2020 Pikeminnow Season Opening Delayed – States’ Responses to COVID-19 Outbreak Impacts Fishing Season, Boat Ramps (Bonneville Power Administration)

(PORTLAND, OR) -- A popular Northwest fishing program is getting a late start this year due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The 2020 Northern Pikeminnow Sport-Reward Fishery will not open on May 1, as originally planned. The fishery is tentatively scheduled to open May 11, for registered anglers with licenses to fish in the Columbia and Snake rivers. Fishery updates, including possible opening day changes, will be announced on the website, www.pikeminnow.org.

Stay at home orders issued in March by governors in Washington and Oregon closed or limited fishing and limited access to some recreational facilities, including boat ramps. Washington recently reopened many outdoor recreational activities on a limited basis, including opening most fishing seasons and allowing day-use of many boat ramps.

While the lifting of these restrictions is good news for anglers eagerly awaiting the start of the Northern pikeminnow reward fishery program, when it opens anglers will see some changes to the registration and turn-in procedures. These changes are intended to protect the health and well-being of program employees and fishing enthusiasts. Program participants should expect additional barriers, signs, and floor markers at stations to encourage social distancing. Anglers will be encouraged not to congregate in groups near registration stations and asked to unload their fish into designated containers.

Some program elements haven’t changed. Registered anglers will again earn $5 to $8 for each Northern pikeminnow that is at least 9 inches long. The more fish an angler reels in, the more each Northern pikeminnow is worth. Specially tagged Northern pikeminnow will be worth $500. Last year the top fisherman in the program removed 6,482 Northern pikeminnow and earned more than $53,000.

Northern pikeminnow are voracious eaters, consuming millions of young salmon and steelhead each year. Since 1990, anglers paid through the program have removed nearly five million Northern pikeminnow from the Columbia and Snake rivers. The program annually reduces predation from Northern pikeminnow on young salmon and steelhead by approximately 40%.

Check the fishery website, www.pikeminnow.org, or call 800-858-9015 for updates on the 2020 season. The website also has details on how to register for the program and applicable state fishing regulations. Anglers will also find resources on the site to help boost their fishing game, including fishing maps and how-to videos.

The program is administered by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission in cooperation with the Washington and Oregon departments of fish and wildlife and is funded by the Bonneville Power Administration.

Bonneville Power Administration Seeks Energy Purchase for Winter Loads in Southeast Idaho (Bonneville Power Administration)

(PORTLAND, OR) -- The Bonneville Power Administration has released a request for offers for a five-year market purchase of power during winter months to serve a portion of its preference customer load in southeast Idaho. The purchases would be shaped up to 125 megawatts during heavy load hours in some months and will begin November 2021 and end in March 2026.

The RFO was released on April 22 and remains open through May 11. The RFO includes selection criteria, credit requirements, product description, and enabling agreement requirements. The RFO can be found at https://www.bpa.gov/p/Documents/SEID-RFO-2021-2026.pdf.

BPA has a statutory commitment to provide reliable, low-cost service to all of its preference customers. BPA currently serves six preference customers in southeast Idaho through a combination of market purchases and power wheeled from the federal system. BPA previously sought a request for offers and awarded a five-year contract in 2016 to address the interim power needs of these customers.

Electric Co-Ops in Trouble (Politico)

(WASHINGTON, DC) -- The nation's electric co-ops, which often must maintain miles of powerlines to support small numbers of customers, say they have been slammed by the decline in electricity consumption due to the drop in economic activity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A study released Wednesday by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, a trade association, said co-ops anticipated a 5 percent decline in power consumption which, along with unpaid bills, could amount to $10 billion in losses through 2022. "As the economic impact of this pandemic spreads, electric co-ops will be increasingly challenged as they work to keep the lights on for hospitals, grocery stores and millions of new home office," Jim Matheson, NRECA's CEO, said in a statement.

Congressional Lawmakers Ask for Electric Co-Op Clarity (Politico)

(WASHINGTON, DC) -- A bipartisan group of lawmakers urged Mnuchin and SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza to consider rural electric cooperatives as qualifying recipients for the Paycheck Protection Program. As "electric co-ops face the same challenges as many other small businesses, we believe the Small Business Administration should ensure they are eligible for the Paycheck Protection Program," the lawmakers write. The House letter, signed by 164 lawmakers, was sent Tuesday, while the Senate letter, sent April 16, was signed by 43 senators.

Mason PUD 1 Honored with National Award for Safety (Mason PUD 1, Potlatch, WA)

(WASHINGTON, DC) – For the second consecutive year, Mason County PUD No. 1 has earned the American Public Power Association’s Safety Award of Excellence for safe operating practices. The utility earned another first-place award in the category for utilities with 30,000-59,000 worker-hours of annual worker exposure. Brandon Wylie, chair of the APPA’s Safety Committee, presented the award during the Association’s annual Engineering & Operations Technical Conference, held in Kansas City, Missouri. “Strong safety programs are essential to ensuring that electric utility employees are informed and trained on safe work procedures,” said Wylie. “The utilities receiving this award have proven that protecting the safety of their employees is a top priority.”

More than 335 utilities entered the annual Safety Awards contest, which is the highest number of entrants in the history of the program. Entrants were placed in categories according to their number of worker hours and ranked based on the most incident-free records during 2019. The incidence rate used to judge entries, is based on the number of work-related reportable injuries or illnesses and the number of worker-hours during 2019, as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

“We are very proud of our safety record, which is a direct carryover of our continuous-improvement safety culture,” said Kristin Masteller, general manager of Mason PUD 1. “This award reflects the leadership from our operations director and foremen, our safety training program, and the hard work that goes into ensuring that our team members go home safe to their families every day.”

Electric Co-Ops Look to Next Relief Package (Politico)

(WASHINGTON, DC -- The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association called on congressional leaders Monday to consider remedies for electric cooperatives in the next coronavirus relief package. NRECA CEO Jim Matheson in a letter laid out several challenges facing electric co-ops amid the coronavirus pandemic, including service disconnection moratoria, USDA Rural Utilities Service financing, rural broadband access and delays in FEMA funding. “As a result of nonpayments and load falloff resulting from economic hardship, some not-for-profit electric cooperatives are facing significant operational shortfalls. Without federal assistance, co-ops may face severe financial distress”