Proposed Gas Pipeline Would Go Through Central Oregon

Proposed New Central Oregon Gas Pipeline

Gas pipeline might lower rates – project could go through Jefferson County
By Chuck Chiang - The Bulletin – Published: August 10. 2007
[Also see map image of pipeline from Central Oregon to the Columbia River.]

A major natural gas pipeline that is proposed to branch from the northern reaches of Central Oregon has the potential to lower rates locally in the future, industry officials said Thursday.

The project, expected to cost roughly between $600 million to $700 million, is a joint venture between Portland-based Northwest Natural Gas Co. and the pipe’s builder TransCanada Corp. The preliminary 220-mile route goes through Wasco County north of Madras and through Maupin, although officials said the plan is in its “very early” stages and did not rule out going through Jefferson County.

Project manager Henry Morse said the pipeline will connect to a Northwest natural gas distribution center near Molalla in the Willamette Valley, then potentially connect to the mouth of the Columbia River where it would link with a proposed liquified natural gas terminal.

Bend Building Code Goes Solar?

Like many of the cities in the U.S., Bend is attempting to deal with the challenges brought about by the increasing use of solar energy in residential and commercial construction. The following excerpts are from an article that originally appeared in High Country News and was reprinted in the Source with permission and includes additional reporting by the Source staff.

When the Joneses go solar: As photovoltaic panels pop up on rooftops, planners feel the pain
by Isabelle Groc – August 8, 2007

Roughly a year after dropping the city’s sunlight ordinance, Bend planners are taking a second look at ways the city can encourage new and existing property owners and developers to take advantage of Mother Natures most powerful and abundant source of power.

City of Bend planner Wendy Robinson said she is putting together an informal group of interested parties to discuss how the city can make it easier for people to tap solar. The work, which will likely begin this fall, will examine options like requiring developers to align streets with south facing houses and possibly resurrecting rules that could limit things like second story additions in existing neighborhoods where they cast a long solar-sucking shadow onto an adjacent property.

While solar ordinances are notoriously hard to enforce, they are also popular for reasons of aesthetics and energy. In the case of Bend, the city was asked by the state to revisit the solar issue as part of a larger legal challenge of the development code. [The legal challenge was issued by Bend attorney Paul Dewey who filed an objection with the State of Oregon regarding Bend’s poorly written solar access protection ordinances.]