LOU MARZELES
Gorge News Report
Although it was called the "Columbia Gorge Bi-State Renewable Energy Zone" meeting, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D.-Wash.) said she'd like to hear more about jobs than megawatts.
"It's helpful for me to hear megawatts translated into jobs," Cantwell told the group of a dozen people from county and civic agencies, renewable energy companies, and education institutions during a meeting at Maryhill Museum last Thursday.
The event was designed to discuss renewable energy growth in the Columbia River Gorge area, including clean energy tax incentives and other policies that could support further renewable energy development in the region.
Among the attendees were Amanda Hoey from the Mid-Columbia Economic Development District, Dan Spatz from Columbia Gorge Community College, Dana Peck from enXco, Paul Woodin from the Community Renewable Energy Association, Scott Reinhardt from Cannon Power Group, Shaun Melander from Vestas, Brian Walsh from Iberdrola Renewables, Klickitat County Commissioner Rex Johnston, and Robert Waymire from the Skamania County Office of Economic Development.
"We have to put meat on the facts about renewable energy," Cantwell told the attendees. "There are so many green jobs being created by renewable energy that sometimes it seems too good to be true. We need to know the details. When you talk about projects in terms of megawatts, that's useful, but to really help we have to know what the megawatts mean in jobs."
Cantwell was welcomed to the meeting by Skamania County Commissioner Paul Pearce, who set the tone for the group's agenda.
"We have six counties now involved with renewable energy," Pearce said.
Cantwell's comments were in response to calls for assistance in handling some issues facing the renewable energy market. A prominent issue was dealing with the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), which was broadly portrayed by many at the meeting as highly uncooperative if not outright hostile toward renewable energy.
Rachel Shimshak, executive director of Renewable Northwest Project, told of multiple encounters with BPA in which she faced obstinate opposition. Shimshak said she believes top BPA managers don't want renewable energy to be part of a solution to meet energy demand.
Toward the end of the meeting, Cantwell suggested that a regional meeting between BPA and renewable energy representatives might be useful.
Throughout the meeting, Cantwell expressed appreciation for the efforts of renewable energy enterprises in the state.
"There's an ethos of economy built on renewable energy," Cantwell told those who attended the gathering. "I appreciate the leadership provided by this field."
Mike Canon, executive director for the Klickitat County Office of Economic Development, told the Senator of the remarkable progress shown in the county as a result of renewable energy.
"Communities all across the county are benefiting," Canon said. "Bickleton paid for a new fire hall and is looking toward a new water system from wind money. Renewable energy is bringing not just jobs but hope. I see it in coffee shops, supermarkets, everywhere I go."
Gary Thompson, who visited from Sherman County, Ore., told similar stories of the impact of wind projects in his county of 1,700 residents.
"The energy dollar impact here is about $2 billion in Sherman County," he said. "There's about another $2 billion in Klickitat County. All told in surrounding counties, it comes to about $10 billion. The quality of life in this region is, bar none, the best in the world."
Thompson said each household in Sherman County is receiving a check for $590, and each town in the county is receiving $100,000 for infrastructure or whatever is most needed -- all from wind project money.
"Renewable energy is really saving rural communities," Thompson said.
Near the end of the meeting, Cantwell spoke more on what needs to be done for her office to help renewable energy projects.
"No one wants to say what might be going wrong," she said, "but we need to know. When you can talk about how what you do impacts your county, your state, it makes an impression." The Senator suggested that there might be a way to hold meetings in which renewable energy companies were not identified as a way to get more candid, and useful, information out in the open.
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