Published February 18, 2005
By DYLAN DARLING
A PacifiCorp official told
Klamath Reclamation Project water users Thursday to brace for a boost in power
rates come next irrigation season.
"We don't want to minimize it. We know it is going to be a big
change," said Sally LaBriere, PacifiCorp's regional manager based in
Yreka.
A 1956 contract between the
company and Project water users that keeps power rates below a penny per
kilowatt hour is set to expire next year. Water user groups have been working
to keep the rates down, but LaBriere said it looks like they will be going up.
Come April 2006, the rates could vault up to about 5 1/2 cents per kilowatt
hour, the amount paid by other irrigators around the state of Oregon, she
said. There would also be an additional annual charge based on each customer's
demand.
"This is what everybody
else in the state of Oregon pays," LaBriere said. "We are not asking
them to pay more than the other irrigators in the state."
LaBriere told of the possible changes at a Klamath County Cattlemen's
Association luncheon at the Oregon State Extension Service office. Many of the
about 80 people will be affected by changes in power rates.
"I can't afford
it," said Frank Wallace, who has 400 acres near Merrill. "That's
more than I make in a year. It just won't work."
If the prices go up as much as LaBriere said they could, Wallace said he won't
be able to irrigate and he can't afford other options.
Some of those options
include getting more efficient irrigation systems and switching to diesel or
solar-powered pumps.
Rodney Todd, grain and hay agent for the Extension Service, said water users
should be preparing for the possible change.
"This is going to get
your attention," Todd told the group Thursday.
The power rate change would impact overall production costs for farmers and
ranchers, he said, and they will need to figure out how to keep their
businesses going.
"This is going to have
a ripple effect through this community that will be unpleasant," Todd
said.
But Klamath Water Users Association officials and its lawyers are still trying
to stop the change. A water users contingent just got back from Washington,
D.C., where they visited with members of the Oregon and California
congressional delegations. The power rate was one of the major issues
discussed, said Steve Kandra, water users president.
The water users are also
still in talks with PacifiCorp officials, trying to avoid a big jump in power
rates. He said nothing has been settled in the negotiations.
"I think things are premature to start talking about what's going to
happen," Kandra said.
LaBriere said the talks
could change the outcome of the power rate change, but the company wanted to
make customers aware of the possible leap in rates next spring so it didn't
take them by surprise.
The current rate paid by Project power users is 6 mils, or .6 cents, she said.
A mil is a thousandth of a dollar. As is, the company is charging less for
power than it costs to produce it. She said it's hard to find any
justification for people to be paying less than it costs the company to
produce power.
Although the company wants
customers to be aware of the possible change, she said things could change in
the next year and the power rate change could be different, depending on talks
and legislation.
"The ink isn't dry on anything," LaBriere said.
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