The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON – Columbia County has not yet moved forward in its plan to switch power providers for the courthouse and county public works office from Pacific Power & Light to Columbia Rural Electric Association.

The county commissioners, on former Commissioner Chuck Reeves’s last day on the board, voted unanimously Dec. 31 to “begin the process” of changing power providers for these two county buildings for reasons of reliability, better quality of power, and the potential for lower utility rates.

One snag in the project has been the potential cost to remove the current utility infrastructure, owned by PP&L. Bill Clemens, Pacific Power’s regional community manager, provided an estimate earlier this year that set the removal cost at approximately $80,000 up front. If the work came in lower, the county would be refunded. If removal cost were more than that, the county would be billed, according to Clemens. Commissioners have questioned the steep price tag.

Two weeks ago, at the regular commissioner board meeting, County Engineer Drew Woods presented information to the board and Pacific Power representatives showing two independent estimates for the removal work. One estimate came in at $21,000 and the other was approximately $33,000.

“These are just to show how much the work is likely to end up costing the county,” Woods said. PP&L does not allow outside contractors to do the removal work. Clemens, however, said the estimates don’t take everything into consideration, but he declined to make a more formal statement until he’d had more time to review the estimates provided by Woods.

“I will say that the numbers I already provided are not going to change,” Clemens said.

Woods also provided a spreadsheet showing the potential savings to the county by switching to CREA, by comparing rates between CREA and PP&L over the last six years, but the commissioners asked him to take another look at the costs and try to project for future returns.

Rate increases are expected in April after the utility commission announces the change. CREA stated they have already increased their rates, effective Jan. 1, in anticipation of the rate increase and in an effort to spread the increase out.

“The estimate of $80,000 is so high it would take 10 years to see a return on the investment,” said Commissioner Dwight Robanske. But if the project falls closer to what Woods’s independent estimates claim, the potential savings – estimated at around $35,000 using past rate data – is closer to the mark.

The commissioners have placed the issue back on the calendar for further review and discussion. Representatives from both power providers have been invited, and the public is welcome to attend, the board’s April 15 meeting.