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.