Family Feud: Idaho versus Oregon

Oregon skeptical of Idaho Power line

Executives' loose bar chatter undercuts the utility's credibility in its effort to build a transmission project.

JOHN DAY, Ore. - Signs declaring "United Against Hate" hang in the windows of nearly every business on the Main Street in this isolated timber and ranching town nestled in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon.

The signs went up earlier this year when Aryan Nations national director Paul Mullet came to the John Day River Valley, looking for a national headquarters.

"The community just came together and said 'We don't want you here,'" says Grant County Commissioner Boyd Britton.

<snip>

So when the next threat came to the valley - a proposed transmission line of 190-foot-high towers that would run through their ranches and obscure their scenic views on its way to the Columbia River - folks here knew that words mattered.

That was a lesson Idaho Power executives had to learn the hard way.

After a March 2 public meeting to talk about the power line, company executives and contractors went to John Day's Outpost Pizza, Pub & Grill for drinks and dinner. They loudly made fun of how local people talked, expressed disdain for the locals' complaints and said that in the end they would simply take their land through the utility's power of eminent domain.

Word quickly got around about how the company officials viewed the community and the process, and residents complained to the company that the hearings were a "ruse."

Read more: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/04/04/1140802/oregon-skeptical-of-idaho-power.html#ixzz0k9Y6TKYh

Thanks!

I get my electricity from a rural electric co-op, so I'll be paying attention.

voting for the bought and paid for by industry Republicans, who lie to them to get elected, and then screw them over for their corporate overlords. I think some democrats who know how to talk to them and know what they want could make some inroads in future elections. Although Oregon is mostly liberal because of its western more populated residents, Idaho has been stuck in red it seems forever.

edited to correct error.