02/13/1985 Meeting (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

~ , - e e February 7, 1985 TO: FROM: Mayor and City Council Bill Sloat Business Assistance Team SUBJECT: Electrical Service in the Willow Creek Basin Several members of the City Council may recall concerns raised last Summer regarding the availability of electrical service in the Willow Creek basin. The expressed concerns related to a prospective industrial siting for signif- icant electrical service capacity. The firm eventually picked a Portland area site. Mayor Obie requested staff to pursue the electrical service issues to assure the community that the proposed residential, commerical, and industrial development in the Willow Creek refinement plan could be executed. Moreland and Unruh is acting as the development representative for the larger industrial property owners in the Willow Creek basin. Staff met ~nd discussed the siting and concerns of the prospective firm with Tom Moreland. Mr. More- land indicated he would work with Lane Electric Cooperative to determine LECls capacity to serve the area, its financial policies for industrial firms, and its financing and service ability if a major electrical user is sited in the Willow Creek basin. CH2M Hill performed a formal long-range electrical system study for the Willow Creek basin including all of the area within the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) and the Urban Reserve. Lane Electric has adopted the study. There are, however, as Mr. Moreland raises in his letter to the Busi- ness Assistance Team, several more questions regarding development financing policies, customer rates, and duplication of costs which need additional study and comparative analysis between EWES and LEC. The Willow Creek Area Refine- ment Plan contemplated that such comparative analysis should occur and cooper- ation between EWES and LEC to determine the most reliable and efficient way to service the area is necessary. Technically, EWEB has no right or authority to involve itself in another utility.s service area. The City Council, however, not only has a right but a responsibility to the general public interest to pursue the best possible service arrangements in a key residential and indus- trial expansion area within the Urban Growth Boundary.