Hermiston
A4
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016
B USINESS
Work resumes at Carty Generating Station
Former contractor
fi red last month,
near bankruptcy
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Staff Writer
Employees are slowly
getting back to work on
the Carty Generating Sta-
tion after Portland General
Electric ¿ red the project
contractor last month.
In a recent ¿ ling with
the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission,
PGE con¿ rms construc-
tion has resumed at Carty
along Tower Road near the
Boardman Coal Plant.
Abeinsa, an af¿ liate of
the Spanish multinational
corporation Abengoa, was
originally chosen by PGE
to build the natural gas-
¿ red power plant in 2013.
Abengoa is now ¿ ghting
for its ¿ nancial life, and
risks becoming the largest
bankruptcy ever in Spain.
A spokesman for PGE
previously
said
they
weren’t aware of any is-
sues at the time with
Abengoa, though at least
one competing compa-
ny foresaw trouble on the
horizon. Calpine Corpora-
tion, based in Houston, ap-
pealed to the Oregon Pub-
lic Utility Commission in
2013 that Abengoa did not
appear to be a creditworthy
contractor.
Calpine had also sub-
mitted a bid for the proj-
ect, and later provided
comments as part of a
petition to the PUC. In its
comments, Calpine not-
ed Abengoa’s credit rat-
ing had been downgraded
from B+ to B with a neg-
ative outlook by Standard
& Poor’s earlier that year.
Another
agency,
Moody’s Investor Service,
also downgraded its rating
of Abengoa from B1 to B2,
with a stable outlook.
“It seemed to us there
were signi¿ cant Tues-
tions,” said John Stephens,
a Portland lawyer repre-
senting Calpine.
The PUC ultimate-
ly denied the petition for
declaratory ruling, and
PGE moved forward with
Abengoa. PGE spokes-
man Steve Corson said the
company closely evaluated
all bids, as well as an inde-
pendent evaluator, and de-
cided Abengoa had provid-
ed appropriate assurances.
“We felt comfortable,
the independent evaluator
felt comfortable, and the
PUC had also af¿ rmed we
used an appropriate pro-
cess in evaluating the bid-
ding,” Corson said.
There is no such thing
as a risk-free project, Cor-
son said, especially on a
440-megawatt, $514 mil-
lion power plant. PGE
did have a performance
bond worth $145.6 million
through Liberty Mutual
and Zurich North America.
Corson said they are now
working with those sure-
ties to update the construc-
tion cost and schedule.
“Part of our job is to
mitigate risk by putting in
appropriate ¿ nancial safe-
guards, and that’s what we
did,” Corson said.
Construction was al-
ready about 75 percent
¿ nished at Carty when
Abeinsa began turning ap-
proximately 500 workers
away from the site on Dec.
14. Four days later, PGE
ruled Abeinsa in default of
its contract and took over
the site.
Since then, construction
has gradually ramped back
up and Corson said they
expect to be back to full
strength in the next few
weeks.
“We’re pleased to have
the project back under-
way,” he said. “We remain
convinced this will be a
very valuable and reliable
resource for our customers
moving forward.”
Carty was expected
to come online in mid-
2016, though that could
change. PGE says it plans
to provide an update on the
schedule in February.
HERMISTONHERALD.COM
School district hires
pre-bond architects
By JADE McDOWELL
Staff Writer
Hermiston School Dis-
trict’s board of education ap-
proved the appointment of a
“pre-bond” architect during
Monday’s school board
meeting.
The board approved
YGH/LKV Architects for
the job.
Deputy
superintendent
Wade Smith said the archi-
tects would assist in some
preliminary design work
while the district “starts wres-
tling with ¿ nding longterm
solutions to some of our pop-
ulation challenges.”
In June 2015 the district
approved a Comprehensive
Master Plan that recom-
mends the district build an
additional elementary school
on Theater Lane and expand
Sandstone Middle School
and Hermiston High School
at an estimated cost of $73.7
million. More expensive ver-
sions of the plan would pay
for larger expansions and
replace Rocky Heights Ele-
mentary, Highland Hills El-
ementary or both.
The district recruited a
Citizens Review Committee
to study the recommenda-
tions, with an eye on re¿ ning
a plan by March, drumming
up support in the communi-
ty and making a ¿ nal deci-
sion in January 2017 about
whether to pursue a bond
issue during the May 2017
election.
Enrollment in the district
is currently 212 students
higher than during the same
time period last year and 112
more than had been forecast.
On Monday night the
school board also listened to
an informational presenta-
tion by assistant superinten-
dent Brynn Browning about
the district’s English Learner
program.
Overall the district’s
English-language learners
are outpacing their peers in
other school districts, noted
Browning.
Counties collaborate on powerline comments
Deadline extended
to Jan. 22
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Staff Writer
Umatilla and Morrow
county planners will work
together on comments to
the Bureau of Land Man-
agement seeking common
ground on where to build
the proposed Boardman to
Hemingway Transmission
Line.
As the project’s lead en-
vironmental review agen-
cy, the BLM is responsi-
ble for coming up with a
preferred alternative for
the 300-mile line. Their
current preference is to
follow Interstate 84 from
Boardman to just west of
Pendleton, before breaking
south to avoid the Umatilla
Indian Reservation.
The counties, however,
say that proposal would
interfere with too many
homes and farms on either
side of the highway. They
want the line to run signi¿ -
cantly farther south, but
just how far south remains
to be determined.
Both
counties
are
concerned with protect-
ing high-value agricul-
ture within their borders.
Transmission towers can
interrupt farming opera-
tions and, in some cases,
take swaths of land out of
production.
Boardman to Heming-
way has been in the works
for a decade, proposed by
Boise-based Idaho Power
to share electricity with
the Columbia Basin during
times of peak demand. The
trick has been identifying
the route with the few-
est impacts to farms and
wildlife, while keeping the
project affordable. Early
estimates have pegged the
project at anywhere be-
tween $890-$940 million.
Morrow County Plan-
ning Director Carla Mc-
Lane and Umatilla County
Senior Planner Bob Wald-
her will meet to collabo-
rate on comments to the
BLM. Comments are due
Friday, Jan. 22, after the
agency granted counties a
two-week extension.
Umatilla County com-
missioners say they favor
the most southerly al-
ternative, while Morrow
County is focused primar-
ily on placing 22 miles of
line along the west side of
Bombing Range Road on
Navy land. Waldher said
the goal is to identify and
re¿ ne a route that works
for both counties.
“Our hope is the Umatil-
la South route can tie into
the west side of Bombing
Range Road,” he said.
McLane said most of
their conversation will
likely center on how far
south the line needs to go
to balance everyone’s in-
terests. They hope to make
site visits as early as this
week.
The Morrow County
Court held a public meet-
ing on Boardman to Hem-
ingway last week, and Mc-
Lane said residents seem
BRIEFCASE
Free seminar
highlights business
branding
Business and organiza-
tions can learn more about
the importance of branding
during a free seminar.
Branding a business
helps a business in por-
traying a messages to its
targeted consumers. Top-
ics during the seminar in-
clude making a positive
impression, how to show
your business in a posi-
tive light and how to es-
tablish an edge over com-
petition.
The free branding semi-
nar is Thursday from 8:30-
9:30 a.m. at the Hermiston
Conference Center, 415 S.
Highway 395.
For more information,
contact
541-567-6151,
kelly@hermistonchamber.
com or visit www.hermis-
tonchamber.com.
Two local
businesses celebrate
anniversaries
Hors d’ oeuvres and local
wine samples are featured
in the upcoming anniversa-
ries of a pair of Hermiston
businesses
The public is invited
to stop by as Home Town
Mortgage Group celebrates
its third anniversary and
Real Business Solutions,
LLC marks two years. The
event is Wednesday, Jan.
20, from 5-8:30 p.m. at 505
E. Main St., Hermiston.
For more information,
STUDENT
OF THE
WEEK
Delaney Clem
P ENDLETON H IGH S CHOOL
Delaney Clem is a senior at PHS and currently has
a 4.26 GPA while involved in many sports and
activities. She runs cross country and track, and is
currently on the swim team. Delaney is a member
of National Honors Society, Leadership, and is a
student director of Link Crew. She is interested in
majoring biology at Central Washington
University next year, where she will also run cross
country and track. Lastly, Delaney participates in
the community by doing volunteer work such as
Round-Up
City
Racers, elementry school
carnivals, and multiple Salvation Army charities.
Proudly Sponsored by
call 541-564-5900 or 541-
567-0869.
Area author to sign
latest book
The author of a novel
that explores the everyday
heroics of a family dealing
with ¿ nancial worries, rela-
tionship issues and grand-
pa’s dementia will visit
Armchair Books.
Umatilla County author
Ira White will sign copies
of “We Won’t Forget You,
Mr. McGillicuddy” Satur-
day, Jan. 23, from noon to
2 p.m. at 39 S.W. Dorion
Ave., Pendleton.
Retired from the United
States Department of Ag-
riculture, White has writ-
ten short stories, poems,
essays and novels. He also
performs speaking engage-
ments about his publica-
tions, as well as poverty,
government surveillance
and care giving for those
with Alzheimer’s and de-
mentia.
For more information
or to reserve a copy of the
book, call 541-276-7323.
For more about the author,
visit www.irawhite.com.
to understand the project is
needed. It’s just a matter of
compromising on the loca-
tion.
“At the end of the day,
3rinted on
recycled
newsprint
VOLUME 110 ɿ NUMBER 2
Gary L. West | Editor • gwest@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4532
Tammy Malgesini | Community Editor • tmalgesini@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4539
Sam Barbee | Sports Reporter • sbarbee@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4542
Jade McDowell | Reporter • jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4536
Jeanne Jewett | Multi-Media consultant • jjewett@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4531
Shannon Paxton | 2f¿ ce coordinator • spa[ton@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-453
To contact the Hermiston Herald for news,
advertising or subscription information:
• call 541-567-6457
• e-mail info@hermistonherald.com
• stop b\ our of¿ ces at 333 (. 0ain 6t.
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2801 St. Anthony Way, Pendleton, OR • 541-276-5121
the no-action alternative
just isn’t reasonable,” she
said. “This really does pro-
vide additional reliability
to our power supply.”
Exp. Date:
Entries must be received by Feb. 3rd at Noon.