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Oregon ratepayers will bear disproportionate share of the cost of dam removal, says attorney; “There’s not enough time in the day to describe how badly Oregonians are getting abused in this deal”

Posted by: Maven on December 4, 2008 at 8:02 am

From the Williamette Weekly (Portland, Oregon), this editorial:

The dams have been a flashpoint for more than a decade between farmers in southern Oregon, who want the water, and fish advocates, who say the dams kill fish with low water levels and poor water quality. He says PacifiCorp reversed its earlier reluctance to remove the dams when the opposition became overwhelming.

The dams proposal has divided environmental groups. Some, such as Oregon Wild and WaterWatch, say the deal provides insufficient water and habitat for fish. Yet some California groups favor ratification of the proposal.

“Opponents of the dams made it clear that they would make it as uneconomic as possible to keep them” by requiring $300 million worth of fish ladders, Sasse says. “And the states and the feds made it clear that they wanted the dams out.”

ICNU attorney Melinda Davison, however, says Oregon ratepayers will bear a disproportionate share of the cost. “There’s not enough time in the day to describe how badly Oregonians are getting abused in this deal,” Davison says.

Historically, she says, costs and benefits of capital projects such as dam removals are spread proportionately across PacifiCorp’s six-state system. But in the case of dam removal, Oregon customers could bear 90 percent of the $200 million cost, even though Oregon accounts for only about 26 percent of PacifiCorp’s system.

Read the full text of this story from Williamette Weekly by clicking here.

December 4, 2008 · Filed Under Northern California

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