Power Trip

Posted: Thursday, May 31, 2007 - 04:19:55 pm PDT
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The Grant County Public Utility District commissioners are discussing a proposed settlement with the Yakama Nation to trade power at cost for an alliance.

Nearly four years ago the Yakama Nation began an electricity utility. The newly formed Yakama Power was to attempt taking over the Priest Rapids dam license in effort to find power to supply residences on the reservation.

But, they did nothing to take the license away from Grant County PUD and instead filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) concerning power sales agreements. This was after the PUD signed agreements to sell all of the power not being used in Grant County.

FERC dismissed their complaint and Yakama Power appealed through the federal 9th Circuit Court in San Francisco.

What they wanted was to buy power too.

Yakama Power currently provides roughly 6 megawatts of power to their reservation, mainly to the casino and lumber mill. They are seeking to increase their power supply to 42 megawatts to provide power to additional businesses and the residences in the Yakama Nation.

The agreement on the table between the Yakama Nation and the Grant County PUD offers an option to end the federal court appeal. If the PUD commissioners vote Monday to sign the agreement, the tribe withdraws the appeal and the two entities agree to an exchange of power for support.

If agreed upon, the PUD would provide 20 megawatts of power to Yakama Power until 2009, when it would decrease to 15 megawatts and a further decrease to 10 megawatts would occur in 2016.

The power would not be for free. Yakama Power would pay for the electricity, at a price equaling the generation cost to the PUD.

The agreement would simply make the Yakama Nation a customer.

It sounds like a hard way to become a customer, but the agreement, if signed, would bring several benefits to the PUD.

The agreement would be a gateway to an alliance between the PUD and Yakama Power. Within the proposed agreement is an offer for the PUD to help develop power generation with Yakama Power and opportunities to do so on the reservation. This places the PUD in a position to help develop the young Yakama Power utility as a good neighbor.

The deal would also help the PUD receive credits for generating "renewable" energy. When state voters passed I-937, it required a percentage of electricity to be generated by renewable sources, but excluded dams. Now it appears possible to count electricity from upgraded dam turbines as "renewable" resource power. This would prevent the PUD from being forced to purchase windmill, ocean or solar power from different power companies to meet the state requirements.

The biggest benefit from the agreement could be the removal of obstacles in creating new power generation sources. Tribes have considerable influence in energy and water projects amongst state and federal agencies. To work with the Yakama Nation would remove barriers and expedite approval for new projects. The Yakama's support already helped the PUD obtain fish permits relating to dam operations.

PUD General Manager Tim Culbertson said the benefits would become obvious as the PUD plans to double power generation in the next 5 to 12 years with new projects, some outside of the county and possibly on the Yakama Reservation.

It is hard to put a price on the influence of the Yakama Nation. Being a good neighbor and forming a partnership would be beneficial to both the tribe and the PUD. It helps both with future power generation projects, which can keep our electricity costs low and affordable for some of the large businesses moving into Grant County.

The only drawback is the history behind the agreement. It can appear a bit underhanded with the appeal filed in federal court and the original intention of Yakama Power to take the Priest Rapids dam license away from the PUD. But the people driving the organizations have changed and the settlement being offered provides sufficient benefits to erase any grudges.

Looking at the benefits to the PUD and understanding Yakama Power is paying for the electricity they are to receive, the settlement should be a good way to move forward and see progress for all of us. It's one power trip we should all want to take.

-- Editorial board

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