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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 2011)
The INDEPENDENT, March 3, 2011 Salmon & Trout group to meet The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Salmon and Trout Enhancement Program (STEP) Advisory Committee will meet in Tillamook on Fri- day, March 25. The committee will meet from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the ODFW North Coast Water- shed District Office, 4907 Third Street, Tillamook. The agenda includes reports on STEP activities and projects and review of mini-grant appli- cations. The meeting is open to the public. The Committee also will re- view two proposals to renew STEP propagation programs for Astoria High School and Warrenton High School. The proposals are available for public review on the ODFW website at h t t p : / / w w w. d f w. s t a t e . o r. us/STEP and members of the public will be able to comment on the proposals at the meet- ing or in writing. On Saturday, March 26, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. the biennial STEP conference will be held in Rockaway Beach. For more information visit the conference website http://www. dfw.state.or.us/STEP/step-con ference.asp. Registration ends on March 6 so those interested should register soon. The Oregon Legislature cre- ated STEP in 1981 to provide a way for volunteers to partici- pate in the restoration of native stocks of salmon, steelhead and trout. Since then, thou- sands of volunteers have do- nated money, materials, equip- ment and countless hours of labor to improving Oregon fish- eries. The STEP Advisory Com- mittee makes recommenda- tions to ODFW and the Fish and Wildlife Commission on is- sues regarding its programs. The committee’s 13 members are appointed by the Governor and represent all areas of Ore- gon. For more information on the Salmon Trout Enhancement Program visit the ODFW Web site at www.dfw.state.or.us/ STEP/ or call program staff at 503-947-6211. Page 15 Power of the People First, let’s look at the fact that when West Oregon was formed over 66 years ago, it was created to serve a small group Rate Explanation of people that nobody else wanted to deliv- er power to. There simply was not enough I would like to ad- return on the investment it would take to dress a frequent run the lines out to all of the sparsely scat- question I am asked tered accounts. Since the investor owned by our members, why utilities are in the power providing business are our rates so as just that, an investment, if the numbers high? That is a fair didn’t create a sufficient return, then there question and de- was no motivation to extend the service. serves an answer. The answer would take The cost factors were and are very signifi- up half the newspaper to explain as there cant as the areas we serve cover parts of are several key factors that go into setting four different counties, and are so spread our rates, both from a historical perspec- apart that the long distances we travel tive and going forward. In order to explain make service work, outages, and mainte- them in as clear and readable manner as nance more costly and time consuming. possible, I will break them into key factors Our service territory is heavily forested, and spread them out a bit. It will be an ed- creating more work and maintenance than ucation process that I think will be of bene- an urban system, and has difficult terrains fit to everyone, and something each mem- to work on, with some accessible only on foot or ATV. ber of the co-op should know. I think I can ex- plain a portion of the effect on our The Oregon Hunter’s Asso- games, a ladies only raffle and revenue versus ex- ciation, Portland Chapter, will more. penses, and how hold their 28th annual fundrais- With only 300 dinner tickets much our members er on Saturday, March 5, at the available, call now to purchase pay, like this. The Oregon Zoo, 4001 SW Canyon tickets, Leslie Shaw at 503- fixed costs of serv- Rd. 312-7643 or Don Schaller at icing an account, There will be raffles, a live 503-646-4733. regardless of how auction, a wall of guns, family much energy is used, contains all of the labor, trucks The Oregon Department of supporting America’s service and other equip- ment, billing, and Justice has received several members. our own office ex- Before paying money to complaints about a deceptive company named “Smartraiser” Smartraiser, be aware of the penses. The facility By W. Marc Farmer, General Manager, West Oregon Electric Cooperative OHA schedules 28th fundraiser Smartraiser is a door-to-door scam that is soliciting door-to-door in Washington County under the guise of being a charity that helps veterans. Smartraiser is not a charity. Similar to door-to-door mag- azine complaints of last sum- mer in which sales crews sug- gested that buying magazine subscriptions were charitable donations, Smartraiser is solic- iting Oregonians to purchase or “donate” money for care pack- ages for U.S. troops serving overseas. A consumer could easily assume that Smartraiser is a charity, but it is not. Attorney General John Kro- ger urges Oregonians to re- search charities by going to www.oregonattorneygeneral.g ov and clicking on the link titled “Check on a Charity.” All chari- ties soliciting money in Oregon must be registered with the Oregon Department of Justice Charities Section. Smartraiser is not the only scam charity try- ing to profit off the illusion of following: • Smartraiser is not a charity helping troops, but a for-profit company, • Smartraiser does not offer financial reports detailing the use of the money it receives, • Unlike a charity, Smartrais- er does not disclose what per- centage of the money it re- ceives actually goes toward supporting troops and supply- ing care packages, • Money given to Smartrais- er is not tax-deductible, • No government body en- dorses or is associated with Smartraiser. Attorney General John Kroger and the Oregon Depart- ment of Justice are committed to protecting Oregon’s market- place and helping Oregon con- sumers. If you or someone you know unwittingly donated to a fake charity, please call the Consumer Hotline at 1-877- 877-9392 for assistance. charge on your power bill, which currently is $29.50, covers only a small part of the costs of servicing and maintaining our sys- tem. When I say a part of these charges, I do mean a small part. If we were to charge what it really costs us to maintain each ac- count, the facility charges would be about $80 per month, not $29.50. Realistically each account, like telephone and gas com- panies do, would pay the full, actual amount of fixed costs. Because we do not charge the full amount of fixed costs, the kilowatt hour charge is higher. Our neigh- boring utilities have more condensed serv- ice areas, with a larger number of con- sumer accounts, a better balance of com- mercial and industrial loads compared to residential, and more customers per mile. We have more trees per mile, but they come at a price. as power lines and trees don’t mix very well. It is much more cost ef- ficient to serve a dense and compact serv- ice area. Despite these challenges, we, your member owned and operated utility, pro- vide a very good service, are responsive to our members, keep the rates as low as we possibly can, work to keep the lights on un- der any conditions, and we do so for our members because we are mindful about whom we serve. Being a cooperative, we are a not-for-profit utility that concentrates on providing the best possible service at the best possible price, not on how much profit we need to make to keep our in- vestors happy. It is a difficult challenge here at West Oregon to cover all we need to cover under extreme conditions with very little resources, but we are committed to serving you, our member owners.