House passes Klamath dam bill

The Oregon House last week moved a bill that puts in motion a plan to remove four Klamath River dams, despite opposition from rural Republicans who said the bill is bad policy. Senate Bill 76 previously passed the Senate largely along party lines, with Democrats supporting it and Republicans opposed. Rep. Ben Cannon, D-Portland, downplayed the long-term implications of the bill and characterized SB76 as little more than a rate cap for PacifiCorp customers. Several steps must be taken before dam removal gains approval, he said, including several studies, approval from federal lawmakers and federal agency officials. Voting against the bill on the other hand, he said, would put in jeopardy the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, the restoration of fish runs in the Klamath River and saddle PacifiCorp ratepayers with continued uncertainty. The bill, he said, caps ratepayer liability at $200 million. And, he said, the Oregon Department of Justice has determined there is a "low risk of taxpayer liability" if costs of dam removal exceed previous estimates. Rep. Bill Garrard, R-Klamath Falls, spoke in opposition to the bill and said he believed passage of it gives the dam-removal plan momentum that will be hard to stop. "It's the first domino," he said. "If you tip the first one over, the whole row is going to collapse."...CapitolPress