Islands' Sounder, July 22, 2015 by Sound Publishing

SOUNDER THE ISLANDS’

Serving Orcas, Lopez and San Juan County

WEDNESDAY, July 22, 2015  VOL. 48, NO. 29  75¢  islandssounder.com

A look at OPALCO’s Rescue on the Salish Sea ‘revenue recovery’ by MEREDITH M. GRIFFITH Sounder contributor

Orcas Power and Light Cooperative members are seeing continued rate increases as it continues to collect less revenue due to lower kilowatt-hour sales. This February, OPALCO enacted a $10.30 facility charge on all member accounts. For July, the co-op board approved an additional “revenue recovery add-on” through 2015 to meet a projected revenue shortfall of $661,000. The residential increase will raise the average member’s bill by $8.43 per month. “Despite these rate increases,” says OPALCO public relations administrator Suzanne Olson, “member bills have been lower on average than the past couple of years. This is because we’re not using as much energy. Our revenues are down and so are our bills.” One key contributor, says Olson, is that recent erratic weather – and the resulting energy demand volatility – pays no heed to the fixed operating costs of energy utili-

ties. It’s not just that demand for electricity drops in warm weather, erratic weather makes it difficult for energy companies to accurately forecast both the amount of electricity needed from suppliers, and the yearly revenue that will be provided by kWh electricity sales. “Everybody in the nation has been caught short this year, because it’s an unusual trend we haven’t seen,” explained Olson. OPALCO President Jim Lett said that many member utilities of the Northwest Public Power Association are struggling with revenue shortfall, due mostly to warmer weather but also because of increased conservation measures and solar generation. In 2014, OPALCO’s cost of purchased power from Bonneville Power Administration increased by $546,056. It went from $7,584,245 to $8,130,301. That included a $200,000 demand charge levied by BPA in February due to much higher than contracted electricity use spurred by cold temperatures. Then came

Gill Dobbe photo

A vessel ran aground in the Fish Creek area between False Bay and Eagle Cove on San Juan Island on July 20. A Coast Guard helicopter arrived and was able to extract four people. For the full story, see page 5.

SEE OPALCO, PAGE 6

County Council says Thomas not in the wrong after wetland designation by ANNA V. SMITH Journal reporter

The San Juan County Council has issued a statement that Manager Mike Thomas was not in the wrong in reference to a wetlands evaluation on a San Juan Island property. The council’s June 25 memo states Thomas was “within his jurisdiction” when he identified a contentious part of a San Juan Island property to not be a wetland. The statement is in response to an Improper Government Action report originally filed Jan. 21 by County Code Enforcement officer Christopher Laws that alleged a conflict of interest had occurred regarding a wetland determination in September of 2014. The initial IGA report filed by Laws stated that the property owners had complained to their

neighbor, Councilman Bob Jarman, who then asked Thomas to inspect the property. The IGA report alleges that Thomas and his wife Jennifer [a state certified wetland expert] did so, determined that it was not a wetland, and claimed “ethical impropriety” on Thomas’ part. The property is called the “Portland Fair Estates” and is owned by a nonprofit homeowners association. The recent memo from the council refuted those claims, stating that Thomas’ wife (who is not a county employee) was in the vicinity, but was not there to assist in a wetlands reconnaissance and that Thomas acted within his authority, stating “He has often intervened … to resolve a citizen issue, at times in conflict with the personal or professional opinions of his staff; with the goal of streamlining a pro-

cess, resolving long term issues, reflecting the wishes of the council, or with the larger goal of improving the perception of county government within the community.” The county memo went on in a later section to say that Thomas “saved the county an unnecessary expense by his review.” Prosecuting Attorney Randy Gaylord handled the IGA submitted by Laws, and issued a memorandum regarding the report on March 11. He stated that had Thomas done a proper wetland reconnaissance then he should have filed an official report. It was unclear whether Thomas was qualified to make a wetland determination at the time. “The question presented is whether the

SEE THOMAS, PAGE 6

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