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Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, July 23, 2003
Wyden urges
BPA to settle
utility litigation
U.S. Senator Ron Wy-
den urged the Bonneville
Power Administration
(BPA) to settle continuing
litigation brought by public
utilities, saying that the
savings of contract costs
and legal costs to BPA
could ward off a projected
rate increase for the util-
ity’s Northwest customers
and also provide short-
term reduction in rates.
In December 2000, a
number of Northwest pub-
lic power agencies sued
BPA over the agreements
BPA had struck with in-
vestor-owned utilities as
part of a program called
the “Residential Ex-
change.”
That program is de-
signed to allow customers
of private, investor-owned
utilities to enjoy the lower
power costs provided by
federally-affiliated BPA.
It allows BPA to pro-
vide either cash payments
or additional power re-
sources to the investor-
owned utilities to keep
costs down for those utili-
ties’ customers. In their
lawsuits, the public power
agencies alleged that
BPA’s exchange agree-
ments provided more bene-
fits to the investor-owned
utilities than the Northwest
Power Act allows. BPA is
incurring enormous legal
costs as the active cases
continue.
During the energy cri-
sis of 2001, BPA agreed to
pay investor-owned utili-
ties and others to cut back
on their power use. In
some of those agreements,
BPA also promised to pro-
vide litigation protection
for the investor-owned
utilities - in the form of
higher payments per mega-
watt hour - as long as the
public power lawsuits re-
mained in litigation.
The public utilities
involved in the lawsuits
recently presented a pro-
posal for settlement, agree-
ing to drop their lawsuits if
BPA can find a way to
avoid this year’s projected
rate increase. A settlement
could provide BPA with
more than enough savings
to avoid the rate increase.
If a settlement can be
struck, BPA could save an
estimated $200 million or
more in projected legal
costs.
It would also release
BPA from its commitment
to pay additional fees to
investor-owned utilities.
STONE WALLED - Jack Heald (photo right) holds up an Ashland granite plaque pro-
vided by Steve Chandler of ‘Rock It.’ Heald, who assisted stone mason Gaige Qual-
mann (photo above) build a ‘rock billboard’ in front of Select Market in Downtown
Cave Junction, helped place the plaque. Many valley residents supplied unique
rocks for the billboard. The billboard will be available to hold community event
signs.
(Photo by Steve Fairchild)
Water conservation key for Klamath Basin
Farmers and others in Upper Klamath Lake area trying to make every drop count
Faced with another
critical year for water sup-
plies, irrigators in the
Klamath Basin continue to
conserve the resource in an
effort to squeeze every
precious drop that has been
made available this sum-
mer from Upper Klamath
Lake.
From taking land out
of agricultural production
to using well water on their
own property, farmers in
the basin are doing what
they can to keep from
drawing down lake levels
deemed necessary for fish.
It’s a struggle, but the lo-
cals say they need to try.
“We are making every
drop of water count and
are focused on just trying
to get through this year,”
said Rob Crawford, whose
farm straddles the Oregon-
California border south of
Klamath Falls. Crawford is
a member of the Klamath
Water Users Association,
which has adopted several
conservation measures to
address dry conditions.
While not quite as
critical as the summer of
2001, when water from the
lake was shut off to some
1,400 irrigators, this year’s
water levels in the lake
have been precariously
close to triggering another
shutoff.
Last week’s decision
by the U.S. Bureau of Rec-
lamation (USBR) to reclas-
sify the current water year
has lowered the required
lake level, allowing some
water to be used for irriga-
tion.
With crops already in
the ground and some $200
million invested in seed
and other agricultural in-
puts, the prospect of an-
other shutoff was a blow to
every farmer in the basin.
Smoking on the job: Teen searches for nicotine
(Editor’s Note: This guest
opinion is by Shannon O'Con-
nor, a 17-year-old senior at
Aloha High School in Beaver-
ton.)
By SHANNON
O’CONNOR
I admit it. My first day
on the job, I was so scared
I cried.
I mean, I had walked
into this store and asked
the clerk for a pack of
cigarettes. I was 14.
For the past three
years, I have been among
approximately 25 teen-
agers who work in the
state’s federally required
program to check tobacco
retailers’ compliance with
laws against sales tobacco
sales to kids under 18.
My cigarettes of
choice are Marlboro Reds.
Not that I’ve ever smoked
one, you understand. And,
as I said, the first time I
ever tried to buy cigarettes
I was scared. I felt others
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in the store were judging
me.
Perhaps that’s the
whole point.
A little background:
When I try to buy ciga-
rettes, I go into the store
alone. A few moments
later, a retired plainclothes
state police officer follows
me in to observe. I ask the
clerk for my Marlboro
Reds. If the clerk asks my
age. I am required to tell
the truth. If the clerk sells
to me, the officer cites the
clerk as soon as the trans-
action is complete.
Do clerks sell? Sure,
but you might be surprised
by how many don’t. In
fact, I have to listen to a lot
of lectures from clerks.
“I’ll bet you’re still in
high school,” one told me.
“You have your whole life
ahead of you. Why are you
starting now?” A lot say,
“Do you know it’s illegal
to buy cigarettes when
you’re under-age?”
One clerk took down
my name and address, said
he gives this information
to the local police. One
told me, “Don’t try that
ever again.”
These clerks’ re-
sponses are encouraging.
They are in contrast to a
new set of radio commer-
cials that will air until Au-
gust on 40 stations outside
Willamette Valley. One
features teen-agers talking
about how easy it is to buy
cigarettes and chewing
tobacco.
For the past three
years, clerks statewide
have sold 17 percent of the
time. I’m told that’s better
than the federal goal of 20
percent, but it’s still a lot
Word of the Week
Kickshaw:
1. A tidbit or delicacy,
especially
one
served as an appe-
tizer. 2. Something
showy but without
value; a trinket; tri-
fle.
Webster’s
College Dictionary.
for a product that’s illegal
to sell to a minor. It’s a lot
when you figure the fine is
up to $600.
Why do clerks sell?
I’ve had clerks not ask my
age, even though it’s hard
to mistake me for an 18-
year-old. I’ve seen clerks
put my birth date through
the scanner, and then con-
clude that the scanner must
be wrong.
Sometimes clerks who
sell are just distracted, ei-
ther by a store full of cus-
tomers or by a personal
phone call. When they are
cited, some clerks get an-
gry. Some cry. Some
apologize. How do my
friends feel about my job?
Maybe you know the
words “no way,” as in,
“No way do you have a job
trying to buy cigarettes.”
(R)
“Kindness is a language
the dumb can speak and the deaf
can hear and understand.”
- Christian Bovee -
Bring your problems in a sealed container
Saturday, July 26, August 9 and 23
and Sept. 6 and 20
Master Gardeners Clinic
exclusively at
Family Tree Garden Center
441 S. Junction Avenue - 592-3799
7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. - Monday - Saturday
Noon to 3 p.m. - Sunday