Proposal calls for removal of four Klamath dams

By TY BEAVER

H&N Staff Writer 

February 15, 2008

   Water might be the main Klamath Basin issue, with fish and agriculture close behind. But energy ranks right up there, too. 

   Four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River produce electricity equivalent to the amount needed to power 70,000 homes a year. Portland based PacifiCorp owns and operates them and is under pressure to remove them to restore passage for migratory fish. 

   At the same time, farmers in the upper reaches of the watershed have long benefited from low rates for the power they need to run their irrigation systems, and now face annual increases they say could price them out of a profit margin. 

   So the proposed Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement addresses the issue of power for both PacifiCorp and irrigators. Both sides are looking to protect assets. 

   “The company is looking for the most cost-reasonable option,” said Toby Freeman, PacifiCorp regional community manager in Klamath Falls . While the agreement calls for dam removal, the company hasn’t agreed. 

   History of the dams 

   The hydroelectric dams in the Klamath River watershed were built during the last century by the California-Oregon Power Company, or “Copco.” It had similar projects in the Rogue and Umpqua valleys west of the Cascades. 

   The first hydroelectric dam to be constructed, and still operating, is the Fall Creek Dam. Built in Northern California in 1908, it churns out about 2.2 megawatts of power. Freeman said it’s worthwhile to operate because of its low costs. 

   A few years later, Copco engineer J.C. Boyle surveyed the rest of the river for dam locations. Through the 1960s, Copco 1 and Copco 2, J.C. Boyle and Iron Gate dams were built. 

   Pacific Power and Light purchased Copco in the 1950s and completed construction that had started on Irongate Dam. 

   The dams were viewed as marvels, Freeman said, things that helped tame the West, providing clean energy for booming development. 

   The company also built the Link River Dam in the early 1920s and gave control of it to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for the benefit of the Klamath Reclamation Project. 

   Power rates 

   The relationship between irrigators and Copco/Pacifi-Corp also goes back a long way. Both farmers in and outside the boundaries of the Klamath Reclamation Project paid just little more than half a cent per kilowatt hour for 50 years, as pressurized irrigation systems came into common use. (In pressurized systems, water is pumped out of the water supply and moved through pipe. Electricity is needed to power the pumps.) 

   That discounted rate was in exchange for irrigators helping the power company by adding water to the Klamath River from the Lost River diversion channel and from wells.
   In 2006, PacifiCorp was granted permission by energy regulatory authorities in California and Oregon to raise the rates to be on par with other customers — about 9 cents per kilowatt-hour. 

   Irrigators fought to preserve the historic rates, but failed. Rate-shock legislation was instituted in Oregon to transition the new rate over seven years. In California , a four-year transition was established. 

   The company has filed more rate increases since then. 

   PacifiCorp is a subsidiary company of Mid American Energy Holdings. More than three-quarters of that company is owned by Berkshire Hathaway, a publicly traded company owned by Warren Buffet. 

   Re-licensing 

   The company is attempting to re-license the dams with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, while environmentalists, native tribes and fishing interests are campaigning for dam removal to allow salmon to migrate beyond Irongate Dam. 

   J.C. Boyle, Keno and Link River dams already have fish ladders in place. 

   Proponents of dam removal also say the dams damage the river’s ecosystem by harboring diseases that attack and weaken salmon. 

   Now some irrigators also are supporting dam removal as part of the settlement agreement. Luther Horsley, president of the Klamath Water Users Association, said there is no need to advocate on behalf of the dams if the company does not recognize irrigators’ contributions to power generation. 

   PacifiCorp, as a result, is left between a rock and a hard place, Freeman said. Removing the dams results in the loss of clean power — something that power companies are now legally bound to increase. But keeping the dams potentially causes further harm to a fishery system experiencing difficulties and continued legal action from activists. 

   “We’re getting contradictory messages here,” Freeman said. “It’s like trying to do business in a schizophrenic world.” 

   Even if the company chooses to not remove the dams, which could kill the settlement agreement, it would be required to put in fish ladders at an estimated $ 300 million to aid migration. 

   Freeman said the issue for PacifCorp comes down to costs. Until total costs of dam removal are known (those costs are not included in the funding formulas of the settlement), the company cannot make a decision. 

   Regardless, irrigators would need to adjust. The settlement calls for establishing a stable power rate at 3 cents per kilowatt-hour, still higher than the rate discontinued in 2006. And there’s no guarantee that rate would be achieved. The agreement calls for $33 million to be invested in economic development and other ventures to offset power costs, along with a contribution of power from the Bonneville Power Administration. 

   But proponents have said the 3-cent rate is a goal, not a given, and is still the best option available for irrigators. 

   “The status quo is OK for some, but not for irrigators,” said Greg Addington, executive director of Klamath Water Users Association.

Klamath River Dams

(proposed for removal) 

   According to the California Energy Commission, one megawatt provides enough electricity for 1,000 homes. Toby Freeman, regional community manager with PacifiCorp, added that most hydroelectric projects don’t operate at maximum capacity, but more closely to 50 percent of that amount.

Copco No. 1  Completed in 1918. Produces 20 megawatts.

Copco No. 2 Completed in 1925. Produces 27 megawatts.

J.C. Boyle Dam Completed in 1958. Produces 98.35 megawatts.

Irongate Dam   Completed in 1962. Produces 18 megawatts.

Photo credit: The Associated Press, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Herald and News file

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material  herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed  a  prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and  educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

Source:  http://pioneer.olivesoftware.com/Daily/Skins/heraldandnews/

navigator.asp?skin=heraldandnews