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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2016 Amended energy bill lowers annual caps A state Senate committee voted 3-2 Monday to pass version By HILLARY BORRUD Capital Bureau SALEM — A bill to dou- ble Oregon’s renewable energy mandate is headed for a vote as soon as Wednesday in the state Senate, where it faces an uncer- tain fate. The Senate Committee on Business and Transportation voted 3-2 Monday afternoon to pass an amended version of the bill out of committee. State Sen. Lee Beyer, the committee’s chairman, wrote the amend- ment in an attempt to address concerns that the bill, which was negotiated behind closed doors by the state’s two inves- tor-owned utilities, environmen- tal groups, the renewable energy industry and Citizens Utility Board of Oregon, will be costly to consumers and businesses. Beyer, D-Springfield, said the amendment strengthened the role of the Public Utility Commission in response to crit- icism the earlier version would have weakened commission oversight. Utilities objected to a pro- vision in the amendment that would lower the annual cost cap for the renewable energy man- date from 4 percent to 3 percent. The existing renewable energy mandate allows utilities to ask the Public Utility Commission to approve rate increases based on costs incurred to meet the law. “I’m not sure why chang- ing it advances the policy now,” said Scott Bolton, a vice presi- dent at PacifiCorp. Ry Schwark, a spokesman for PacifiCorp, said he expected the bill might still undergo changes. “Since this now will likely need to go to conference, much will depend upon what comes out the other end of that process,” Schwark wrote in an email. Beyer’s amendment also expanded the types of energy ‘I’m not sure why changing it advances the policy now.’ Scott Bolton, vice president at PacifiCorp the utilities could use to meet the renewables mandate to include certain hydropower projects, biomass and power plants that burn municipal solid waste. That provision did not appear to be controversial. Beyer was also trying to shore up support for the bill after news reports last week that Gov. Kate Brown’s administra- tion silenced state energy reg- ulators who critiqued the bill, and that those regulators had not received enough information from the utilities to vet cost pro- jections for the bill. “There was lots of con- cerns expressed in the press and everybody else about how this bill got here and what it did and whether the regulator was left out or not,” Beyer said on Monday. Double existing mandate House Bill 4036 would double Oregon’s existing man- date to increase renewable energy and require Portland General Electric and Pacifi- Corp to use renewable power sources such as wind and solar to serve at least 50 per- cent of their customers’ energy demand in Oregon by 2040, up from the current state mandate of 25 percent renewable energy by 2025. The bill would also require the investor-owned utilities to stop using coal to serve Ore- gon customers, but there are questions about whether the bill would actually do much to impact the phase-out of coal power in Oregon. Portland General Electric has already committed to close Oregon’s only coal plant, in Boardman, by 2020, and Beyer said the bill would have a greater impact on the types of power utilities use to replace coal. Beyer invited Susan Acker- man, chairwoman of the Public Utility Commission, to testify before the committee on Mon- day, something Senate Repub- licans had called for last week. Ackerman said the Public Utility Commission had long considered a carbon cap-and- trade system to be the most efficient way to reduce green- house gas emissions. Lawmak- ers introduced a bill to create a cap-and-trade system this ses- sion, although it seems to have lost momentum and is cur- rently assigned to the budget writing Joint Committee on Ways and Means. Sap political capital Ackerman said she was concerned that if the renew- able mandate bill passes, it could use up the political cap- ital that would be necessary to pass cap-and-trade legislation. Ackerman also used her testimony Monday to respond to a news report that Brown’s administration had muzzled the Public Utility Commission. “That is simply not the case,” Ackerman said. Emails released by the Pub- lic Utility Commission showed Brown’s staff instructed the agency earlier this year not to go public with talking points they had prepared listing con- cerns about the bill, specifi- cally that it would be expen- sive to consumers but do little to reduce carbon emissions. PacifiCorp has estimated the increased renewable energy mandate would cause its rates to increase by less than 1 per- cent annually, although critics have noted that estimate only went through 2030. Portland General Electric projected the bill’s costs through 2040 and estimated the legislation would cause rates to rise by an aver- age of 1.5 percent annually. The Capital Bureau is a col- laboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. Gun control bill heads to state Senate Knappa man killed SALEM — A contentious proposal to extend the waiting period on gun purchases from three to 10 days to allow more time for background checks to clear has passed its first major hurdle in the state Legislature. The controversy playing out in Oregon over House Bill 4147, which now heads to the state Senate after passing the House on Monday, speaks to the broader debate about gun control among policymakers in the wake of numerous mass shootings across the nation in recent years. Initially, lawmakers sought to use HB 4147 as a vehicle for closing the so-called “Charles- ton loophole.” The phrase refers to a man accused of shoot- ing people in a South Carolina church in 2015 who was able to purchase a weapon after the three-day waiting period while his background check was pending. The vast majority of back- ground checks are completed right away, allowing many gun purchases to clear on the same day. Under current Oregon law, in those more rare instances where background checks take longer than three days, it’s up to the sellers’ discretion to sell the gun. Lawmakers aimed to close that loophole by requiring back- ground checks to clear before guns can be purchased, regard- less of the length of time. But after weeks of heated debate and testimony from gun rights advocates, HB 4147 was scaled back to simply extend the wait- ing period to 10 business days, following similar wait times in Astoria man pleads guilty to hacking celebrity emails Associated Press LOS ANGELES — An Astoria man who accessed hundreds of email accounts and stole explicit photos of celebrities has pleaded guilty to a felony hacking charge in Los Angeles. Andrew Helton faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to steal- ing nude or explicit photos from 13 people, including some unidentified celebri- ties. The plea was entered Thursday. Hundreds of stolen nude images of stars including Jennifer Lawrence, Scarlett Johansson and Mila Kunis have been posted online in recent years. FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller says Hel- ton’s is a separate case and that none of the images he stole are believed to have leaked online. Helton’s attorney Sha- non L. Gray had no imme- diate comment Friday. Prosecutors say Hel- ton’s “phishing” scheme involved sending victims emails they thought were from Apple or Google. The messages asked victims to verify their email accounts by clicking on a link that took them to a phony web- site, where Helton col- lected their usernames and passwords. Prosecutors say Hel- ton used the information to access more than 360 email accounts. Helton, 29, is scheduled to be sentenced June 2. Hawaii, California and Wash- ington, D.C. “It doesn’t close the loop- hole, but it makes it tight enough to catch a few more people who might exploit it ... It changes lit- tle for lawful purchasers, but it makes it a little harder for an unlawful purchaser to obtain a weapon,” state Rep. Lew Frederick, a Democrat from Portland, said before casting his ‘yes’ vote Monday. “Our thoughts and prayers are cold comfort when innocent lives are taken by someone with no busi- ness having access to a weapon. Our communities need help preventing the next tragedy.” The House was supposed to cast that vote Friday — when former Arizona Congress- woman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head in a 2011 shooting in Tucson, Ari- zona, visited Portland to launch Hanford site cleanup may be $107 billion an anti-gun violence coalition. However, the vote was delayed amid concerns the bill didn’t have support from Democrats, who control the chamber. When the decision came down Monday, HB 4147 squeaked by on a 31-28 vote, a narrow approval for the major- ity party after three Demo- crats sided with the Republican minority in opposing the bill. “Everyone wants to stop violence,” said Rep. Sherrie Sprenger, a Republican from Scio and a former sheriff’s dep- uty. “Sometimes in the pro- cess and gut-wrenching drive to solve a terrible, terrible things, we want to bring another law ... just because we pass a law doesn’t mean we’re going to get the desired result.” The bill now heads to the Senate, where the lively debate will likely continue. in logging accident By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian A 47-year-old Knappa man was killed Thursday in a logging accident. Tony Thorne was working at a logging site off of U.S. Highway 26 near Elsie when a tree crushed him, according to the Clatsop County Sher- iff’s Office. “It’s an extremely danger- ous job,” Sheriff Tom Bergin said. Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Adminis- tration opened an inspection this week into the case. Thorne was working for O’Brien Timber Falling Inc. based out of Warrenton. Aaron Corvin, a spokes- ANNUAL By KRISTENA HANSEN Associated Press man for Oregon OSHA, said the inspection could take up to six months. Inspec- tors generally collect evi- dence from the scene, inter- view witnesses and company officials and review records and procedures. The inspec- tion could also examine any equipment involved. “This is standard proce- dure,” Corvin said. “When you have a workplace death, we launch an investigation.” Elsie-Vinemaple Fire Department assisted the sheriff’s office at the scene Thursday. According to Thorne’s Facebook page, he grew up in Nehalem and attended Neah-Kah-Nie High School in Rockaway Beach. 33 YEARS Associated Press RICHLAND, Wash. — The latest estimate is out to complete the cleanup of the Hanford Nu- clear Reservation. The U.S. Department of En- ergy says the remaining work will cost $107.7 billion and be largely completed by 2060. Monday’s estimate was re- leased by the Department of En- ergy with its regulators, the En- vironmental Protection Agency and the state of Washington. Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons and the site is now engaged in the cleanup of the radioactive waste. February 25 th , 26 th , 27 th & 28 th the Lighthouse Jazz Society will present the 33 rd Year of Jazz in Seaside featuring twelve quality bands and one guest artist, performing twenty seven hours of live entertainment at tthree different venues in Seaside. Thank you to our wonderful sponsors and volun- teers that make this weekend a huge success. We are very grateful to the following Businesses and Individuals for their continuing support - you make it happen. Thank You! Corporate Sponsors: Lighthouse Jazz Society City of Seaside Tourism Advisory Committee Grand Band Sponsor: Pig ‘N Pancake, Robert Feldman & Julia Mangold Band Sponsors: W A NTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500 Music Sponsors: Inn at Seaside, Eagle Financial Group, Seaside Aquarium, Seaside Carousel Mall, River Inn at Seaside, Clatsop Distributing/Budweiser, McMenamins, Inc, KBGE 94.9 FM 6 3 Beach House Vacation Rentals, Dennis Adrian, Fred Fisher, In memory of Mary Jane Fisher, Sunset Empire Park & Recreation Dist., Suzanne Elise, Avamere Seaside and Providence Elder Place Patrons: 6 6 A Shore Motel, Sam’s Seaside Cafe, Rod & Beverly Grosso, Don & Pam Gianotti, Clatsop Community Bank, Norma’s Seafood & Steak, Ward & Lois Cook, Hillcrest Inn, Seaside Chamber of Commerce, Wilcox & Flegel, Jim & Mary Foster, John Niemeyer & Joyce Evanyo, Dick & Tip Martin, Charles & Ruth Johnson, Ernest & Joann Rivas, Don & Lois Larson, Susan Shinn & Chris Deits, Donna Mary Dulcich & Richard Aebel, Knutsen Insurance, Jim & Doris Van Olst, Barbara West, Robert Entringer, Robert Burch, & Vonne Anne Heninger, Peter Ferrero, Dooger’s Seafood & Grill Lodging Sponsors: First Baptist Church Ebb Tide Motel, Hi-Tide, Best Western Oceanview Resort, Shilo East, Shilo Inn Oceanfront, Escape Lodging, Rivertide Suites, Ocean Front Motel, Seashore Resort Announcing Bible Study series titled “Believe” Led by Reverend Rob Sturdivant Caffe Latte, Dooger’s Seafood and Grill, Reed & Hertig, Dundee’s Bar & Grill, Norma’s Seafood & Steak, Pizza Harbor, Rascals, Seaside Food, Seaside Helicopter, Astoria Warehousing, Shilo Inn at the Portland Airport, Pacific Way Bakery, United Grocers, Clean Sweep, Lazerquick A place where you feel like family...come home. Is God Real? What do I Believe? Has God fallen off your radar? Come kick the tires of this thing call Christianity! Weekly classes start Sunday Feb 21 at 5:30pm-6:30pm $10 study guide, scholarships available Soup dinner provided at 5:00, class starts at 5:30 Location: First Baptist Church Astoria, 349 7th Street, across from County Court House Call (503) 325-1761 to sign up or questions In Kind Sponsors: A big thank you to all that attend the Seaside Jazz Festival. Thank you to the many volunteers who help make this another great jazz festival in Seaside www.jazzseaside.com 866-345-6257 A portion of this project was made possible by a grant from Seaside Tourism Advisory Committee, funded by room tax dollars. The website is: www.seasideor.com
