Oregon lawmakers consider bill giving residents more say in power plant sites
Apr. 5--SALEM -- By James Sinks, The Bulletin, Bend, Ore. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Natural gas-fired power plants are hulking industrial behemoths that generate electricity to feed the growing needs of the West.
"While the Energy Facility Siting Council tried to be responsive to
citizen concerns, the laws are not in place for them to give proper weight to
local concerns," said Jefferson County Commissioner Mary Zemke, who helped
lead efforts to block the Cogentrix Energy Inc. facility near Madras.
That proposed 980-megawatt facility was put on hold indefinitely because of
market conditions. House Bill 3135 would require applicants for energy
facilities to obtain land-use approval -- something that's not required now. But
the idea didn't sit well with representatives of several utility companies,
including PacifiCorp and the Oregon Department of Energy. They painted the
proposal as a cumbersome barrier that would block necessary power plants,
transmission systems and renewable-energy projects.
"The current law was crafted with the input and consideration of many
Oregon stakeholders and works well for energy developers and local
communities," said PacifiCorp lobbyist Shawn Miller.
Michael Grainey, director of the energy department, said the state's
centralized approach to dealing with power generation makes more sense than
seeking county-by-county clearance. He said the state does solicit local
feedback and sets many conditions to pacify local concerns.
"The projects aren't popular and some people may disagree with them, but
we do want to get input from the local community," Grainey said.
But a parade of witnesses from Klamath County and the Willamette Valley
communities of Coburg and Turner disagreed that the process is public-friendly.
"What galls our community most about the proposed plant is that the
decision to site it is completely out of local control," said John
Sundquist, whose family lives two miles from the proposed West Cascades Energy
facility outside Coburg.
Rep. Bill Garrard, R-Klamath Falls, the committee chairman and one of the
chief sponsors of the bill, said the general public has developed the impression
that the state will run rough-sho d over local concerns.
He said that concern was solidified when the state didn't respond to his
letter about a controversial plant proposed near Bonanza in Klamath County.
"It's hard to differentiate whether the concern is about the supersiting
authority or what's being proposed," he said. Similar complaints were
generated in Wilsonville when the state didn't need land-use approval to site a
prison for women, he said.
"I was surprised with the reaction we had today," Garrard said.
"This is something that is worth looking into."
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