Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Tuesday, July 3, 2018 -- FOUR
Morrow County’s new wind
farm owner featured in Wall
Street Journal article
Company grew from small Florida utility to world’s
largest operator of wind and solar farms
NextEra Energy is seeking to become large windfarm operator here.
By David Sykes
Editor’s note: Flori-
da-based company NextEra
Energy has been approved
to build a new 292-tow-
er wind farm straddling
both Morrow and Umatilla
counties. It was recently
featured in an extensive
Wall Street Journal article
June 19. Following is a re-
port on the article detailing
the history and operation of
Morrow County’s newest
corporate investor.
Billed as both the
world’s largest operator
of wind and solar farms
and also America’s most
valuable power company
(market capitalization of
$74 billion) NextEra traces
its roots back to a small
Florida electrical utility.
Created in 1925 the compa-
ny originally owned power
plants, water facilities, gas
plants, ice companies, laun-
dry services and even an ice
cream business in Florida.
Now it is a Fortune 200
company with over 45,000
megawatts of generating
capacity, revenues of over
$17 billion per year and
about 14,000 employees
throughout the U.S. and
Canada.
According to the WSJ,
despite the company’s fo-
cus on green energy devel-
opment, it has deliberately
tried to operate “under the
radar” and out of the pub-
lic eye when it comes to
the “altruistic motives” of
the renewable business.
Instead the company has
worked hard to maintain
strict business and finan-
cial guidelines and grow
a profitable and successful
company.
NextEra has also
learned how to use gov-
ernment subsidies and tax
breaks to build a successful
renewable energy business
model. The U.S. govern-
ment expects power com-
panies to generate $4.8
billion in renewable-energy
tax credits this year, and
NextEra will be the largest
beneficiary of them. It has
reportedly used $401 mil-
lion of these credits over the
past three years to offset its
own taxes and also sells its
tax credits to other corpora-
tions interested in lowering
their tax bills. Congress
passed the production tax
credit late in 1992 to benefit
the wind energy.
The company faces a
deadline on the wind tax
credits however, since these
credits will start to expire in
2020. The expiring tax cuts
may be one reason NextEra
has been pushing the Ore-
gon Department of Energy
recently to expedite the
company’s request to revise
its Wheatridge construction
plans in Morrow County.
NextEra last year pur-
chased the Wheatridge
wind farm project from
Ione farmer and wind de-
veloper Jerry Rietmann
and his partners. Rietmann
and his group had put the
project together including
leases and other ground
work, selling the “ready to
go” wind farm to NextEra.
However, NextEra is now
waiting to hear if its re-
quested revisions on wind
tower and blade height,
addition of a battery storage
facility and other adjust-
ments will be approved by
the state. If it looks like
an extended decision on
the changes could delay
construction of the project
past the 2020 tax credit
expiration deadline, will the
Wheatridge project be can-
celled? That question has
not been answered. Some
people believe if the wind
tax credits are not extended,
company such as NextEra
will shift their focus to solar
electrical facilities, which
can still benefit from the
credits.
Another advantage to
NextEra in its green and
renewable energy business,
is when states began to
mandate utilities to derive
a certain percentage of
their power from renew-
ables. There are currently
29 states covering 56 per-
cent of electricity sales that
have mandates. Oregon has
mandates to utilities for
renewables, but for some
reason hydro power from
Bonneville dams is not con-
sidered a renewable energy.
Utilities across the
country that face state man-
dates do not have the ability
to build wind farms, so they
request bids to purchase the
power from someone does.
NextEra has done many of
the additions because its
large purchase of turbines
is able to make the best
deals from manufacturers
and fund projects using
its cash and lines of credit
to avoid financing costs.
Also, to keep risks low,
the company doesn’t make
capital outlays until they
have long-term agreements
to sell the output electricity
of their wind farms.
NextEra has 28,000
megawatts of wind and so-
lar projects in various states
of permitting and leasing. It
said it plans to expand that
to 40,000 megawatts over
the next two years. Last
year its renewable develop-
ment section generated $2.9
billion in net income for the
company.
The company still op-
erates the Florida utility
where it all began, but now
receives one third of its
revenue from renewable
energy projects. Renewable
generating has been going
up across the U.S, with
reportedly half the power
generating capacity in the
country last year coming
from wind and solar, as
compared to 29 percent
in 2010. The company is
also now expanding past
just utility customers and
is building wind farms and
solar projects for large cor-
porations such as Google.
ORDINANCE
-Continued from PAGE ONE
Below is a complete
reading of the proposed
ordinance:
SECTION 1. Defini-
tions. The words “public
parks” as used herein shall
mean and include all rec-
reational properties owned
and controlled by the City
of Heppner, Oregon.
SECTION 2. Rules
and Regulations. For the
conduct of persons using
or frequenting the public
parks of Heppner, Oregon,
the following rules and
regulations to be observed
and enforced within said
public parks are hereby
established:
A. Fires. No person
shall build any fire within
public parks except in a
designated stove or fire-
place. However, cooking
stoves may be used within
public parks if used in safe
operating conditions. No
fire or stove shall be left
unattended and every fire or
stove shall be extinguished
before its user leaves the
park area.
B. Animals. No person
shall in any manner pursue,
kill, injure, hunt or molest
any bird or animal within
any park.
C. Dogs. No person
shall permit any dog to run
at large within any public
park, and all dogs shall be
kept in control on a leash at
all times. Owners of dogs
or other animals damaging
or destroying park prop-
erty shall be liable for the
full value of the property
damaged or destroyed, in
addition to impounding fees
and the penalty imposed for
violation of this ordinance.
D. Motor Vehicles. No
motor vehicle, trailers, or
motorcycles shall be op-
erated, stopped, parked or
left standing any place in
a public park except on
public roads and designated
parking areas or as other-
wise approved by the City
Administration.
E. Hours. No person
shall use or frequent public
parks between the hours of
9 p.m. and 6 a.m., except
during special occasions or
events as may be authorized
by the City Administration.
F. Waste Materials. No
person shall scatter, discard
or dispose of any garbage,
bottles, broken glass, tin
cans, or paper, litter or
waste materials within pub-
lic parks. All such material
must be placed in desig-
nated receptacles. It shall
be a violation of this ordi-
nance for any person to haul
household garbage, rubbish
or trash to the city park and
deposit the same in the park
or on public property.
G. Sanitation. No per-
son shall blow, spread or
place any nasal or other
bodily discharge, or urinate
or defecate within parks
excepting directly an ap-
propriate public restroom
facility.
H. Plants, Structures.
No person shall pick, mu-
tilate, dig or remove from
a public park any plant or
plants or in any way deface
or mutilate, bum, destroy,
defile, graffiti, or remove
any railing, building, seat,
fence, park facility, deco-
rative item, any other struc-
ture or tree within a public
park.
1. Signs. No person
shall erect signs, markers
or inscriptions of any type
within the limits of a pub-
lic park without a specific
permission from the City
Administration. Temporary
signs posted no more than
24 hours are permitted.
J. Soliciting. No person
while in a public park may
operate a concession, either
fixed or mobile, or engage
in the business of soliciting,
selling or peddling any liq-
uids, or edibles for human
consumption, or distribute
circulars, or hawk, peddle
or vend any goods, wares
or merchandise, or set up or
use a public-address system
m a public park without a
specific written permit from
the City Administration.
K. Public Nuisance. No
person shall use abusive,
threatening, boisterous,
vile, obscene or indecent
language, or gestures in a
public park, nor shall any
person cause, attempt to
cause, or bring about any
public nuisance. Drunken
and/or disorderly conduct
shall be deemed a public
nuisance and shall be cause
for expulsion from the pub-
lic park.
L. Public Drinking
Fountains. No person shall
willfully mark, scratch,
disfigure, deface or in any
manner injure any public
drinking fountain in the
city, or throw, place or de-
posit in any cup or basin of
same any cigar or cigarette
stub, or any other matter of
refuse whatever.
M. Permits Required.
Permits shall be required
for the assembly of persons
in the city park to which the
general public is invited
when it is reasonably ex-
pected that such assembly
will be attended by 25 or
more persons. The City
Council may require the
person, persons, club group,
organization, corporation to
furnish police, fire, medi-
cal, sanitary and clean-up
services. Permits shall also
be required for music, art,
religious and other
shows and/or displays in
public parks.
N. Ordinances and
Statutes. All ordinances
and statutes of the Federal,
State, and City shall apply
to and be in full force and
effect within public parks.
O. Alcoholic Bever-
ages. No person shall be
visibly intoxicated within
public parks.
P. Supplement Rules
and Regulations. The City
may supplement the above
rules and regulations by
resolution. Rules and reg-
ulations shall be posted at
public parks.
SECTION 3. Penal-
ties. Any violation of this
ordinance is a Class C In-
fraction.
SECTION 4. Park
Trespass. Any peace offi-
cer or City employee may
exclude any person who
violates any provision of
this or any other applicable
City ordinance, or any of
the laws of the State of Or-
egon from any or all City
parks for a period not to
exceed 120 days.
(a) Written notice shall
be given to any person
excluded from any City
parks). Such notice shall
specify the dates and plac-
es of exclusion. It shall be
signed by the issuing party;
warning of consequences
for failure to comply shall
be prominently displayed
on the notice.
(b) A person receiving
such notice may appeal
to the City Administrator
to have the written notice
rescinded or the period
shortened. An appeal must
be filed with the City Ad-
ministrator within five days
of receiving
OTPR to be held in August
DEADLINE FOR ALL
NEWS AND ADS
MONDAY
5:00 PM
The Oregon Trail Pro
Rodeo is scheduled for
Aug. 17 and 18. According
to the news release new and
exciting things are expect-
ed, offering non-stop ex-
citement and entertainment.
Returning to the 2018
show will be Hashbrown
the clown and Dan Burns in
the Spur ‘Em barn. Show-
cased events will be the
ranch rodeo scramble, last
man standing bronc riding,
wild horse racing, Morrow
County amateur tie down
308 E Gladys Ave
Hermiston, OR 97838
Office: 541-564-5900
hermistonhomeloansrus.com
Kim Arbogast
Sales Manager
NMLS # 230847
arbogast@fairwaymc.com
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Loan Officer
NMLS # 573302
meghan.golden@fairwaymc.com
Copyright©2018 Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation. NMLS#2289. 4750 S. Biltmore Lane,
Madison, WI 53718, 1-877-699-0353. Other restrictions and limitations may apply. All rights reserved.
roping and open barrel rac-
ing, mutton busting and the
hide race.
Additional information
is available on the Ore-
gon Trail Rodeo Facebook
page. More information
will soon follow.
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BUSINESS HERE!
Contact Megan
at The Heppner
Gazette-Times
541-676-9228