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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2019)
A6 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2019 Pacifi Corp releases plan to cut coal power and add renewables By CASSANDRA PROFITA Oregon Public Broadcasting On Thursday, Pacifi - Corp released a 20-year power plan that cuts back on coal and adds renew- able wind and solar energy. The Portland-based utility serves 1.9 million customers across six west- ern states, including Ore- gon and Washington, and right now more than half of its power comes from coal. Environmental groups have been pressing Pacif- iCorp for years to close more of its coal plants sooner and speed up its transition to renew- able energy. But lead- ers in states like Wyo- ming, where the utility’s coal plants are stationed, say the company would be hurting local econo- mies and betraying their trust by closing coal plants early. The investor-owned utility is planning to shut- ter more than 75% of its coal fl eet by 2038, cutting nearly 4,500 megawatts of coal-fi red power at mul- tiple plants in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Idaho and Utah. Only a portion of the closures would come sooner under the new plan than they would have oth- erwise. The company is calling for the early retire- ment of seven coal units at fi ve different plants, with some closures coming more than a decade ahead of schedule. In a statement, Chad Teply, Pacifi Corp’s senior vice president for busi- ness policy and develop- ment, said the company is aware that the early retire- ments will cut jobs at its coal plants. “We are mindful that these resource decisions impact our thermal oper- ations employees, their families and communi- ties,” he said. “Our top pri- ority is making certain our employees and communi- ties remain informed about the changes ahead and that we work in concert with everyone involved to develop plans that help them transition through this time of change.” Company offi cials esti- mated the new plan will save $300 million to $500 million in operation costs and will offer the low- est power rate option for Pacifi Corp customers. Rick Link, Pacifi Corp’s vice president of resource planning and acquisi- tions, said cost calcula- tions played a big role in the company’s decision to reduce its generation of coal-fi red power. “Coal generation has been an important resource in our portfolio, allowing us to deliver reli- able energy to our custom- ers, and will continue to play an important role as units approach retirement dates,” he said in a state- ment. “At the same time, this plan refl ects the ongo- ing cost pressure on coal as wind generation, solar generation and storage have emerged as low-cost resource options for our customers.” On a press call fol- lowing Pacifi Corp’s announcement, Link said the company’s anal- ysis shows closing too many coal plants too soon could create problems for the reliability of the grid and the capacity of the entire system to generate enough energy for all of its customers. Oregon mostly spared from wildfi res By KALE WILLIAMS The Oregonian Sometimes the absence of something can make a bigger impact than its pres- ence. For the summer of 2019 in Oregon — a time of year marked recently by blankets of smoke, warn- ings about unhealthy air and evacuation notices — that absence came as a literal breath of fresh air. In 2017, more than 1.1 million acres were scorched by wildfi re in Oregon and Washington. 2018 was even worse, with 1.3 million acres of forest and fi elds going up in fl ame. That’s an area close to the size of Delaware up in smoke each year. This year was a much different story: Just over 200,000 acres were scorched across both states, a nearly 84% drop from the two pre- vious years. “Our weather was closer to what weather typically looks like in Oregon and Washington,” said John Saltenberger, fi re weather program manager, North- west Interagency Coordina- tion Center, which coordi- nates fi refi ghting resources for Oregon and Washington. He noted that 2019 wasn’t exceptionally cool or wet, just that our last few fi re sea- sons had seen temperatures well above average. “Our expectations have become a bit warped,” he said. The mild wildfi re season saved Northwest fi refi ght- ing agencies a boatload of money, too. Fighting wild- fi res cost Oregon and Wash- ington more than a $1 billion in 2017 and 2018 combined, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. In 2019, both states spent less than $100 million, a 92% drop in costs. Calm conditions, aggressive attack Much of the quiet season can be attributed to weather. The relatively cool tempera- SLeePY HoLLOW Friday & Saturday October 11th & 12th 18th & 19th 25th & 26th 6pm - 9pm EE F E C N ENTRA $ 3 per person 3 or non-perishable food items All proceeds go to CCA Regional Food Bank & KOA Care Camps 1100 NW Ridge Rd. Hammond, OR 503-861-2606 Astor iaKOA .com Kelly Yan The Milepost 97 fi re burned more than 13,000 acres along Interstate 5 south of Canyonville this summer, but was one of the few fi res that signifi cantly impacted the public. tures kept fuels in forests and grasslands from drying into the tinderboxes they were in recent years. Tempera- tures remained lower than in 2017 and 2018, and humid- ity stayed high enough to keep fuels moist. Lightning, when it did come through, was often followed by rain. Fire experts measure fi re danger in a number of ways, including tempera- ture, humidity, wind speed, sunlight and how much fuel is on the landscape. One of those measurements is called Energy Release Component, essentially the amount of energy that will be released when fuels burn. Because of the weather, Saltenberger said, that number stayed low for much of the summer. The number of fi res that started weren’t that much lower this year than last — 3,038 compared to 3,914 — but the lower potential for explosive growth meant they didn’t spread nearly as fast. Smaller fi res demand fewer resources, leaving more fi refi ghters free to position themselves around the state, able to jump into action more quickly and get to new starts before they grew. “We saw very fast initial attack,” said Bobbi Doan, a spokeswoman for the Ore- gon Department of Forestry, the agency charged with fi ghting fi res on state land. “We had lightning touch every part of the state, but we had crews prepositioned to get to fi res quickly.” The shortest season in 20 years The start and end of fi re season in Oregon is declared district-by-district, depend- ing on fuel conditions. The Southwest Oregon District, covering Josephine and Jackson counties, was the last district to see conditions ripe for wildfi re. With the arrival of rain, cooler tem- peratures and shorter days, offi cials there declared the season over on Tuesday, according to the state. At just 99 days, it was about three weeks shorter than the average fi re sea- son, the agency said, and the shortest season they’ve seen since the turn of the century. That’s not to say the state was bereft of blazes in 2019. The Milepost 97 Fire was sparked by an illegal camp- fi re on July 24, and quickly grew to more than 10,000 acres. Given its proximity to Interstate 5, the confl a- gration produced dramatic pictures as motorists and slowed traffi c, at one point jumping the highway and burning through brush on both sides of the interstate. Hundreds were evacuated and the fi re burned more than 13,000 acres before full containment was announced about three weeks after the initial spark. The biggest fi re in the state this year was much less visible. The Poker Fire, which was sparked by light- ning on Aug. 15, burned more than 23,000 acres in Southern Oregon before it was fully contained in late September. The calm conditions even allowed fi refi ghters to let some fi res burn. In Eastern Oregon, the strategy on the Granite Gulch Fire in the Eagle Cap Wilderness was changed from suppression to management, as the States- man Journal fi rst reported. Letting the fi re burn come with risks. It can cause smoke and there’s always a chance it could escape the boundaries fi refi ghters set up, but if its managed effec- tively, it helps restore forest health and when fi re passes through the area again, the area that burned this year will be less likely to roar into an uncontrollable blaze. With the end of the offi - cial fi re season, fi re restric- tions were lifted across the state, letting property own- ers burn debris piles and loosening restrictions on certain kinds of equipment that can start fi res. It also means fi refi ghting agencies can now focus their attention on fi re prevention, conduct- ing controlled burns where conditions allow, removing dead vegetation and helping landowners create defen- sible space around their homes. WANTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 THE KIDS ARE LOOKING FOR YOU – BE A CASA! CASA VOLUNTEER TRAINING Learn how you can be trained in just a month to make a difference in the life of a child in foster care In-person and online training are combined for all learning styles Classes are free to everyone October 9 th – November 13 th We need volunteers more than ever to advocate for children in foster care. A Court Appointed Special Advocate is a community volunteer who advocates for a child who has been abused or neglected. 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