Odds-n-Ends
Dear Lane Electric Community:
When was the last time you invited your neighbors to dinner? If itâs been a while, hereâs an idea: Next Spring you can invite your neighbors to join you at Lane Electricâs district dinner meeting in your area. Itâs an easy way to visit! Weâll set the table. Weâll provide the good food. Weâll even provide some starter conversation about your co-op and all things energy-related. All you need to do is extend a neighborly invitation.
Lane Electric Co-op held five district meetings this year starting in Dorena, then in Lowell, Crow, and McKenzie Bridge, with the last in Oakridge. We approach these events as a neighborhood gatheringâhence my invitation for you to do the same. A local caterer serves up delicious food. We have drawings for beautiful plants and handy gifts, as well as some electric bill credits! And of course, we offer brief reports on the Co-opâs finances and operations. For me, I enjoy visiting with both people Iâve come to know and people I meet for the first time. The stories and life experiences I gather are the gift of sharing time. So, invite your neighbors to next yearâs district meeting and share some timeâand dinnerâwith them and your co-op!
At this yearâs district meetings, I shared the latest news on the Bonneville Power Administrationâs likely increase of wholesale power and transmission costs. Theyâll make their final decision in late July. As of now, weâre expecting a 6% to 9% increase driven by the need for financial reserves to protect BPAâs credit rating and a loss of wholesale power sales revenues from other buyers that usually helps buy-down our cost from BPA.
Another significant factor pushing the increase closer to 9% is the cost for Oregon Governor Kate Brownâs experiment to spill more water over the top of the Columbia River hydroelectric dams instead of running that water through the turbines to generate power. Without that water to produce electricity, BPA will need to buy replacement power, which will cause wholesale power rates to go up. The regional coalition that collaborates on Columbia River hydro operations rejected Oregonâs experiment, but Governor Brownâs attorney convinced a federal judge in Portland to ignore the regional consensus on whatâs best for salmon and power.
After our first district meeting in Dorena, I received a copy of a letter to the BPA Administrator signed by two Congressional representatives from Washington and Oregon each âincluding our own Congressman Peter DeFazioâthat said: âWe are concerned that plaintiffsâ [Oregon and others] continued advocacy for additional spill or preventing needed maintenance of the dams (as requested in the injunctions) is not only unscientifically based, but is also likely to be counterproductive.â I offered copies of the letter to those in attendance and I invite you to go to page 25 in the June issue or Ruralite, to read the letter.
If youâre concerned about Governor Brownâs efforts to increase your electric bill, I encourage you to sign-up for our ORECA-Action grassroots group. On our websiteâs front page, itâs the big yellow âORECAâ imageâclick on it to go to the sign-up page. Once youâve done so, youâll be able to add your voice to our efforts to keep your electricity bill affordable.
Matt Michel,
General Manager