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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2010)
The INDEPENDENT, April 15, 2010 Page 15 Power of the People By W. Marc Farmer, General Manager, West Oregon Electric Cooperative Power Purchasing in the Near Future Above, Wan Teece, shown with the Oregon record breaking Kokanee she caught at Wallowa Lake. See article below. Pho- to by Jack Teece, Alpine Exposures. In the not-too-distant past, planning power pur- chases for West Oregon Electric Cooperative, Inc., (WOEC) was straightfor- ward. Historically, the Bon- neville Power Administration (BPA), our whole- sale power supplier, provided our cooperative with all the energy that we needed to purchase to serve our members with reliable, affordable electricity. The BPA blended a diverse mix of energy re- sources and sold it to our electric cooperative at a cost-based rate. The BPA’s primary resource (approximately 80%) has always been hy- dropower – clean, renewable, low-cost hy- dropower – with a mix of wind, nuclear, natural gas and a small portion of coal. As the hy- dropower system in the Northwest has reached capacity, the BPA can no longer meet the future load growth of our region with existing re- sources. Therefore, in 2011 preference utilities, like WOEC, that purchase their power from the BPA will have tiered rates. BPA’s Tier I will primarily meet the current load (demand) for power at our co-op with the existing hydropower generated on the federal system. BPA’s Tier II rates will be similar to purchasing power on the open market. Co-ops served by BPA have the option to secure their own resources to meet their future energy demand, in place of buying power at Tier II rates. The cost of different energy resources vary and, on the open market, can fluctuate with mar- ket conditions and demand. Included in the pur- chase of energy is the cost of generation, trans- mission, and storage of that resource. Not all en- ergy is created equal. The Northwest Power and Conservation Council prepares a 20-year electric power plan for the Northwest; chapter 6 of the 2010 Power Plan forecasts the costs for generating re- sources over the next 20 years. The forecast prices of these power resources vary greatly from 6.7 cents per kWh to 30 cents. For compar- ison, WOEC currently buys power from the BPA at 3.25 cents per kWh, through Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative (PNGC). It is known that power is going to cost more in the future because existing resources are at ca- pacity and new resources are being developed. For this reason, West Oregon Electric Coopera- tive, Inc. is taking steps to reduce energy use and stabilize rates through energy-efficiency and conservation programs. We are proud of our record of providing reliable, affordable electricity to our members and are committed to continue this tradition. Record kokanee taken at Wallowa Lake recently Wan Teece of Enterprise caught a kokanee weighing 8.23 pounds, measuring 26.25 inches in length with a girth of 16 inches at Wallowa Lake on March 24, breaking the Oregon state record for kokanee and possibly a national record, too. “From what we currently know, this kokanee is the largest ever caught in the Unit- ed States,” says Bill Knox, as- sistant district fish biologist in Enterprise. “Only the current world record kokanee from Lake Okanogan in British Co- lumbia is bigger.” (That fish weighed 9 pounds 6 ounces.) The record kokanee was caught while Teece was out fishing with her husband, Jack. They were trolling near the mid- dle of the lake with a Jack Lloyd blade set-up dragging a Dou- ble-Whammy lure with two ounces of lead to keep it down deep. Just one month previously, on February 26, Gene Thiel caught a 7-pound 8-ounce, 25- inch kokanee that broke the previous state record. The 73- year-old Joseph resident caught the fish while jigging from a canoe in 100 feet of wa- ter when conditions were icy. The previous kokanee record was set in July 2009, for a 7-pound 1-ounce fish caught by former Joseph resident Jer- ry Logosz, also while trolling in Wallowa Lake. Wan Teece’s fish is the sixth time since 1999 that Wallowa Lake has broken the state record for kokanee. While many factors influence the large size of Wallowa Lake’s trophy kokanee, Knox says introduction of freshwater shrimp Mysis relicta into the lake in the mid-1960s is proba- bly the main reason. The large kokanee are feeding on these shrimp, which were introduced in many Northwest lakes to pro- duce trophy kokanee after the example of Kootenay Lake in British Columbia. Unfortunate- ly, the introduction of shrimp had unintended consequences in some lakes, wiping out some kokanee populations. It is not clear how long tro- phy kokanee will continue to be caught in Wallowa Lake but Knox expects even more inter- est in this popular fishery in coming months. ODFW esti- mates that anglers spend 20,000-30,000 hours fishing for kokanee on Wallowa Lake an- nually. Action Ads INEXPENSIVE – EFFECTIVE 503-429-9410 Wolves and moose topic at free talk Oregon Wildlife Heritage Foundation (OWHF) kicks off its Spring Speaker Series with a free presentation about gray wolves and Shira’s moose in Oregon, by state wildlife biolo- gists, on Wednesday, April 21, at 7:00 p.m. in Portland. Both species have a fasci- nating life history and their sto- ries will be told by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists who study, manage and work with them. Russ Mor- gan will discuss his work with Oregon’s burgeoning popula- tion of gray wolves and Pat Matthews will share his insights about our newest residents, Shira’s moose. Admission is free, but regis- tration is required. Register on- line at OWHF’s Web site www.owhf.org or call 503-255- 6059. The hour-long events will be held at the Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center, Ecotrust Build- ing, 721 NW Ninth Avenue, Portland. Meyers ‘ Auto Body,Inc 503-429-0248 493 Bridge St, Vernonia, OR