REGION
Friday, June 9, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 3A
Umatilla Electric general manager lauds BPA
partnership as talk of privatization rises again
Legislators share concerns about proposal to sell utility
to the Blue Mountains, buys the
majority of its power wholesale
from BPA, with nearly 85 percent
The latest proposal by the generated by large hydroelectric
Donald Trump Administration to dams on the Columbia River. The
sell transmission lines owned by co-op signed its first contract with
BPA in 1942, just five
the Bonneville Power
years after the agency
Administration may stir
was established by
economic uncertainty for
Congress.
Umatilla and Morrow
“That’s 75 years of
counties, according to the
partnership,” Echenrode
local Umatilla Electric
said. “They provide
Cooperative.
stability we might not
Robert Echenrode, UEC
otherwise see from a
general manager, said he is
private enterprise.”
not sure what such a deal
And, unlike some
would look like, but would Echenrode
other federal programs,
inevitably carry questions
Echenrode said BPA
that could slow down the
rate of customer growth within the does not subsist on government
handouts, Rather, it provides a
co-op service territory.
“(BPA) has certainly been a life dependable, self-sustaining service
support for us during our growth,” that members like UEC are more
Echenrode said. “We would hate to than happy to support.
Without that dependability,
disrupt that momentum we have.”
This is not the first time the govern- Echenrode said industries like data
ment has suggested privatizing the centers and food processors that
agency’s assets. The concept dates as have arrived in Eastern Oregon —
far back as the Nixon administration, and which require a tremendous
Echenrode said, and seems to rear its amount of electricity — may think
twice about locating in the future or
head again from time to time.
UEC, which serves more than expanding their operations.
Oregon
lawmakers
have
14,000 accounts from Boardman
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
BOARDMAN
Suspected drunk driver
leads high speed chase
East Oregonian
Police
chased
a
suspected drunk driver on
Interstate 84 at high speeds
before forcing the vehicle
off the road, arresting and
subduing the driver with a
stun gun.
According to Boardman
Police chief Rock Stokoe,
Tamar Drake, 39, of
Hermiston, was arrested
on charges of attempting to
elude a police officer, DUII,
driving while revoked and
on a Grant County warrant.
The chase started after
5:30 p.m., when police
received a call that an
intoxicated woman broke
down the front door of
a home on Wilson Lane
outside of Boardman. The
caller said that the woman
had a stun gun in her hand
when she drove away in a
white SUV and smashed a
gate while heading toward
Love’s Travel Stop.
Sgt. Mark Pratt of the
Boardman Police Depart-
ment found Drake behind
the wheel, traveling west-
bound on Wilson Road. Sgt.
Pratt attempted to stop the
vehicle near Toms Camp
Road but the driver failed
to yield and eventually got
on Interstate 84 and headed
eastbound in an erratic
manner. Spike strips were
deployed by an Oregon
State Police Trooper near
the Umatilla County line
at milepost 177, which
disabled the passenger side
tires on the vehicle.
The vehicle continued
onto Interstate 82 before
taking the Lamb Road
exit. Based on the driver’s
erratic driving, behavior
and the fact she was
heading toward populated
Hermiston, officers decided
utilize the pursuit interven-
tion technique to force the
vehicle off the road, Stokoe
said in a statement. After
a successful maneuver,
Drake’s
car
became
disabled on the north side
of Lamb Road.
While officers from
Boardman Police Depart-
ment, Morrow County
Sheriff’s Office and Oregon
State Police attempted to
take Drake into custody,
Stokoe said she reached
for a knife. A stun gun
was deployed by officers,
subduing the suspect and
allowing officers to take her
into custody.
Drake
refused
all
medical treatment and
was released from Good
Shepherd Hospital. She
was transported and lodged
at the Umatilla County Jail.
BRIEFLY
Running Hot and Walking Cold
benefits those in need
HERMISTON — The Umatilla County Peer Support
Network, in conjunction with Lifeways Inc. and
Community Partners in Umatilla County, is heading up
the Running Hot and Walking Cold 5K/10K run/walk.
In its third year, the event is Saturday, June 17 from
9 a.m. to noon at Riverfront Park and Oxbow Trail,
Hermiston. Registration begins at 8 a.m. There is no
set fee to participate, but participants are asked to make
a donation of supplies for the Hermiston Warming &
Cooling Station and Desert Rose Ministries.
Suggested items include cases of water, packaged
cookies/crackers, laundry detergent, pre-packaged bleach,
oatmeal, disinfectant wipes, paper products, creamer/
sugar packets, fruit/soup cups, hand sanitizer, hand soap,
playing cards, games, books, non-latex gloves, coloring
books, crayons, flashlights, batteries, socks and DVDs.
Donations can be brought the day of the event or can
be dropped off at the Hermiston Peer Center at 1195 N.
First Place, Hermiston. In addition, for donation pickup,
call 541-567-2536 extension 720.
For more information, visit www.evenbrite.com and
search “Running Hot and Walking Cold.”
Fundraiser features farm-fresh dinner
MILTON-FREEWATER — A fresh from the farm
dinner and a night of dancing with live music is featured
during a fundraiser for the Frazier Farmstead Museum.
The 21-and-older event is Saturday, June 24 from 6-10
p.m. in front of the 1918 barn on the picturesque grounds
of the museum, 1403 Chestnut St., Milton-Freewater.
Tickets are $40 each and includes a meal from Simply
Catering. Each year, the museum raises more than 15
percent of the annual operating budget during the event.
Frazier Farmstead Museum is a six-acre site listed
on the National Register of Historic Places. It was
settled in 1868 by community founder W.S. Frazier and
continuously occupied by his family for 115 years. It is
Milton-Freewater’s only museum and is dedicated to
preserving the history of the area.
For more information, contact 541-938-4636,
frazier1868@gmail.com or visit www.frazierfarmstead
museum.org.
loudly denounced selling off BPA
transmission to a private party.
Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden has
said BPA is “a key part of Oregon’s
economic future, and selling most
of it to the highest bidder would
strangle the power supply for
businesses and stretch the wages of
working families in the Northwest.”
Wyden recently voted against
Dan Brouillete, President Trump’s
nominee for deputy secretary of
energy, because Brouillete did not
commit to keeping BPA in public
ownership.
“I cannot support a nominee who
won’t even say whether he opposes
a proposal that would hike energy
prices for Northwest customers
who have invested in a system
that runs successfully on its own,”
Wyden said.
Greg Walden, Oregon’s only
Republican congressman, also
signed his name to a letter along
with 14 other members of Congress
voicing their opposition to the BPA
proposal. The letter, which was sent
to Secretary of Energy Rick Perry
and Office of Management and
Budget Director Mick Mulvaney,
said selling transmission assets
would harm individuals and busi-
nesses while undermining invest-
ment across the Northwest.
If a deal were made to sell BPA
infrastructure, Echenrode said
co-ops would likely argue that
they are entitled to capacity on the
system, since they have helped pay
for its upkeep over the decades.
He also questioned whether a third
party would be able and willing to
continue expanding the system to
accommodate further growth.
Echenrode said UEC is working
closely with the Oregon Rural Elec-
tric Cooperative Association and
National Rural Electric Cooperative
Association to continue lobbying
the issue.
“We just want to make sure, if
there is some traction gained, where
it’s coming from and what their
intentions are,” he said.
House Bill 3456
Meanwhile in Salem, a bill has
passed the Oregon House of Repre-
sentatives that would allow utilities
to build solar farms on high-value
farmland, provided the land is not
within an irrigation district and does
not otherwise have a water right.
The issue arose earlier this year,
when UEC sought to expand its
Moyer-Tolles Solar Station east of
Umatilla. However, since the prop-
erty is located within the Columbia
Valley American Viticulture Area
and is thus defined as “high-value
farmland,” state law requires a
special exception for any solar array
larger than 12 acres.
“Our needs are greater than
those limits,” Echenrode said.
UEC did ultimately secure an
exception for the project from the
Umatilla County Board of Commis-
sioners, but faced going through the
same process in the future in order
to meet Oregon’s renewable energy
mandate. The co-op has estimated
it will need 100 megawatts of solar
generation by 2025 to hit the bench-
mark.
Rep. Greg Smith (R-Heppner)
sponsored the legislation to clear
a path for UEC. The bill passed
Wednesday by a vote of 54-4, with
nays from Reps. Mike Nearman
(R-Independence),
Bill
Post
(R-Keizer), E. Werner Reschke
(R-Klamath Falls) and Sherrie
Sprenger (R-Scio).
Echenrode said he was pleased
to see the legislation move forward
to address what he described as
shortcomings in the state’s renew-
able portfolio standard.
“It will hopefully be in the Senate
soon enough,” Echenrode said.
———
Contact George Plaven at
gplaven@eastoregonian.com
or
541-966-0825.
FIRES: Unhooked, moved van the RV was towing
Continued from 1A
the cab and move it to safety,
and the state hazardous
materials team from Herm-
iston responded. Ciraulo said
Pendleton consulted with
the Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality and
the federal Environmental
Protection Agency, which
advised against putting
too much water on the fire
because of a drainage ditch
nearby
Ciraulo also made a call
to Umatilla County Emer-
gency Manager Tom Roberts
to bring out the county’s
emergency drone. Ciraulo
said the remote-operated
flyer allowed a good look
into the trailer without the
risk of putting someone in
danger.
Someday, he said, drones
will be common tools for
fighting fires.
The Oregon Department
of Transportation tempo-
rarily closed the westbound
lanes near the semi and
routed
traffic
though
Pendleton, then closed the
freeway to semi traffic as far
east as Baker City as truckers
piled up in Pendleton and
La Grande. The westbound
lanes started moving again
around 1 p.m.
The backed-up traffic
prompted Larry Rosenthal
of Phoenix, Arizona, to get
off I-84 around 10:30 a.m.
and drive his motor home
through Pendleton. He said
he was headed to Tacoma,
Washington, for an annual
pinball machine convention
with his small service dog,
Mia.
As he was driving
through town, Rosenthal’s
2005 Fleetwood Revolution
caught fire and burned up on
westbound Southwest Court
Avenue in front of the Pend-
leton Round-Up Grounds.
“I heard like an explo-
sion,” he said. “And I didn’t
realize it was me.”
Allison Birdsall said
she and her daughter were
nearby when it happened.
Birdsall said they stopped
on their return to Alaska to
take photos in front of the
Round-Up’s large bronze
bucking horse statue at the
corner of Court and 12th
Street when the motor home
exploded. The force, she
said, lifted the rear of the
vehicle off the road.
Insulation from under the
recreational vehicle covered
the intersection.
School
bus
driver
Matthew Male Jr., 22,
said he was traveling to
Pilot Rock with his friend,
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
A Pendleton Police officer directs traffic off Court Avenue and up Southwest 10th
Street around an RV fire Thursday in Pendleton. The heavy traffic load was due to
westbound Interstate 84 traffic being diverted through town after a fire involving
hazardous materials closed the freeway earlier in the day.
Staff photo by Phil Wright
A semitrailer fire Thursday morning shut down the west-
bound lane of Interstate 84 near milepost 207 in Pend-
leton. The hazmat unit from Hermiston also responded
Jackson Lavadour, 19, when
they drove by the motor
home. They said it was
smoking, and they heard a
second explosion. The two
young Pendleton men said
they have firefighting back-
grounds, and Male yelled at
the motor home’s driver to
pull over.
Lavadour parked his rig
in front of the burning RV,
and he and Male hustled out
to help. Birdsall also ran to
the motor home. She said the
vehicle’s smoke alarms were
screaming, but Rosenthal
didn’t seem to hear them.
Male said he knew all the
smoke meant something had
to be on fire, and moments
later Rosenthal got out with
the dog. The men unhooked
the van Rosenthal was
towing on the rear of the
RV, and Lavadour parked it
about half a block away at
the entrance to Roy Raley
Park.
Saving the van, Rosenthal
said, was crucial because it
contained about $80,000 in
Art Exhibit and Sale
"SPIRIT OF PLACE"
Paulette Carter
thru June 30th
pinball materials. Pendleton
Police Chief Stuart Roberts,
who directed traffic for a
while at Southwest Dorion
and Eighth Street, later
moved and secured the van.
Rosenthal said he smelled
something burning and was
sure the RV’s brake pads
overheated on the steep
descent down Cabbage Hill,
the notorious switchback
on the slope of the Blue
Mountains several miles east
of Pendleton.
Two 16-year-olds in the
park said they also heard the
explosion. Lynn Bowman
and Devon Dumont said
drivers kept going past the
burning Fleetwood and they
were worried traffic would
block emergency vehicles.
The pair said they started
motioning motorists to turn
south onto 12th Street.
Fire Chief Ciraulo said
on-duty firefighters were still
dealing with the interstate
truck fire when the emer-
gency call went out for the
motor home.
“Thank God we had
everyone recalled back
(who) took care of that
second fire,” he said.
Firefighters drenched the
motor home with water and
foam. Even so, the blaze
burned the rear wheels right
off.
Staff at the Round-Up
office gave Rosenthal water
and a set of fresh clothes. He
tried to explain his situation
over the phone to an insur-
ance agent, but having left
his wallet and phone in the
RV did not help.
“Not exactly one of my
best days,” he told Pendleton
fire Capt. John Richardson
and officer Mark Golter
between bouts on the phone.
Still, Rosenthal said, it could
have been worse.
Mia kept a playful atti-
tude in the office space, even
finding a wooden doorstop
for a toy.
And at least the emer-
gencies hit hours before the
afternoon thunderstorm that
pummeled the region, which
Ciraulo said did not spark
any fires in Pendleton.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.