The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON – After months of deliberation, Columbia County Commissioners decided on April 15 to switch power providers for the county courthouse and the county public works building from Pacific Power & Light to Columbia Rural Electric Association.

Representatives from both utility providers were present at the board meeting, but relatively little discussion took place. Commissioners Mike Talbott and Dwight Robanske voted in favor of the switch; Commissioner Merle Jackson was opposed.

“My thought is not to switch because it will take 11 and a half years to get a return on our investment,” Jackson said, referring to PP&L’s estimate of $80,000 to remove its connection to the two county buildings. “There is a great deal of opportunity to use that money for other things, and I believe more pertinent and necessary things. We still have the data if we want to do it later.”

County Engineer Andrew Woods reported to the commissioners during a workshop Monday that, by his estimate, the county will save $4,800 per year by switching to REA. Information provided by Pacific Power Regional Community Manager Bill Clemens estimated a larger cost savings – of $6,400 annually, according to Woods.

Both Talbott and Robanske stated they were confident that the estimate for removal by Pacific Power represented an inflated number; by their estimation, it will only take the county six years before the savings from switching to REA will make up the cost of the switch.

Woods presented information to the board several weeks ago showing two independent estimates for the utility 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 during that workshop in March. PP&L does not allow outside contractors to do the removal work.

Talbott also expressed his support for REA, before the vote on Wednesday, as a local, community-involved organization that he feels will best address utility issues discussed in previous meetings by himself and former Commissioner Chuck Reeves, who pressed for the switch before leaving office at the end of last year.

Reeves believed the quality of service through Pacific Power had declined in the last few years, as evidenced by an apparent increase in power outages and power “events” in the last few months of 2014.

In a prior meeting, Columbia County Commissioners agreed unanimously to “begin the process of switching power providers” for the courthouse and county public works building; this vote took place on Dec. 31 – Commissioner Reeves’s last day in office.

The commissioners plan to invite REA representatives to a future workshop to discuss the particulars of this new service; they signed an initial contract with the utility association after the vote on Wednesday.