Conservation vs. expansion: public sounds off on BPA plans

VANCOUVER, Wash. - The Bonneville Power Administration got a lot of reaction Wednesday night to its plans for new or expanded power lines from Troutdale through Southwest Washington, and up to Longview.

Several hundred people showed up at a public meeting at Clark College with questions about how homes that may be in the way will be impacted. Some even questioned whether there is really a need for an expansion at all.

“My main complaint about BPA is they’re not aggressive about conservation,” said retired teacher Don Steinke whose wife Alona was also at the meeting. “They promote conservation, but they’re not aggressive” about encouraging it. “I would like to see the money spent on this corridor, instead spent on conservation. Then you wouldn’t need the corridor,” he said.

He and Alona live 400 feet from one of the power lines the BPA might expand and Alona said they wanted to know if the expansion will affect their property. “What we want to know is mainly if it will be on our property so we can make plans accordingly,” she said.

Others who attended the meeting said they worry that expanding power lines instead of building new ones takes out too many homes.

“I would say a new line, because the main thing is uprooting families,” said property owner Richard McKee. “That’s going to be difficult, especially in these times.”

The BPA said it has to plan for new demand and new generation from wind turbines near the Columbia River Gorge.

“The state of the system as it exists today and those things that we see in our headlights that we know are coming, that we’re planning for now and thinking about building this line for,” said Doug Johnson of BPA.

But Don Steinke said he doesn’t believe the BPA’s done all it can to make room on the existing grid.

“It’s once again business as usual - build more,” he said.

The BPA said the same conditions forced it to add power lines in the Spokane area in 2003 and in the Seattle area before that. Both of those projects caused a lot of public concern as well but in the end both projects went forward because there were no alternatives.

Another public meeting is scheduled Thursday at Mark Morris High School in Longview. It will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.