ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Editor/Senior Reporter
SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2022
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Let the
state know
where you
stand
T
he push to give cities in Oregon
more leverage to decarbonize
buildings got defanged in the
Legislature this year. Instead, the bill got
a do-over. It created a task force to look
at ways to decarbonize buildings.
If opponents of Senate Bill 1518
thought they won a victory, it seems they
won a delay. The task force has a list
of policy options it is getting ready for
the 2023 Legislature that are even more
wide-ranging. Maybe legislators won’t
take action on all of them. But watching
the options the task force is considering
could be like looking into a crystal ball
to see Oregon’s energy future. That’s
especially true if Democrats continue to
control the Legislature and the gover-
nor’s office after November.
Electrify. Electrify. Electrify.
That’s a consistent theme. Natural
gas for heat, for cooking? Yes, there are
voices on the task force who keep bring-
ing up how natural gas should continue
to play a role. Maybe we are wrong, but
those voices sure don’t seem to reflect
the majority view. The task force wants
renewable electricity to be king.
We could hear it Tuesday in the
discussion about a possible new mission
for the Energy Trust of Oregon. The
discussion was to change its mission.
The Energy Trust gets its money from
customers of the big utilities and uses it
to stoke energy efficiency. It is now fuel
neutral. Electricity and natural gas are
both OK. The proposal is to change its
purpose to greenhouse gas reduction and
equity. Oregon’s natural gas companies
may not appreciate that.
We could hear the call for the electric-
ity focus in the discussion of electric heat
pumps. Heat pumps can heat and cool.
They do what they do very efficiently.
Task force members talked about ways
to encourage more people to install them
— incentives on top of any new federal
incentives or existing incentives.
There was even a discussion about
the state bypassing the choices consum-
ers or builders make for appliances in
new homes and going to manufactur-
ers and distributors. The thinking is
incentives or rules could guide manu-
facturers and distributors to offer only
options powered by electricity and that
are high-efficiency. Then no “wrong”
choices would be made.
Another topic that came up is to follow
California’s lead on requiring appliances
to be “smart.” Smart in this context is
that appliances can schedule their use
when there is less electricity demand. So
maybe your car charger or dishwasher
kicks itself on at 1 a.m. That could help
spread out the energy demand over the
day and reduce the need for peak electric
capacity. Oregonians might like it, if they
could control it. They might not like it if
someone else was switching their appli-
ances on and off.
What’s missing in these discussions
is the input of Oregonians. Yes, there
are many fine people on the task force
and they represent different perspectives
and interests. You should take a look
at the ideas on the table and tell them
what you want. You can see the concepts
under consideration here, tinyurl.com/
Oregon081022. And you can tell the
task force what you think by email here,
JTFREB.exhibits@oregonlegislature.gov.
YOUR VIEWS
Powerline appeals
later this month
July 15, we learned from the Baker
City Herald that Baker County Commis-
sioner Mark Bennett held a meeting
with local landowners potentially facing
eminent domain by Idaho Power’s plans
to build the massive 500 kV transmission
line — Boardman to Hemingway (B2H).
The line would cross five counties in east-
ern Oregon (approx. 300 miles).
First, I want to commend Commis-
sioner Bennett. Since the beginning of
this B2H saga he has fought to preserve
the heritage of Baker County and the
Oregon Trail, as well as retain the integ-
rity of the tourism destination they have
built —the National Historic Oregon
Trail Interpretive Center. Now, he is
following through on a promise that he
and fellow Baker County commission-
ers passed (via a resolution) long ago,
that is, if any residents of their county
were facing eminent domain that the
county would do what they could to help,
including filing an amicus (friends of the
court) brief in support of the landown-
ers. This latter has not occurred yet but
Commissioner Bennett is demonstrating
his concern and leadership. Where are the
other counties’ commissioners?
Second, I want to clarify a mis-state-
ment made at this meeting. The attorney
that was quoted in the article was incor-
rect in his statements about the B2H and
the status of the Stop B2H Coalition.
Be assured that the STOP B2H Coali-
tion is alive, well and still fighting for the
public: protecting our lands and habitats,
preserving our heritage. The B2H is not a
done deal. At the end of August, Oregon’s
Energy Facility Siting Council (EFSC)
will be in La Grande to hear 30 appeals in
the case. The procedural errors over the
past two years, made by an administra-
tive law judge, have demonstrated a bias
against the public and towards the utility
and their high-powered attorneys.
EFSC’s final decision is expected
this fall. If we do not prevail, Stop B2H
intends to appeal to the Oregon Supreme
Court (a judicial court). For updates and
news, go to: www.stopb2h.org. Once we
know the times and format of the meet-
ings on Aug 29-31, we will post to our
website and our Facebook page.
Fuji Kreider
Secretary/Treasurer,
Stop B2H Coalition
La Grande
Attorney’s perspective on
OPUC seizing private land
I am an Eastern Oregon attorney and
an Oregon taxpayer. I recently learned
that the Oregon Public Utility Commis-
sion is creating rules to allow utilities to
enter onto and seize privately owned land
in Oregon without requiring compliance
with Oregon’s condemnation laws.
This concerns me as an attorney,
because condemnation or “taking”
of private land implicates landown-
ers’ legal/constitutional rights. Allow-
ing seizures of land that violate the law
will generate expensive litigation, and
is highly likely to be overturned by the
courts. As a taxpayer and as an attorney,
I object to any waiver that will predict-
ably result in costly litigation, at taxpayer
expense, which is likely to lose in court.
Additionally, I am concerned about
the extreme urban-rural divide within
our state. There is substantial support
in Eastern Oregon for the idea that the
interests and values of Eastern Orego-
nians are not taken seriously by West-
side politicians. Any decision by the state
to ignore private landowner rights in
favor of billion-dollar utility companies
will only fuel the resentment of rural
Oregonians who feel that their state fails
to acknowledge or respect their values
— particularly the rights of private
landowners. I often hear my neighbors
complain about this issue, and consider
the political divisions in Oregon as
frightening and serious. Any PUC deci-
sion to circumvent laws which protect
private landowners will only deepen the
divisions within our state.
The PUC should exercise common
sense, and deny waivers of the law if
condemnation of private land is required.
Anne Morrison
La Grande
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. PRESIDENT
Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
GOVERNOR
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
U.S. SENATORS
Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande office: 541-962-7691
Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton office: 541-278-1129
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Cliff Bentz
2185 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
Medford office: 541-776-4646
REPRESENTATIVES
Bobby Levy, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-376
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
SENATOR
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-415
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
EDITORIALS
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