Crook County leaders support bringing more power to the county but they don’t want new transmission lines to cut across private lands.

A crowd packed the Crook County Board of Commissioners meeting on May 7 to voice their opposition to a letter the commissioners were planning to approve and send to PacifiCorp. The letter would express support for an option of building a 500 kV transmission line in Crook County to boost the area’s electrical capacity. PacifiCorp is working on four projects in Central Oregon, where utilities are experiencing significant demand growth and are attracting large commercial customers.

Prior to the meeting, the commissioners had already amended the letter after hearing from Powell Butte residents who did not want additional power lines disrupting their property, much of which is irrigated and used for farming. The revised letter continued to express support for more power but requested that the lines not utilize current distribution lines and minimize disruption to private property.

Residents who attended the meeting appreciated the revision and agreed the area needs more power but were still upset that the county was sending a letter of support.

“The letter is vastly improved, but it’s premature,” said Powell Butte resident Steve Oberg. “We don’t have enough information about this project, why it’s needed and how it’s going to work.”

The commissioners stressed the letter was necessary because it gave the county “a seat at the table” as the particulars of the project are discussed in the future.

“A big part of the reason we want to move forward on this letter is because of the unknowns and uncertainty,” said Commissioner Seth Crawford. “It gives us the ability to have those conversations about staying away from neighborhoods … We need to make sure the citizens of Crook County are protected.”

Commissioner Brian Barney agreed, saying county leaders can’t “sit on the sidelines” as this project unfolds.

“We have to be actively engaged,” he said. “We need to be a part of that process.”

Residents continued to push back, raising concerns about whether the upgrades will benefit Deschutes County more than Crook County. They wondered if a letter of support could be used by PacifiCorp later to justify running power lines across private properties.

In response, Commissioner Susan Hermreck suggested the letter could say the county supports adding more power in Crook County, “with concerns.” She went on to note that the revised letter stresses that the county’s support is contingent on PacifiCorp seeking alternatives that minimize disruption to private lands, especially irrigated lands.

Crawford added that there is ample public land in Crook County through which PacifiCorp could run new transmission lines.

The residents continued to express concerns until the commissioners suggested one more revision, which would stress that the county is not in support of the current routes that BPA has outlined.

The letter was revised and signed and sent in time to meet a May 9 deadline.