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Utility
hesitant about dams
Pacific
Power official: Liability of Klamath dam removal unknown
By
STEVE KADEL
H&N Staff Writer
 |
| H&N
photo by Andrew Mariman - Pat Reiten, president of Portland -
based Pacific Power, said the company would have to find a way
to replace lost power if dams on the |
Pat Reiten, president of Pacific Power, said it’s unknown what amount
of liability the utility might assume if the dams were taken out.
Estimates range from $200,000 to $4 billion, he said. “A
lot must be done to narrow those figures,” Reiten said.
Dams are being discussed because a proposed agreement
that allocates water in the
A Pacific Power official reiterated during a Thursday
visit to
Stakeholders who negotiated the 256-page Klamath Basin
Restoration Agreement are in talks with PacifiCorp about that issue.
Besides potential liability, Reiten said, the utility
would have to find a replacement for the lost power if dams were
removed. The four Klamath dams generate enough power for 70,000
residences, or about 192,000 people, according to PacifiCorp.
The president of the Portland-based power company was
in
Reiten said the dams produce enough emission free
energy to offset the emissions of 102,000 cars or burning 1.2 million
barrels of oil a year.
Before dam removal should happen, he added, better
science is needed about the effects on the river. For example, it’s
unknown how release of sediment deposits behind the dams would impact
the river’s health, and for how long.
PacifiCorp is negotiating with the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC) for continued hydroelectric production.
That process could take several more years.
Re-licensing also requires acquisition of state water
quality permits from
FERC has estimated the cost of equipping all dams with
fish ladders at about $ 300 million, although Reiten said “the
liability piece could dwarf that.”
“If the states want dams removed, then we need to
have a serious discussion about maintaining our customers’
interests,” Reiten said.
Much of the problem with predicting costs and
environmental effects of dam removal stems from the fact that a removal
project this big has never occurred, although Reiten said lesser dams
have been taken out elsewhere.
“There is not a model for a project this big,” he
said.
Art Sasse, strategic consultant for PacifiCorp, said
mail received by the utility is running 15-1 against dam removal. Most
of those who are opposed mention the loss of clean power as the reason.
Side Bar
Powering
growth in the Basin
Pacific
Power President Pat Reiten said the utility has enough power to
accommodate growth in the
About
800 new connects were added in the Basin last year, he said, which is
about 1 percent growth.
The
utility is pursuing the addition of wind power, and Reiten said that is
expected to be 15 percent of the system’s power by 2016.
The
state of
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