By RAELYNN RICARTE
News staff writer
April 4, 2007

Hood River County officials have learned that enough wind blows over Middle Mountain to generate electricity.

But government leaders don’t yet know if setting up wind turbines on county land in that location would be profitable.

Dave Meriwether, county administrator, is seeking $100,000-$150,000 of grant funding to answer that question. He said wind generation of electricity appears, at this time, to be the best option for breaking into the “green” power business.

“We hope to have all of the data in front of us about one year after the study begins. And then we can sit down and make an informed decision about our options,” said Meriwether.

The county has received $40,000 in state grant funds to scope out the technologies needed to run a biomass plant. The study will also determine where the facility should be located within the Mid-Columbia region. An analysis also has to be done about the availability of fuel stocks.

Meriwether said it is unlikely the county could produce power with only woody debris from its 30,000 acres of forest. He said partnerships might need to be formed between Gorge counties to operate a biomass facility.

“We are really just looking to see what the landscape is for this type of a project. And whether it’s something that we want to pursue,” he said.

Hood River County has also scored $72,000 of the $80,000 needed to look into hydro power production. The “fatal flaw analysis” will determine if the county should attempt to set up its own operation somewhere along the Hood River and/or its tributaries. Or if the local government would be better served to work with East Fork, Middle Fork and Farmer’s irrigation districts, which already have small projects online.

The cities of Cascade Locks and Hood River are also interested in hydropower production and a joint venture could be agreed upon.

“There are a lot of things to be considered here, such as wildlife habitat, flow levels, etc. So we want to find out if there are any deal breakers before we go any further on this,” said Meriwether.

He said, even if the county decides not to venture into hydropower, the information gleaned from the study can benefit the three districts and two cities.

Meriwether said the nine-member Renewable Energy Advisory Committee has been working since last year to set up a framework for these studies. The panel of experts formed to identify potential sites for projects up to 10 megawatts. That is the allowable size for a community-scale enterprise earning five to six cents per kilowatt hour.

Meriwether said the group was also tasked with scouting out regulations the county would encounter in its bid to produce “green” power.

He said the committee did not believe the county could make money from solar power. However, he said solar panels could be installed that would lower heating and utility bills in county buildings. And that would preserve more taxpayer dollars for essential services.

“We embarked on the exploration of renewable energy because we felt like it was a responsible thing to do,” said Meriwether. “We have been very encouraged by what we’ve learned so far and will continue to move forward.”

He said the county is now poised to lose $1.7 million in federal funding for road maintenance. He said even if the money is renewed this year, the time is probably coming when rural counties will no longer be compensated for logging cutbacks within national forests.

The County Commission wants to ready for that day by getting some type of power production up and running — hopefully within the next two years. Money from the sale of electricity would also be used for extra projects, such as establishing bicycle lanes along public rights of way.

Meriwether said the county will not realize a true profit from generating electricity for 8-10 years because of the debt service for equipment. However, he said the capital could one day augment the $4 million the county now brings in from managing harvests of its own timber.

“At a time when public budgets are becoming tighter and tighter, we need to be looking at ways to come up with additional revenue,” said Meriwether.

The county began entertaining the idea of producing power for income in 2004. At that time, the general budget was being held steady by not replacing employees who left and consolidating departments.

The county board believed that income from renewable energy could offset rising health care and retirement costs. They wanted to keep the annual $28 million budget static without cuts in services or large fee increases.

To preserve its potential business interests, the county urged the Oregon Public Utilities Commission to protect the renewable energy market. At that time, large electric companies throughout the state had asked the PUC to reduce the price they paid to small power producers.

Since the 1980s, independent operators, such as Farmers, East Fork and Middle Fork, have been allowed to sell power at a higher price. The reasoning behind the added cost was that these small ventures were expensive to establish. But they were necessary to help meet the growing demand for new energy sources.