phase-in for
irrigators south of the border, putting their rate at 26 mills.
Another increase next year
Addington also said that there are concerns that PacifiCorp is already looking
to increase the rate next year. Kvamme said that a rate case has been filed
but that it was too early to say what the increase would be.
The association and its irrigators are willing to compromise when it comes to
their rate. No one expected to pay 6 mills for the next 50 years, Addington
said, but there has to be a solution that will satisfy all parties involved.
“We’re willing to try new things, we’re just not willing to go out of
business,” he said.
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