DAYTON – The Columbia County Commissioners have agreed to "begin the process of switching power providers" for the Columbia County Courthouse and county public works building from Pacific Power & Light to Columbia Rural Electric Association.

The unanimous decision to move forward on the change came during a special meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 31, in the commissioner's board room. It was Commissioner Chuck Reeves's last day in office.

"I'm ashamed that we've fiddled and diddled for this long and haven't mustered the courage to make a decision on this," Reeves said, after explaining to the full boardroom that the commissioners have contemplated making this switch for at least three years. "I'm anxious to get this done before I lose my vote. I can honestly say that in this particular instance I think I'm making the best decision I can on the part of the constituency I represent."

Reeves, as well as commissioners Dwight Robanske and Mike Talbott, cited reliability and quality of power as the primary reason for wanted to switch to CREA; possible lower rates was only a secondary, potential benefit to the switch, they said.

The board had voted unanimously in favor of switching to CREA for the two county facilities during their regular meeting on Dec. 17, but after realizing that Pacific Power's Regional Community Manager Bill Clemens had been unintentionally left off the invited guest list for the day's meeting, the commissioners rescinded their decision and tabled the vote for the 31st.

During that time, Clemens wrote a letter to the commissioners urging them to take more time in their deliberations.

"It is premature for the board to consider a motion and vote on this matter because the financial impact remains unknown," he wrote. "A full accounting and analysis of the costs has not been completed."

Clemens stated that the commissioners requested an estimate of the cost to disconnect from Pacific Power on Dec. 12 and that such a report takes approximately 30 days to fulfill.

County Engineer Drew Woods provided some figures to the board using data from a "ballpark" estimate of cost to disconnect from PP&L generated by the utility company several years ago. Clemens has suggested that it will cost the county significantly more than what Woods presented.

Clemens also questioned the reliability of CREA over PP&L, although Columbia REA installed an underground power line in 2011 to serve its downtown Dayton office; that line runs adjacent to both county facilities. The commissioners believe this underground line would provide more reliable service to the county's facilities.

The commissioners believe the quality of service through Pacific Power has declined in the last few years, as evidenced by an apparent increase in power outages and power "events" in the last six months or so.

One power outage, in early December, lasted several hours and would have, according to Commissioner Reeves, put the courthouse out of business for the day had it occurred on a weekday rather than a Saturday. "And many of the services in these buildings are vital for the county," he said, particularly concerned about the county sheriff's office, dispatch center, and jail located in the bottom floor of the courthouse.

The carefully phrased motion, calling for the county to "begin the process" of making the switch, allows the commissioners to consider any new information from PP&L on the disconnection fees before making a final move, Reeves assured guests at the board meeting.

"I just hope you are all really sure in your minds that all the information you have is good information," said Dayton farmer Bob Hutchens. "I'm really uneasy with an 11th hour decision like this."

Commissioner Robanske assured Hutchens, and others in the meeting, that the decision was not last minute – in their eyes. "I don't think it's an 11th hour decision," he said. "We've been working on this for three years... Every time we've gotten this far in the thinking, someone has said well let's just wait."

Reeves, who has now finished a 20-year career with the board, didn't want the decision to wait any longer.