Governor Vetoes OMSI Bailout
Good news PGE ratepayers! Governor Kulongoski vetoed the Legislature's attempt to pay off a 1991 OMSI construction debt with PGE ratepayer dollars. Jeff Cogen was part of a broad (and now successful!) effort to convince the Governor to nix this bad idea. Chair Ted Wheeler and Commissioner Lonnie Roberts also weighed in from Multnomah County to encourage a veto. Here are links to KGW's and the Oregonian's story on the news. Straigtening OMSI's books out doesn't seem as important as funding energy conservation and renewable energy, but what do you think? Also, is it appropriate to think of OMSI as a resource only within PGE's service territory, or should any potential bailout be broader based?
http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2007/08/kulongoski_vetoes_omsi_payoff.html
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_080907_news_omsi_bailout.19df58be.html
Posted on August 9, 2007
Comments
(Note: Comments are the views of their authors, and no one else.)
Posted by: Pete Forsyth - August 9, 2007 08:15 PM
Pardon my ignorance, but just what is PGE's service territory?
Posted by: Warren Fish - August 10, 2007 11:21 AM
Pete, PGE covers most but by no means all of Portland, plus other nearby areas around the state.
Almost all of N.W. Portland except for an area bounded by N.W. Broadway and N.W. 11th Ave., between Burnside and Davis streets.
All of S.W. Portland except the following downtown areas:
Area between Marquam and Hawthorne bridges along S.W. Harbor Way and S.W. Front, including S. Waterfront and Tom McCall Waterfront Park.
Area bounded by S.W. 1st and S.W. 6th, between S.W. Harrison and S.W. Jefferson.
Area bounded by S.W. 6th and 405 Freeway, between S.W. Jefferson and W. Burnside streets.
All of S.E. Portland except a small strip of S.E. Stark off E. Burnside.
A small part of N.E. Portland.
A large part of N. Portland including Hayden Island, Tomahawk Island and Sauvie Island.
All areas from 122nd Ave. east to Mt. Hood.
MAP:
http://www.portlandgeneral.com/about_pge/corporate_info/pdfs/PGE_service_territory_map.pdf
Posted by: Pete Forsyth - August 10, 2007 01:45 PM
Thanks Warren! According to that map, it extends south past Salem, and includes all of Portland metro, with holes around cities like Canby, McMinnville, Forest Grove.
The first question you ask is a tough one, I'm not familiar enough with the issue to have any real opinion. Certainly funding for energy planning is important; I'm not sure how it came about that the legislature wanted to divert those funds to OMSI's loan, but on the face of it it seems a little weird.
As for the service area, the PGE area seems roughly right - seems like NE Portland, and the cities noted above, and Clark County would get off pretty light, but on the whole it seems about right. I don't think it would be right for the entire state to pay equally, but again, I'm really not familiar with the issue. (Of course, there's an argument to be made that the entire state benefits somewhat from OMSI's existence, but not equally.)