SACRAMENTO — Firing the latest salvo in a
battle over the future of the Klamath River,
the California Energy Commission on Monday
reaffirmed its stand that removing four
hydroelectric dams that block salmon
migration would cost less than trying to
keep them.
In December, the commission issued a report
asserting that removing the dams and
purchasing replacement power would cost
roughly $100 million less than installing
extensive new fish ladders for imperiled
salmon and steelhead.
PacifiCorp, the Portland-based company that
owns the dams, volleyed back with a 50-page
study of its own suggesting that the
commission study, performed by a private
consulting firm, got it wrong.
The power company argued that the commission
failed to consider several important
economic and environmental factors and that
renovating the dams to accommodate the fish
would actually save $46 million more than
dismantling them. The firm submitted its
study to the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, which is considering whether the
dams will win a new long-term operating
license.
In recent weeks, the state Energy
Commission's consultant ran the numbers
anew, taking in numbers PacifiCorp said it
ignored. The results were far different from
PacifiCorp's.
The commission's latest report said that dam
removal would be even more cost-effective
than its consultant originally determined —
about $114 million less than relicensing the
dams and installing the fish ladders.
California Energy Commissioner John Geesman
said in a statement that the new analysis,
which used PacifiCorp's numbers, "clearly
indicates" that the utility's electrical
customers would save money with dam removal.
PacifiCorp's four dams produce enough power
for thousands of homes in the Northwest but
have blocked 300 miles of upriver habitat
for salmon and steelhead. Federal wildlife
agencies have ordered that the dams be
retrofitted with fish ladders, but
PacifiCorp argues that the dams are too tall
for ladders to work. The company proposed
using trucks to haul fish around the dams.
Commission officials said their economic
model provided all sides with a "good-faith
analysis of the pros and cons" of the
various options for the dams. The model is
available online at
http://www.energy.ca.gov/klamath .
eric.bailey@latimes.com
