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Lower Snake River Dams Need to Go by Jerry Freilich Bend Bulletin, February 3, 2024

The January 2024 issue of the Central Oregon Electric Coop's magazine 'Ruralite' featured a full-page letter by CEO Brad Wilson. Wilson said that "special interest groups" had used litigation to get the four Lower Snake River Dams (LSRD's) removed. He said that the White House Council on Environmental Quality had "injected itself" into the process, "participating in confidential mediation with only select stakeholders" and that only when "details leaked from the secret negotiations" did the coop learn of an agreement that "fails to protect the Bonneville Power Authority (BPA) and exposes its customers to new costs, ... translating into billions of dollars of new expenses."

Gee, sinister "special interests" behind a "secret" conspiracy that imperils "system reliability" sounds pretty serious, doesn't it? None of that is true.

When the LSRD'S were built 60 years ago, scientists feared that they would lead to extinction of Snake River salmon. See the eye-opening 1971 film "Struggle for the Snake." Sadly, over time, these predictions were confirmed. All Snake River salmon populations are now either extinct or on the endangered species list.

Twenty years ago, a group of parties sued the federal government to save the salmon from doom. The plaintiffs, were: 1) the state of Oregon, 2) the Nez Perce Tribe, and 3) Conservation groups including the National Wildlife Federation. Are these "special interests?" Over 20 years, the plaintiffs won in court seven times. Each time, the government said it would fix the problem but each time it failed to do so.

In 2022, the plaintiffs agreed to a year-long 'stay' in the litigation to give the Biden administration a chance produce a plan. The parties agreed to mediation overseen by the federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

The service is not a secret society, a conspiracy, or a political act of White House meddling. It is a nonpartisan federal agency established to settle lawsuits through confidential mediation. The negotiations were not "secret", but they were between parties in the lawsuit -- as any court case would be. The result of that negotiation was released to the public on December 15 providing a complicated path forward (too long for discussion here).

Here is why the COEC is making a fuss. The BPA is a quasi-government agency specifically created to sell power from the dams to the coops. Electric rates are a tangled matter reliant on government subsidies, changes in markets, and interconnections with the national grid. But one thing is clear -- the BPA is a powerful lobby -- and its business is to sell dam hydropower.

The coops were created to serve their customers, but not to "protect" the BPA -- although it is understandable that they might want to "protect" their current cozy relationships. How cozy? The COEC's recent President was making $785,813 per year. Not bad for a nonprofit organization serving 30,000 customers.

Here are some truths. Dams are expensive. The LSRD turbines now need replacement that will cost hunreds of millions. At the same time, costs of renewable energy are dropping sharply.

Most Snake River hydropower comes in springtime from winter snowmelt. In the heat of summer and dead of winter when power is most needed, the dams produce little power. The water in reservoirs above the dams is slow-moving. Climate change warms that water reducing its oxygen content, which kills the baby salmon escaping to sea. In addition, the reservoirs release large amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Releasing this gas makes mockery of COEC "meeting carbon reduction goals."

It's time for a change. COEC needs to adapt to the new realities. Power does not have to be hydro. We can power society without wiping out salmon. The dams need to be breached now. Earthen parts of the dams can be breached inexpensively with bulldozers -- leaving the heavy concrete in place. Other problems can be solved in time. But the fish have no more time. Their time has run out.

Related Pages:
Facts About the Lower Snake River Dams by Jerry Freilich, Bend Bulletin, 8/22/22
Salmon Won't Survive Unless Lower Snake River Dams are Removedby Jerry Freilich, Bend Bulletin, 4/14/23