A5
THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, JuNE 9, 2022
SPORTS
Kristyna Wentz-Graff/Oregon Public Broadcasting
The solar component of the Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facility was completed in March
and spans 300 acres.
Facility: ‘You need diversity
of renewable resources’
Gary Henley/The Astorian
Knappa’s Drew Miller, Pitcher of the Year on the Northwest all-league team, and a first team
all-state catcher.
Nine Loggers earn
all-league honors
Continued from Page A3
the central point of where all the power
goes, and changes into alternating current
or AC voltage.
“It does its little magic, it turns it to
AC voltage, which that’s what our trans-
mission lines carry,” she said. “Your AC
voltage is going to be the plug on your
wall at your home.”
This process helps the energy collected
become “clean energy” and it in turn cre-
ates an easier flow to power homes.
“From our inverter we can go out to
the grid or we can go and charge our bat-
teries,” she said. “Then at night when we
don’t have any sun to produce power,
we can push power from our batteries
through our inverter out to the grid.”
The Astorian
NORTHWEST
ALL-LEAGUE TEAM
Just as they have dominated Northwest
League baseball on the field over the last 10
years, the Knappa Loggers also dominate the
Northwest League’s annual all-league team.
It was no different in 2022, as every
starter for league champion Knappa earned
all-league honors, with senior Drew Miller
selected as both the league Player of the Year
and Pitcher of the Year. Coach of the Year
honors went to Dwayne Nowlin of St. Paul,
the 1A school which finished a distant second
(14-4) behind the Loggers.
Knappa (18-0 in
league play, 21-5
overall) had
nine
total
selections,
including
six
first
team and
three sec-
ond team
players. The
list included
four
seniors,
one junior, three
freshman.
sophomores and one
Earlier this week, Drew Miller was named
as a first team catcher, and Mark Miller as
a first team outfielder on the 2A/1A all-state
team.
And the Loggers should be locked in as
state title contenders for several more years,
as junior pitcher Nick Rusinovich and soph-
omore pitcher Jaxon Dietrichs were both
selected second team all-state.
Player of the Year: Drew Miller, Knappa
Pitcher of the Year: Drew Miller, Knappa
Coach of the Year: Dwayne Nowlin, St. Paul
First Team
Drew Miller, Sr., Knappa
Anthony Allen, So., Neah-Kah-Nie
Jaxon Dietrichs, So., Knappa
Samson Gentry, Jr., Vernonia
Sebastian Gill, So., Vernonia
Tanner Jackson, Sr., Knappa
Eduardo Loza, Jr., Neah-Kah-Nie
Kirk Mazurowski, Sr., Portland Christian
Jude Miller, Fr., Knappa
Mark Miller, Sr., Knappa
Deryk Rachiele, Sr., Neah-Kah-Nie
Warren Rose, Jr., St. Paul
Nick Rusinovich, Jr., Knappa
Dylan Tallent, Sr., Gaston
Lance Tuck, Sr., St. Paul
Second Team
Kutter Ball, So., Knappa
Hunter Buehrer, Jr., Vernonia
Jaden Dolan, Sr., Gaston
Sebastian Hacker, So., Gaston
Peter Hahn, Jr., Vernonia
Clancy Koch, Sr., St. Paul
Shane Lardy, Sr., Vernonia
Cayden McLaughlin, Sr., Portland Christian
Treven Moreland, So., Knappa
Logan Morrill, Sr., Knappa
George Pohlschneider, So., St. Paul
Ralph Pohlschneider, So., St. Paul
Clay Smith, Fr., St. Paul
Zaden Wilhelm, Sr., Gaston
Jacobee Wilkinson, Jr., Neah-Kah-Nie
Trevor Wolf, So., Vernonia
Honorable Mention
Brandon Chinchilla, Jr., Portland Christian
Tyler Crawford, Jr., St. Paul
Gage Erhardt, Fr., Vernonia
Ethan Hanson, Fr., Neah-Kah-Nie
Parker Hopkins, Jr., Neah-Kah-Nie
Spyder Hyde, Sr., Neah-Kah-Nie
Lucas “Bubba” Johnson, Jr., Portland Christian
Hunter Lane, Jr., Neah-Kah-Nie
Brody Schindler, Sr., St. Paul
Jason Swirtz, Sr., Nestucca
Skyler Wallace, Sr., Nestucca
Sportsmanship: St. Paul
‘You need flexibility’
Bob Jenks, executive director of the
Oregon Citizens Utility Board, said the
Wheatridge facility represents a step in
the right direction for Oregon’s clean
electricity efforts. It also removes the
dependence on only one source of clean
energy.
“You need diversity of renewable
resources,” he said. “You need flexibility
with them and the battery here is provid-
ing that flexibility.”
Jenks said battery storage is becom-
ing increasingly important in the clean
energy transition, as utilities figure out
ways to move power from one time of
the day to another. Adding batteries to the
mix will change when, where and how
clean energy is created and stored across
the state.
“That comes in real valuable because
solar stops producing in late afternoon,
early evening — but that’s when people
get home from work and tend to turn on
their air conditioning,” Jenks said.
Jenks cautioned that there could be
some downsides to the technology, and
questioned the ability of batteries to man-
age the power load and travel long dis-
tances. For example, he said PGE’s deci-
sion to locate the batteries at the facility
could mean that by the time the energy
makes it to the Willamette Valley, some
of its power has been lost.
He also said storage capacity can
decline over time as the battery’s life
capacity depletes. Weather is another
variable that can affect how batteries
store energy.
“Anyone who owns an electric vehi-
cle knows that in the winter you don’t get
the same amount of miles as you get in in
the summer,” he said. “Cold weather has
negative effects on the ability to charge
and maintain power.”
But overall, Jenks said the facility is a
smart investment and will likely be good
for ratepayers.
“This is a good example of how the
technologies are there,” he said “And in
Gulls top Warriors in summer opener
The Astorian
Seaside and Warren-
ton opened the summer
junior baseball season Tues-
day at Huddleston Field
where the Gulls held off the
Warriors, 3-2.
All the scoring took place
over the fourth and fifth
innings, with Seaside scor-
ing two runs in the fifth on a
wild pitch and a passed ball.
Seaside pitchers Cam-
eron Schulte and Luke Cal-
houn held Warrenton to just
one hit, with a combined
11 strikeouts and six walks.
Warrenton’s Dawson Little
tossed a two-hitter with eight
strikeouts and two walks.
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SEVENDAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA
TODAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
Kristyna Wentz-Graff/Oregon Public Broadcasting
Energy collected by solar panels, after being
converted to the appropriate voltage, is able to
charge and be stored in batteries located on site.
Oregon, there’s the political will to require
our utilities to use that technology.”
‘Tip of the iceberg’
Adam Schultz, the Oregon Depart-
ment of Energy’s electricity and markets
policy group lead, said he expects more
projects to follow Wheatridge’s lead by
combining different technologies like
wind, solar, hydropower and batteries to
generate and store more clean energy. But
that is also going to prompt a change in
the power system grid.
“If you’re going to try to generate
enough clean megawatt hours to displace
all the fossil fuels on the system, you’re
going to need to move those megawatt
hours around to be available 24/7,” he
said. “This is sort of what we expect to
see in the future.”
Schultz said Oregon’s electric system
was built for transporting power when
needed rather than collecting it. He said
it doesn’t take a lot of storage to begin
to have an impact on the power grid, and
facilities like Wheatridge will help other
utilities think differently about storage
and get clean energy on the power grid.
Storage can also save ratepayers
money during peak hours, Schultz said.
Especially in the summer months when
air conditioning units are running blast.
“So that’s sort of the game-changer of
storage at a very broad scale,” he said.
“Sort of the tip of the iceberg there of
what’s coming.”
As battery storage becomes more
common, Schultz said it’s hard to over-
state the role it will place in the next 40
years and he expects states like Oregon
will take a more streamlined approach
to clean energy and share resources with
other states.
REGIONAL FORECAST
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
Seattle
61 56
64 55
63 52
Cloudy, a little
P.M. showers;
Occasional rain
rain
breezy
59 50
A shower
60 49
62 51
60 50
Cloudy
Cloudy, showers
around
Mostly cloudy
Aberdeen
Olympia
61/56
62/56
Wenatchee
Tacoma
Moses
Lake
65/55
ALMANAC
UNDER THE SKY
TODAY'S TIDES
Astoria through Tuesday
Tonight’s Sky: Giovanni Cassini’s
birthday (1625).
Astoria / Port Docks
Temperatures
High/low ................................ 72/47
Normal high/low .................. 63/50
Record high .................. 94 in 1903
Record low .................... 40 in 1933
Precipitation
Tuesday ................................... Trace
Month to date ........................ 1.39”
Normal month to date ......... 0.67”
Year to date .......................... 40.13”
Normal year to date ........... 35.54”
Forecasts and graphics provided by
AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022
Time
9:31 a.m.
9:57 p.m.
5.7 3:48 a.m.
7.7 3:34 p.m.
Cape Disappointment
9:08 a.m.
9:39 p.m.
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
Sunrise today .................. 5:24 a.m.
Sunset tonight ............... 9:05 p.m.
Moonrise today ............. 3:28 p.m.
Moonset today ............... 2:43 a.m.
Full
Last
New
5.5 3:14 a.m.
7.6 2:52 p.m.
2.1
1.7
5.9 3:30 a.m.
8.0 3:13 p.m.
2.1
1.7
6.1 3:32 a.m.
8.0 3:18 p.m.
2.0
1.6
10:08 a.m. 6.0 4:49 a.m.
10:34 p.m. 7.9 4:35 p.m.
1.6
1.3
Hammond
SUN AND MOON
First
9:22 a.m.
9:51 p.m.
Warrenton
9:26 a.m.
9:52 p.m.
Knappa
Depoe Bay
June 14 June 20 June 28 July 6
1.9
1.5
8:23 a.m.
8:52 p.m.
5.4 2:41 a.m.
7.6 2:15 p.m.
1.9
1.4
City
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Dallas
Denver
Honolulu
Houston
Los Angeles
Miami
New York City
Phoenix
San Francisco
Wash., DC
Today
Hi/Lo/W
Fri.
Hi/Lo/W
86/66/t
71/58/r
78/60/pc
96/79/pc
86/57/t
86/73/s
97/78/s
85/64/pc
89/76/t
78/60/r
110/85/s
75/60/pc
84/63/pc
85/69/t
78/60/pc
74/59/c
100/78/pc
89/62/c
86/73/s
99/77/pc
87/67/s
87/75/t
80/64/s
113/88/s
79/60/s
84/65/pc
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy,
c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms,
r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice.
81/64
Hermiston
The Dalles 88/68
Enterprise
Pendleton 76/52
82/65
83/64
La Grande
80/57
76/62
NATIONAL CITIES
High (ft.) Time Low (ft.)
73/60
Kennewick Walla Walla
80/64 Lewiston
89/70
69/60
Salem
Pullman
78/58
Longview
61/56 Portland
73/62
74/58
Yakima 82/62
62/55
Astoria
Spokane
72/56
Corvallis
76/60
Albany
76/61
John Day
Eugene
Bend
78/63
80/59
81/55
Ontario
88/62
Caldwell
Burns
82/51
86/61
Medford
87/62
Klamath Falls
80/48
City
Baker City
Brookings
Ilwaco
Newberg
Newport
Today
Hi/Lo/W
80/55/c
64/57/c
60/55/sh
74/60/c
61/56/sh
Fri.
Hi/Lo/W
79/54/c
66/56/c
62/53/r
70/60/sh
60/55/sh
City
North Bend
Roseburg
Seaside
Springfi eld
Vancouver
Today
Hi/Lo/W
68/60/c
85/64/c
63/56/sh
81/63/c
73/62/c
Fri.
Hi/Lo/W
65/56/c
82/65/c
64/56/r
75/61/sh
70/60/sh