Oppose the Secret Klamath Tax on Oregon Families!

Oregon legislature considers bill to subsidize wasteful Klamath water use and force Oregon families to pick up the tab

ONRC Alert #221 - May 31, 2005

What do your electricity bill and Klamath fish kills have in common? If you’re a Pacific Power (PacifiCorp) customer, you are spending MORE on your monthly bill so that special interests in the Klamath Basin can pay 1/16th of market rates for the electricity used to pump water from area lakes, rivers, and wetlands. Thanks to an antiquated electric power subsidy, Klamath agribusiness has not experienced a rate increase since 1917. When water is free and the electricity with which to pump it costs next to nothing, where is the incentive to conserve either resource?

The good news is that this sweetheart electricity deal is set to expire next year. Without the current $10 million annual subidy from PacifiCorps ratepayers and shareholders, the free market would encourage Klamath agribusiness to use water more efficiently, reduce waste, and begin paying the same rates for electricity as every other farmer in Oregon.

The bad news is that Klamath agribusiness is flexing its political muscle in the Oregon state legislature and pushing a stealth bill that would extend this sweetheart deal. Their legislation (amendments to Senate Bill 81) never actually mentions the Klamath or the sweetheart deal. Instead it attempts to masquerade as a consumer protection measure. Hidden in the bill is language that makes certain this scheme applies only to Klamath irrigators. The bill caps the amount that their electric bills can be increased at 50% per year thus ensuring that Oregon families will continue to subsidize Klamath agribusiness for approximately seven more years at a cost of $20 million!

TAKE ACTION: Please take a few moments to both call and email the leaders of the Oregon State Senate (Senators Peter Courtney and Kate Brown) and urge them to oppose the House amendments to Senate Bill 81! Tell them:

• The legislature should not impose a secret tax on Oregon families! When Oregon is struggling to fund education and health care, it makes no sense for the legislature to force families to spend more on their monthly electricity bills in order to allow Klamath agribusiness interests to avoid paying free market rates for another seven years.
• SB 81 is a raw deal for the environment. The sweetheart Klamath electricity deal is a major factor in the region’s water crisis and ongoing fish kills. The Oregon legislature shouldn't’t force families all across to the state to subsidize wasteful and inefficient water use in the Klamath Basin.
• SB 81 is not fair. There is no reason why Klamath agribusiness interests should pay a fraction of what farmers in the Rogue, Deschutes, or Willamette River Basins do for electricity.

Contact the Senators at:

Senator Peter Courtney
sen.petercourtney@state.or.us
503-986-1600

Senator Kate Brown
katebrown@state.or.us
503-986-1700

Thank you!

Source:  http://www.onrc.org/alerts/221.klamath.html