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REGION POWER NEEDSTO DOUBLEDECADEThe demand for power in the Pacific Northwest will double in the next 10 years, which means the region must add as much new power in the next decade as has been developedin the past 60 years, Charles F. Luce, Bonneville Power administrator, told a packed audience in the court room Thursday night. The public meeting was arranged by the Thompson Falls-Noxon Chamber of Commerce.441The best way to add power is to build storage dams in the head waters of the tributaries of the Columbia river,” Luce declared. He listed four proposed dams as “good storage projects in the United States.” They include Bruces Eddy, High Mountain Sheep, Knowles and Penny-cliff. He said tremendous opposition has developed against the Pennycliff proposal because it would flood out a part of the new Lewis and Clark highway and because of fisheries problems. Luce added, “The High Mountain Sheep is involved in a big controversy,” and that this “all tends to emphasize Knowlesdam.”He described Knowles as a “high storage project—the kind we need.”In view of the projected demands for increased power, the failure of Canada to ratify a treaty with the U. S., which would permit construction of Libby dam, is “forcing the BPA to take a hard look at alternate storage sites.”Comparing the Knowles project with the two Buffalo Rapids dams, which the Montana Power Co. seeks to build on the Flathead river, Luce said the latter would be run-of-the-river projects and would not add a single kilowatt downsteam while Knowles would increase downstream generation by 750,000 kilowatts in addition to the “267,-000 reliable kilowatts it would generate at site even in^the worst water years.” He ^aid these figures for Knowles assume that the Canadian treaty will not be ratified.Urging full development of the Columbia river system, Luce said, “We are going to have to have more flood control storage in the U. S. The Columbia river is less than half developed for firm power production and about one-quarter developed for peak power production. We have to get full advantage of our resources. The private utilities, public agencies, all will benefit from full development.1 do not believe any agency or company should propose any development which is a halfway development.Luce opened his talk with anexplanation of BPA and its power marketing program. Under the act creating BPA, the agency is required to pay back the construction costs for power facilities at federal dams, the agency’s operating expenses, 2% per cent interest on money borrowed to build power facilities of dams and pay back the principal over a 50-year period. For the past four years, Luce said BPA has had a deficit, but that because of amortization payments made ahead of schedule in previous years, it is still ahead on repayments.BPA last year had a deficit of about $15 million, but dumped $30 million worth of secondary power. “We don’t have a market for secondary power, only firm power, in the Northwest,” Luce explained. “That is why we want to build transmission lines to California to sell surplus secondary power.”At the conclusion of his talk, a number of questions were asked by members of the audience. In reply to one regarding the choice between the Paradise and Knowles sites, Luce said that if the Canadian treaty is not ratified ,the Corps of Engineers might be asked to take another look at the Paradise site. He said, “We’ll know within the next year, I would think, if Canada is going to ratify the treaty.”Stephen D. Babcock, chamber president, opened the meeting by explaining the chamber’s neutral stand in controversial issues and then introduced Paul K. Harlow, chairman of theCommittee for Paradise dam. Harlow then introduced State Sen. Eugene H. Mahoney, whoslt;Iseieiin«Ublt;tlBFCl
Newspaper Details
Thompson Falls Sanders County Ledger
Thompson Falls, Montana, US
Thu, Aug 02, 1962
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
University O.
USA 20 Mar 2021
Other Publications Near Thompson Falls, Montana
Thompson Falls Sanders County Independent Ledger
Thompson Falls Weekly Montanian
Thompson Falls Sanders County Ledger
