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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 2016
Group: Ratepayers shouldn’t
pay for offshore wind project
Power would be
more expensive
than onshore
wind turbines
By HILLARY BORRUD
Capital Press
SALEM — Oregon utility
ratepayers should not be forced
to subsidize an offshore wind
pilot project near Coos Bay,
according to a recent report by
an advisory committee to Gov.
Kate Brown.
Power from the project, pro-
posed by Seattle-based Prin-
ciple Power, would be more
than four times as expensive as
electricity from onshore wind
turbines in the Columbia Riv-
er Gorge, according to the Jan.
15 report obtained by the EO
Media Group/Pamplin Media
Group Capital Bureau.
The governor formed the
:ind)loat Paci¿c Offshore
Wind Advisory Committee in
August to help Principle Power
secure a long-term power pur-
chase agreement with Oregon
utility companies. The guaran-
teed revenue stream would help
the company to secure private
¿nancing.
Principle Power also needs
a commitment by May that Or-
egon ratepayers will purchase
the electricity from the 16- to
24-megawatt project, in order
to qualify for the remaining $40
million in a grant from the U.S.
Department of Energy.
“(Committee)
members
indicated that the Northwest’s
historically low-cost electricity
would maNe it dif¿cult for any
utility to engage in a (power
purchase agreement) with an
offshore wind resource, giv-
en that utilities are generally
required to procure the low-
est-cost and lowest-risk re-
sources on behalf of their cus-
tomers,” the governor’s staff
wrote in the report, which they
described as a summary of the
committee recommendations.
Two meetings
The advisory committee
held just two meetings and
the Governor’s Of¿ce origi-
nally said the meetings would
be closed to the public. In the
end, the Governor’s Of¿ce al-
lowed the public to attend the
meetings but did not advertise
their times or locations. Utility
representatives said during the
second meeting, in November,
they did not want to purchase
power from the project.
Kevin Banister, Principle
Power’s vice president of busi-
ness development in the Amer-
icas and Asia, said the compa-
ny was still considering how to
proceed following the commit-
tee’s recommendation.
“I think we need to take some
time to digest what it all means,”
Banister said. “But it certainly
doesn’t make it easier for the
project to move forward.”
As for whether Principle
Power might give up on build-
ing a pilot project in Oregon,
Banister said the company has
not made any decision but has
projects under development in
other countries. “We’ve seen a
lot of interest in the technology
in other places in the United
States, too,” Banister said. “It is
something that we have to take
into consideration.”
After the committee’s ¿nal
meeting, Oregon Wave Energy
Trust executive director Jason
Busch said the project seemed
doomed by the skeptics Brown
selected for the advisory com-
mittee.
“We brought the state an
opportunity, a deal in Principle
Power,” Busch said. “It’s pretty
much in a neat little box with a
bow on top.” The Oregon Wave
Energy Trust is largely funded
by the state.
“The
advisory
group
brought together by the Gov-
ernor’s Of¿ce appeared to be
made up of folks who weren’t
particularly interested in this
type of project,” Busch said,
adding that utility representa-
tives on the committee were
there to make sure ratepayers
didn’t pay for the project and
“(state Sen. Betsy) Johnson
was there to make sure the tax-
payers didn’t pay it.”
Fishing industry
concerns
A bill in the Legislature last
year would have required Port-
land General Electric and Pacif-
ic Power to purchase electricity
from WindFloat under 20- to
25-year agreements. The legis-
lation died in the face of oppo-
sition by the two companies, in-
dustries that use large amounts
of power, the ¿shing industry
and the Citizens’ Utility Board.
The ¿shing industry has
raised concerns Principle Pow-
er’s WindFloat pilot project
would be located in important
¿shing territory, and Susan
Chambers, deputy director of
the West Coast Seafood Proces-
sors Association, said the group
was pleased by the advisory
committee’s ¿nal report.
“This is new territory for the
seafood industry,” Chambers
wrote in an email. “Do we like
the concept of renewable ener-
gy" Of course. Can we ¿nd a
better way to share the ocean? I
believe we can. It will take con-
certed efforts by developers,
¿shermen and state and federal
governments to accomplish a
process that works for every-
one, but we can do it.”
The governor’s advisory
committee was also supposed
to recommend “further action,
including potential legisla-
tion,” according to the report.
The ¿nal report contained no
such recommendation, but a
draft report suggested the state
should “study the structure of
a renewable energy aggregated
purchasing model” that would
spread the cost of energy pilot
projects across several states.
The draft report also sug-
gested the state “study the
transmission bene¿ts of elec-
tricity generation on the Ore-
gon Coast,” for example, if the
area were cut off from other
power sources following a ma-
jor earthquake.
Johnson’s worries
Johnson, D-Scappoose, said
the two recommendations did
not reÀect the discussions by
the committee, so it was inap-
propriate for the governor’s
staff to have included them.
“We did not discuss those two
recommendations, to the best
of my recollection, ever,” John-
son said.
Johnson wasn’t the only
committee member who no-
ticed the discrepancy.
Scott McMullen, chairman
of the Oregon Fishermen’s Ca-
ble Committee and a member
of the governor’s advisory com-
mittee, wrote in comments on
the draft proposal: “I don’t think
the advisory committee can
make these suggestions since
they were not discussed at the
committee meeting. Regardless
of their merits, inclusion in this
report is not representative of the
work of the committee.”
Hillary Barbour, policy di-
rector for the group Renewable
Northwest and an advisory
committee member, wrote in an
email that the governor’s staff
should stick with the recom-
mendations in order to signal
Oregon’s support for the project
to the federal government.
“While I appreciate Scott’s
point that the two study related
items for the governor to consid-
er at the end were not speci¿cal-
ly discussed by the committee,
one point (Renewable North-
west) raised in our written com-
ments is that we would support
additional federal investment to
help make the project more af-
fordable,” Barbour wrote.
Brown’s energy policy ad-
viser, Ruchi Sadhir, declined to
comment on which committee
members made those recom-
mendations. Chris Pair, Brown’s
press secretary, wrote in an email
that “these were ideas that were
brieÀy raised and discussed
by some committee members.
There was no single source.”
According to Pair, the governor
does not plan any further action
to help Principle Power launch
the pilot project.
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO Me-
dia Group and Pamplin Media
Group.
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Corpac Construction, Inc., of Corvallis was chosen to rehabilitate Runway 13-31, cen-
ter, at the Astoria Regional Airport. The company estimated $3.8 million to repave and
repair drainage on the runway and could start construction by July.
Port of Astoria signs off
on runway repairs contract
Commission
also backs
draft of new
boatyard rates
By EDWARD
STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
The Port of Astoria
Commission has voted to
have staff award a contract
for runway repairs at the
Astoria Regional Airport
in Warrenton to Corpac
Construction, Inc., of Cor-
vallis.
The runway to receive
the engineering overhaul
runs northwest-southeast
at the Warrenton airport.
“The runway is still ser-
viceable, but over time the
failure of the drainage is
going to cause a failure of
the surface,” said Gary Ko-
bes, the Port’s new airport
manager.
The
Port
secured
$480,000 from the state
Department of Transpor-
tation’s Connect Oregon
V infrastructure grant pro-
gram, which it used as a
local match to $4.5 million
from the Federal Aviation
Administration. Kobes said
the Port has $5.14 million
for airport projects, more
than enough for the runway
and some left over to plan
for future endeavors.
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The Port is still waiting for
approval on the project from
the FAA, and still needs to
negotiate the ¿nal contract
with Corpac. Kobes said con-
struction could start in June
or July, adding the contractor
has the discretion to ¿nd the
driest work window to ¿nish
construction in the required
70-day timeframe.
Strategic planning
Executive Director Jim
Knight said he is trying to se-
cure $150,000 from the U.S.
Department of Commerce as
a 50 percent match in creat-
ing a strategic plan for the
underutilized airport. He said
the agency has the support
of the Columbia-Paci¿c Eco-
nomic Development District
and Business Oregon.
He said the Port, which is
looking to update its strategic
plan agency-wide, might be
wise to tackle one property
at a time, eventually bringing
them together into a compre-
hensive plan.
In other business, the Port
Commission on Tuesday ap-
proved:
• A draft resolution increas-
ing boatyard rates, including
a $140 fee to cover environ-
mental cleanup. Operations
Manager Scott McGrath said
the boatyard’s rates have
not increased substantially
since the facility was opened
in 2004 on Pier 3. McGrath
said the new rates could in-
crease the Port’s revenues by
$84,000.
• A $44,0000 work order
for environmental engineer-
ing ¿rm Maul Foster Alongi
to design a stormwater treat-
ment facility on Pier 3 that
can accept and treat runoff
from the entire central water-
front. The Port was required
by the state Department of
Environmental Quality to
have a treatment facility by
June. The Port Commission
last authorized $50,000 for
design and permitting on the
stormwater system in Sep-
tember.
• The auction of three sur-
plus vehicles, including two
Ford Econoline van-bus hy-
brids and a 1973 Drott rough
terrain hydraulic crane.
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