october1 2015
www.vernoniasvoice.com
reflecting the spirit of our community
WOEC to Raise Rates October 1 st
The Board of Direc-
tors at the West Oregon Electric
Cooperative (WOEC) voted at
their September 22, 2015 meet-
ing to approve an increase to
both the base rate and the per
kilowatt hour (kWh) charge.
The rate adjustment in-
cludes a $2 increase of the base
rate from $37 to $39. It also
includes an increase in Block
1 rates for usage below 1500
kWh/month of 6.14%, from
13.85 cents to 14.4 cents, and
an increase in Block 2 rates for
usage over 1500 kWh/month
of 6.37%, from 10.51 cents to
11.18 cents.
According to WOEC
General Manager Bob Perry,
the average residential account,
using 1000 kWh/month, would
see an increase of $10.50 on
their monthly bill beginning
in November. The rate in-
crease will raise approximately
$600,000 in revenue.
The Board deliber-
ated for several hours and took
into consideration input from
members that was received at a
rate hearing on September 16.
About 30 members attended
that rate hearing and expressed
concerns and frustration at the
continual rise in rates for elec-
tricity to members of the co-op.
In a written announce-
ment from WOEC of the
Board’s decision to increase
rates it was noted that the
push nationally among electric
utilities is to increase the base
charge faster to recover more
of the fixed costs to operate
the utility. According to the
announcement, the Board felt
that increasing the base rate too
quickly would have a dispro-
portionally negative impact on
members using less than 1000
kWh per month and believed
the approved increase would
spread the rate adjustment more
equitably across all rate classes
while still generating needed
revenue.
The WOEC rate in-
crease was due in part to an an-
nounced region-wide increase
of 7.1% in wholesale power
rates by the Bonneville Power
Administration (BPA), effec-
tive October 1, 2015.
In addition, Perry
and WOEC comptroller Da-
vid Western told members at
the September 16 rate hearing
that WOEC had experienced
decreased revenue during the
past year of approximately
$500,000 due to the mild win-
ter the service area experienced
which resulted in less than an-
ticipated use of electricity by
members.
Perry, in an interview
following the Board meeting,
said that WOEC is in the pro-
cess of receiving approval for
a $5.2 million loan from Rural
Utility Services at 2.5% inter-
est. WOEC would then pull
approximately $2.5 million
from that loan for approved
projects, including replacing
depleted reserves with $1 mil-
lion, paying off some short
term lines of credit, and fund-
ing several projects that are part
of the current work plan, which
extends through 2018. Those
improvements to the infrastruc-
ture would improve reliabil-
ity of service of the co-op and
includes shortening the span
of transmission lines on the
Chapman-to-Vernonia line, re-
placing underground lines near
Hagg Lake, undergrounding the
line that goes over the mountain
at the Vista Ridge Tunnel on
Highway 26, and the implemen-
tation of a plan to re-establish a
work relationship with PP&L to
provide service for customers
of the Necanicum substation in
the event of an emergency.
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VERNONIA’S
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Perry confirmed that
WOEC has approximately $19
million in long term debt, a point
that was brought up in the rate
hearing meeting. When asked
how the co-op accumulated so
much long term debt Perry ex-
plained that it makes sense for
WOEC to borrow money at the
low rates available to them and
spread the cost of infrastructure
improvements over many years.
Perry explained that this “trans-
generational equity,” which
extends for as long as 35 years
or more at times and is depreci-
ated over time, is a regular part
of conducting business for any
utility. “This is an economic
concept that is sometimes dif-
ficult for people to grasp,” said
Perry. “People in charge of
this co-op borrowed money 35
years ago to put in infrastruc-
ture and we are still paying on
some of those loans; it all adds
up. As we borrow new money,
old debt will be paid off. This is
going to continue on in perpe-
tuity as we borrow money and
pay it off.”
Perry noted that ap-
proximately $9 million of the
long term debt is from repairs
made following the flood of
2007 and several other major
storms, stating that FEMA only
paid 50% of damages, mean-
ing the co-op had to pay 50%
of costs associated with those
storms.
Perry told the mem-
bership at the rate hearing that
the WOEC annual budget is
approximately $10 million, of
which the discretionary budget
is just 2%.
“Rates will not being
going down,” said Perry in the
interview following the Board
meeting. “That’s just the nature
of this business in this locality.”
Opponents Fill FERC
Hearing to Testify
Against LNG Projects
Local
activists
filled the docket for the
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission’s (FERC) public
hearing on September 19, 2015
in Vernonia. The hearing was
scheduled to hear testimony on
the proposed Oregon Liquid
Natural Gas (LNG) shipping
terminal in Warrenton and the
Oregon LNG Pipeline project
that would run near Vernonia
and transport LNG across
Columbia County, traversing
Rock Creek four miles above
the water intake for the City of
Vernonia’s drinking water.
About 60 people
were in attendance at the
Vernonia Schools Commons
for the FERC hearing to hear
public comment on FERC’s
draft Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS). All 26 people
who testified spoke out against
FERC’s conclusions and asked
them to reconsider their views
on numerous portions of the
document that was released in
August.
The draft EIS is a
complex document of over
900 pages with 20 additional
appendixes and assesses
the potential environmental
effects of the construction
and operation of the projects.
According to the draft EIS,
FERC’s staff concluded that
approval of the proposed
projects would result in
some adverse emvironmental
impacts, however most of those
impacts would be reduced to
less-than-significant levels with
mitigation by Oregon LNG.
Local opponents of the
projects have organized to ask
questions, give testimony and
bring awareness of the potential
hazards of the projects. They
have received assistance
from Columbia Riverkeeper,
an environmental protection
organization.
Steve Calhoun
For ten years citizens
in Oregon and Washington
have successfully helped defeat
several LNG proposed projects.
At the FERC hearing
local citizens spoke against
the project to a panel of FERC
staff who were there to hear
the testimony. Among the
testimony was:
• Diana Peach discussed the
potential of fraq outs from
horizontal directional drilling,
the technique which would
be used to install the pipeline
underneath Rock Creek. Peach
told the panel that use of this
technique frequently leads to
the drill fracturing the river
bed bottom. Peach pointed
out that in the EIS FERC
acknowledges that this often
occurs and leads to inadvertent
releases of drilling fluid, which
could impact Rock Creek
Vernonia’s Natural Choice Now Open
Recreational retail sales
begin on October 1 st
Vernonia’s Natural Choice, a medical marijuana
dispensary and retail shop, is now open at 886 Bridge Street.
The “pot shop,” which opened its doors and began
providing medical marijuana in mid September, will begin
selling retail weed to recreational users, along with the rest
of the state of Oregon, on October 1, 2015
Wendy Brisbin, co-owner of the shop, says the
business has received a temporary permit from the State
of Oregon for six months to conduct recreational sales.
Brisbin says anyone 21 years and older, with a proper ID,
can purchase up to a quarter ounce of marijuana per day.
Concentrates and edibles are still only available to medical
marijuana patients.
Brisbin says retail consumers need to show ID,
which will be recorded to ensure that no customer exceeds
the quarter ounce limit per day.
Brisbane says sales have been slow while the
business has been open to only medical marijuana patients.
continued on page 3
“We’ll have to see how it goes,” said Brisbin. “We expected it
to be slow at first, but this is how things are going to progress.”
