(PORTLAND, OR) – Last
week, the Bonneville Power Administration signed an agreement with the States
of Oregon and Washington and the Nez Perce Tribe to temporarily halt years of
litigation around a regional salmon protection plan. The agreement is for three years and is
intended to provide more water for migrating fish while not increasing costs to
regional power customers. Details of the
agreement have only recently been made public, and much of it still needs technical
modeling and state-run processes to ensure its feasibility and adherence to
stated goals.
“Public power customers recognize the goal and potential
benefits of moving beyond the courtroom by agreeing on actions for ESA-listed
salmon that are conducted in an economical manner,” said Scott Corwin,
Executive Director of the Public Power Council.
“Yet, until there is greater clarity around the operations and costs of
the agreement, we cannot be certain it provides the intended benefits to fish
or to electric utility ratepayers. The
parties will need to ensure that implementation of this outline provides all
the expected benefits without further risk to electricity consumers or to
protected fish.”
