Oregonian: New power lines won't need to cross Cascades in Portland General Electric, Bonneville Power Administration deal

Published January 15, 2013
By Ted Sickinger
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2013/01/cascade_crossing_power_lines_w.html

Portland General Electric said Monday it could lop its proposed Cascade Crossing transmission line in half -- eliminating the section that actually crosses the Cascades -- under an agreement with the Bonneville Power Administration to acquire capacity in the same corridor.

Cascade Crossing was originally proposed to run 215 miles from Boardman to the Willamette Valley. The $800 million to $1 billion line, which was being fast-tracked by federal regulators, was slated to run from Boardman to near Maupin, then southwest through Mt. Hood and Willamette national forests to Salem.

The new plan would have PGE build the original path from Boardman to a new substation 18 miles southwest of Maupin, then transfer the power to existing BPA lines that PGE would upgrade to expand capacity. In exchange for the upgrades and/or other asset exchanges, PGE could receive up to 2,600 megawatts of transmission ownership rights to deliver electricity to the Willamette Valley.

The utilities say the plan would be more cost-effective, faster and could be phased in as capacity needs arise. It would eliminate about 101 miles of Cascade Crossing, including most impacts on the Warm Springs Reservation, as well as national and private forest and agricultural land in Marion and Linn counties.

"We're thrilled," said Alex Brown, executive director of Bark, an environmental group that had urged PGE to consider tapping unused capacity in the corridor. "We don't think our drinking watersheds and our old growth forest could have handled another impact like this."

Specific contract terms are still under negotiation, and PGE could not share any of the cost estimates for the new project.

"It sounds like it should be cost-effective, and reduce the hardest, most expensive chunk of the line," said Bob Jenks, executive director of the Citizens' Utility Board of Oregon. "If they can secure the same level of capacity, it always makes sense to use your existing stuff better."

PGE intends to file amendments to the public permitting processes for the project. It will suspend permitting of the previously proposed section west of the Maupin area. BPA says it will run a full stakeholder process before entering into any further agreement.