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PUD to ask FERC to reconsider

Chelan County PUD
News Release
9/26/2005

Chelan County PUD commissioners Monday authorized General Manager Charlie Hosken to sign a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission outlining the PUD’s support for proposed measures for a new long-term license for Rocky Reach Dam.

PUD commissioners and staff, along with license stakeholders, will also meet with FERC staff in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 19, to show their support for items rejected in FERC staff’s initial response and to hear ideas from FERC staff.

One of those measures is the concept of a Recreation Enhancement Fund that would help pay for projects in other areas of Chelan County not immediately next to the Columbia River.

The PUD has proposed spending about $395 million on mitigation measures to relicense the dam – about half for ongoing costs and the balance for new measures over 50 years.

On Sept. 12, relicensing staff told commissioners that all but about 3 percent of the spending was endorsed by FERC staff, including measures related to the PUD’s landmark Habitat Conservation Plan for fish protection. However, two recreation measures and six wildlife proposals weren’t included in FERC’s draft response.

Rocky Reach Dam’s current 50-year license expires in June 2006.

Funds accelerate fiber network construction
A majority of commissioners Monday approved a transfer of $1 million to the PUD’s fiber-optic construction fund, allowing the utility to continue building the system to more than 30,000 homes and businesses, or 75 percent of the county, by the end of 2008. Commissioner Werner Janssen voted against the transfer.

The dollars will be used to run fiber optics more quickly to areas with underground lines that were scheduled for construction in the next few years. New direct-bore technology is allowing the PUD to move forward in these areas with more ease and speed.

The funds come from dollars budgeted for the transmission line from Rocky Reach Dam to the Andrew York Substation, near Monitor, which won’t begin construction until next year.

The extra construction this year could allow access for an additional 500-600 homes and businesses in the county. That puts the PUD’s projected construction to reach 12,500 homes and businesses by the end of the year.

In other business, commissioners:

• Discussed their own 2006 budget in preparation for next week’s budget hearing. Among other items, they will consider the purchase of a portable sound system to allow audio recording of all commission meetings regardless of location.
• Authorized spending up to $130,000 with ProAct Safety, Inc., The Woodlands, Texas, for accident prevention programs.
• Accepted a $384,845 bid from Imagineered Solutions, Inc., Redmond, Ore., to install equipment to reduce water leaks at Rock Island Powerhouse 1 as part of modernization work.

***

The next regular meeting of the PUD commission will start at 10 a.m., Monday, Oct. 3, in the boardroom of the Headquarters Building, 327 N. Wenatchee Ave.

Most PUD commission meetings are recorded and a link to the audio is available on the PUD’s Web site, www.chelanpud.org.

Christy Shearer
Communications Specialist
509.661.4258
509.421.4258, cell
christin@chelanpud.org