Ore. legislative bills oppose Idaho Power line
Thursday, April 9, 2009 10:45 AM PDT
SALEM (AP) — A bill introduced by two Western Oregon legislators could alter Idaho Power’s plans to build a transmission line through Baker County.
The bill by Democratic Reps. Brian Clem of Salem and Deborah Boone of Cannon Beach was inspired by proposals to build liquefied natural gas import terminals on the Columbia River, along with pipelines, which some fear could bring environmental and security problems.
The bill would prohibit establishing a ‘‘utility facility’’ in areas zoned for farm use, forest use or mixed farm and forest use if a majority of the facility’s output would be used within an urban growth boundary.
Among other things, it allows land owners to refuse to grant a utility easement in such cases, the Baker City Democrat newspaper reported.
Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, vice chairman of the Sustainability and Economic Development Committee, says those concerns also can apply to overhead utilities such as power lines.
Bentz said he plans to offer an amendment to limit the height of transmission towers to 50 feet on such lands to allow local jurisdictions to decide which areas to protect.
‘‘County courts can decide if the land would be damaged by the inability to use aerial application,’’ Bentz said. Some growers fear the 180-foot-tall transmission towers Idaho Power wants to install would interfere with crop dusting.
Idaho Power plans to ask residents of Eastern Oregon to consult with the utility on a route for a 500-kilovolt transmission line.
The 300-mile power line would run from Idaho’s Owyhee County to Boardman, Ore., near the Columbia River.
In March State Sen. Ted Ferrioli of John Day, who leads minority Republicans, filed a bill that would prohibit power transmission lines with a capacity of 400,000 volts or greater on land zoned for exclusive farm use.
‘‘If the strategists at Idaho Power believe the citizens of Baker and Malheur counties represent the path of least resistance, they are sadly mistaken,’’ Ferrioli said.
The utility already has agreed not to locate the line hear the Idaho town of Parma after the 1,700 residents raised $20,000 to oppose it.
The planned line would have cut through an area targeted for future growth, and through a 750-acre equestrian subdivision that’s seeking annexation.
The utility, with about 484,000 customers in Idaho and Oregon, hopes to begin construction of the line in 2011 and finish in 2013.
