U.S. House unanimous on McMorris Rodgers hydropower billFeb 27 - K.C. Mehaffey The Wenatchee World, Wash.
A bill to facilitate development of small hydro-electric projects co-authored by a North Central Washington congresswoman won unanimous approval in the U.S. House of Representatives last week. House Bill 267, co-sponsored by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, now moves to the Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The bill is touted as a bipartisan effort to expand domestic energy and create new jobs. It was co-authored and co-sponsored by Rep. Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat. McMorris Rodges is a Republican from Colville. The bill would allow the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to exempt from its license requirements small public utility hydroelectric projects producing up to 10,000 kilowatts of power. The limit now is 5,000 kilowatts. It also directs FERC to study the feasibility of coming up with a streamlined, two-year permitting process. Okanogan County PUD officials say the bill won't directly affect their efforts to get the Enloe Dam relicensed, a process that has been in the works for seven years. Dan Boettger, the PUD's director of regulatory and environmental affairs, said the utility is too far along in the process for the bill to help. The utility is now awaiting a hearing before the state Pollution Control Hearings Board, which will hear an appeal of the state's water quality certification in April. If the Okanogan County PUD had to start over in the relicensing process, the McMorris Rodgers bill could help, he added. "I know other utilities in the Northwest are very interested in it. A number of them attended her session in Spokane three weeks ago," he said. He said Enloe Dam is an existing structure, "which is part of what Cathy's bill is all about." Rich Bowers, Northwest coordinator for the Hydropower Reform Coalition -- one of five groups to appeal the state's water quality certification for Enloe Dam -- said it wasn't the process that has delayed Enloe Dam relicensing. "This process could have gone a lot quicker, but (Okanogan County PUD) opted out and went for a much longer process in which they don't have to do as much public outreach in the beginning," he said. He said many of the coalition's members support the McMorris Rodgers bill as it provides a predictable, efficient and timely licensing process while ensuring adequate protection of the resources. Riva Litman, press secretary for McMorris Rodgers, said she's not sure what the congresswoman's initial impetus was for writing the bill, or whether it had anything to do with the Okanogan County PUD's lengthy effort to get Enloe Dam relicensed. "I know it wouldn't directly affect them, but regionally, it would be a huge, huge benefit," she said. In a news release, McMorris Rodgers said hydropower provides 75 percent of the electricity in Eastern Washington and the Pacific Northwest. "While there are a vast array of renewable energies -- including solar, wind, and nuclear power -- in my opinion, the facts are clear: the future of American energy independence depends on the development of an 'all of the above' energy approach -- including hydro," she said in the release. She is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Last year, the House unanimously passed a similar bill also co-sponsored by McMorris Rodgers, but it did not make it to a vote in the Senate before the end of the session. K.C. Mehaffey: 997-2512 http://www.energycentral.com/functional/news/news_detail.cfm?did=27746625 |