Dear Members,
Thank you to everyone who participated in our 2024 annual meeting. It was a great gathering.
Congratulations to Gary Bloom and Vince Wilson, who were reelected to our board of directors, and to Pepe Rivera, who was elected to his first term.
Legislative Update From Oregon’s Electric Cooperatives
Oregon’s 2024 Legislative Assembly finished its short session early last month. The session included important discussions on critical issues affecting our ability to deliver affordable, reliable electricity to you.
Our representatives at the Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association held conversations with legislators about the escalating wildfire risks that are exacerbated by a hotter, drier climate, and discussed how every Oregonian can do their part to mitigate these risks.
The complex issue of expanding electricity transmission lines also received attention. While previous legislative sessions have focused on mandating carbon-free electricity, ORECA participated in important discussions about our need for new transmission lines. This expansion is necessary to meet the growing demand for electricity. Without more transmission, we simply won’t be able to deliver energy where it’s needed, when it’s needed, which will put us at risk of blackouts during extreme hot and extreme cold weather events.
We also educated lawmakers about our concerns with the state of Oregon attempting to create a pathway to breach the lower Snake River dams. Removing the dams would be detrimental to your power rates and our ability to keep the lights on. Breaching the dams would drive market prices even higher by reducing the supply of energy available to meet peak loads that often occur when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining.
Finally, Oregon’s electric co-ops helped negotiate a solution (Senate Bill 1566) to a long-running issue regarding a push by Oregon’s counties to charge fees when utilities need to build and maintain their equipment in county rights-of-way. New fees like this increase our cost of providing service, but we hope this negotiated settlement will protect against even higher costs, as well as help the county cover the expense of administering projects from new utilities now working in their rights-of-way.
We will continue to use our voices with policymakers to protect our ability to serve you safely, affordably and reliably.
Libby Calnon
General Manager