BUSINESS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 2021
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7
UEC granted certifi cate for Boardman transmission line
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
Umatilla Electric Cooper-
ative has been granted a key
piece of support in its eff orts
to build a transmission line
in Boardman that has drawn
opposition from some prop-
erty owners.
The Public Utility Com-
mission granted UEC a cer-
tifi cate of public convenience
and necessity on March 5.
The certifi cate states that
the 230 kilovolt overhead
line, which would stretch 4.3
miles from a planned switch-
yard near Highway 730 to a
planned substation on Olson
Road near a future Ama-
zon data center, meets the
legal criteria for a “necessity
for public convenience.” If
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald, File
Umatilla Electric Cooperative of Hermiston has received a
$3 million federal loan to fi nance major energy effi ciency
upgrades.
UEC isn’t able to convince
all property owners involved
to voluntarily sign an agree-
ment for an easement, it can
use the certifi cate as evi-
dence in an eminent domain
case to compel the property
owners to cooperate.
In June 2020, the East
Oregonian reported that
four of the 11 landowners
in question had yet to sign
agreements with UEC for an
easement across their prop-
Bird Scooters come to Hermiston
erty. On Friday, March 12,
Umatilla Electric Coopera-
tive CEO Robert Echenrode
said there was one property
owner left who had yet to
accept a proposal from UEC.
If the cooperative isn’t able
to convince the landowner
to voluntarily sign an agree-
ment, eminent domain may
be an option for UEC.
“That’s certainly not a
goal of Umatilla Electric,”
Echenrode said.
He said the 16-page order
from the Public Utility Com-
mission “speaks for itself”
on the importance of the
line. According to the order,
UEC stated that the line was
needed to handle current and
future growth in the area, and
that the cooperative exam-
ined three routes and deter-
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Utility Commission details
testimony against the plan
from the Frederickson and
Tallman families, who argued
that UEC should go with a
route that aff ects industrial
land more than farmland.
The commission sided
with UEC, however, and
granted the certifi cate.
Echenrode said besides
securing the fi nal private
property easement needed —
either through an agreement
signed with the landowner or
through eminent domain pro-
ceedings — the UEC needs
to secure various permits,
including ones needed from
Bonneville Power Admin-
istration to cross their lines,
one to cross Interstate 84 and
one from the Bureau of Rec-
lamation to cross a canal.
Free workshop on ‘angel investing’ off ered
By PHIL WRIGHT
LA GRANDE OBSERVER
A group of four Bird e-scooters sits parked along East Main Street in Hermiston
on Wednesday, March 10, 2021. The scooters were recently introduced to
Hermiston and can be located and rented by using the Bird Scooters app.
mined that the planned route
is “justifi ed by the compar-
ative cost, benefi t to its sys-
tem and is the least impactful
in terms of property, envi-
ronmental and agricultural
considerations.”
Some aff ected prop-
erty owners disagreed. Sev-
eral of them told the East
Oregonian last year that a
large, high-voltage transmis-
sion line running through
their property would lower
its value, cause a nuisance
for them and in some cases
interfere with their plans for
construction on their prop-
erty. They argued the line
was mostly to benefi t a sin-
gle customer’s data centers
rather than the community at
large.
The order from the Public
An area nonprofi t is looking
to fi nd some wings to help entre-
preneurial enterprises get off the
ground in Eastern Oregon.
Eastern Oregon Ventures has
teamed up with Oregon Technol-
ogy Business Center in Beaver-
ton to host a free virtual work-
shop on angel investing. Wilson
Zehr, business faculty at Eastern
Oregon University, La Grande,
owns and operates EOV, which
has funded the activities of the
EOU Entrepreneurship Club
and Pub Talk. Angel investing,
he said, is another way to sup-
port the local entrepreneurial
ecosystem.
“The majority of the research
shows that it is diffi cult for new
ventures to thrive in isolation,”
Zehr said. “We need investors,
entrepreneurs, advisers, skilled
employees, service providers,
heroes and a number of other
elements.”
Oregon Technology Busi-
ness Center has been off ering a
successful program like this in
Beaverton for many years, Zehr
said, and it is similar to success-
ful programs the
Oregon Entre-
preneurs Net-
work off ers in
Portland
and
the Economic
Development
Zehr
for
Central
Oregon.
“Eastern Oregon is one of the
few parts of Oregon that doesn’t
have access to a program like
this,” he said.
The March 25 workshop will
kick off this process in Eastern
Oregon.
“This will help us gauge
the interest of non-institutional
investors in the region,” Zehr
said. If we can pull together a
group that is interested in sup-
porting this activity, then we will
start recruiting entrepreneurs. It
can be a little bit of a chicken
and egg type scenario, but this
is how we are trying to address
that.”
The program is informational
in nature, according to a news
release, but the ultimate goal
is to help raise an angel fund
to invest in early-stage Eastern
Oregon business ventures.
Zehr said the state of Oregon
also has expressed an interest in
chipping in. He also said there
is no pre-set minimum funding
goal.
OTBC works with a fund that
is $25,000-$30,000 per year, he
said, while Oregon Entrepre-
neurs Network’s Angel Oregon
is back again this year after a
three-year break with a fund of
$125,000.
“This is just meant to be a
starting point for EOV. As the
activity became more popu-
lar, we would expect the size
of the fund to grow,” Zehr said.
“The initial contribution from
the state should be $5,000. This
has the potential to grow over
time, if the eff ort is successful.
Of course, if the activity is suc-
cessful over time, the expecta-
tion is that state funds would not
be required at all.”
Angel funds typically target
traded sector startups with the
potential for scale, he said, and
investors in the fund control the
investment decision.
“It will be self-directed,” Zehr
said. “We just provide adminis-
trative services and direction.”
To register for the workshop,
visit https://bit.ly/3b8G0qB.
Free COVID-19 testing coming to Umatilla County
thanks to the University of Oregon’s RADx-Up team.
FREE
CONFIDENTIAL
COVID-19
TESTING
NO INSURANCE/IMMIGRATION
STATUS NEEDED
Local drive-through model
promotes safety.
Testing every Saturday & Sunday
thru August.
Free and confidential; no insurance or
immigration status required.
SCAN TO REGISTER
Pre-Registration Available But Not Required. Results in 2 - 4 Days. https://blogs.uoregon.edu/osjp/registro/
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