Feds give $30 million for Newberry geothermal work
From KTVZ.COM news sources – Oct 29, 2009 03:00 PM PDT

New form of geothermal energy system could spring to life at Newberry Volcanic Monument

Continuing efforts to advance alternative energy resources and break our dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuels, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) announced nearly $40 million in Recovery Act funding for the exploration and development of geothermal energy technologies in Oregon.

“This funding will literally help to bring Oregon’s geothermal energy potential to the surface,” Wyden said. “It will create and sustain jobs improving alternative energy technology to better tap into Oregon’s unique set of renewable energy resources.”

“The Recovery Act continues to spur growth in the emerging clean energy industry,” Merkley said.  “These projects will create new jobs and solidify Oregon’s position as a leader in renewable energy production.”

Distributed by the U.S. Department of Energy, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding will support and create seven Oregon-based geothermal projects.

The funding dramatically increases geothermal energy development both in Oregon and nationwide and is a large step toward comprehensive utilization of alternative energy resources throughout the state.

The following seven Oregon projects are receiving funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act:

Nevada Geothermal Power Company- Crump Geyser- $1,764,272
This project will test a new, low environmentally impacting drilling technique and create a method to model the movement of fluid in the reservoir.

Newberry Geothermal Holdings- Newberry- $4,475,075
This project will use advanced techniques to locate geothermal reservoirs.

ORMAT, Nevada, Inc. – Glass Buttes- $4,377,000
This project will locate faults in geothermal reservoirs using advanced techniques.

The City of Klamath Falls- Klamath Falls- $816,000
This project will fund the construction of a low-temperature power plant with a district heating system to power the city of Klamath Falls.

Johnson Controls, Inc.- Oregon Institute of Technology (Klamath Falls)- $1,047,714
This project will install a low-temperature unit on the Oregon Institute of Technology campus.

AltaRock Energy, Inc. – Newberry Volcanic Monument (Bend)- $24,999,430
This project will generate power from the Newberry Geothermal Resource Area by demonstrating EGS (engineered geothermal systems) technology.

According to a San Francisco Chronicle article on a Bay Area project, AltaRock is developing a new form of geothermal power, drilling deeper into deep rocks, hotter than 500 degrees Fahrenheit. The Bay Area company will fracture those rocks with high-pressure water, creating a network of cracks. AltaRock then will pump more water into the cracks, using the rocks to heat the water and create steam.

Surprise Valley Electrification Corporation- Paisley- $2,000,000
This project will build a binary power plant that uses low-temperature fluids. It will also help to construct a local aquaculture facility.

If you follow this link, you’ll see that Vulcan Power also got a grant. They are based here in Bend.
http://www.energy.gov/news2009/documents2009/338M_Geothermal_Project_Descriptions.pdf

The following article describes a classic trade-off situation .  The positive efforts to produce electricity locally (Distributed Generation) via hydro could have serious and long-term negative impacts on availablity of water for a healthly fish population as well as creating water challenges as the Central Oregon population continues to grow.

And, as the article points out, there’s the additional concern that serious self-serving, “good-old-boy”, behind-closed-doors negotiations have been happening and that there’s a specific effort to withhold full disclosure from the public.

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Flushed Away: City hydro project could be a drain on Tumalo Creek
Eric Flowers – the Source Weekly – October 28, 2009

You wouldn’t guess it from the rain soaked streets this week or the water gushing down Tumalo Creek, but there are signs aplenty that the upper Deschutes basin is running out of water to meet the demand of farms, cities and fish – all of which have legal, as well as historical and biological, cases for getting their share of water, especially during the parched summer months.

Recent data indicates that well owners are drilling deeper to hit groundwater, hinting that population growth and other high-intensity uses like golf courses may be negatively impacting the aquifer – something that just a few years ago experts said wasn’t likely to happen under the current rules. Meanwhile, pending applications for new groundwater withdrawals are approaching the ceiling the legislature set up when it crafted a series of special rules to stave off a potential development moratorium.

In the case of Bend, conservation campaigns have done little to curb residents’ thirst. The city still ranks significantly higher than similarly sized cities in the valley for per capita water use. And the city council recently spiked a proposal to address the problem with a tiered-rate structure that would have charged big-time water users more than conservation-minded residents. Still, the city has prided itself on being a leader on the basin’s water issues, working collaboratively with groups like the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council, the Deschutes Resource Conservancy (DRC) and the local irrigation districts on river restoration efforts designed to restore habitat and pump up traditionally meager summer flows on the Deschutes River and its tributaries.

That’s why the city’s latest water initiative has left some environmental advocates puzzled. Buried inside Bend’s massive surface water treatment plan, which emerged last month, is an initiative that could more than double the city’s withdrawal from Bridge Creek, potentially wiping out some of the summer and winter flows downstream in Tumalo Creek, a major tributary to the middle Deschutes that has already had millions of dollars invested in restoration efforts to offset the effects of erosion and excessive water withdrawals.

The city has yet to release the exact details of its diversion plan, though a feasibility report was due out last month. One of the major elements of the plan, however, is already raising a cautionary flag with some observers. Specifically, the city is proposing to add a small hydropower project to its water supply when it replaces a pipeline that funnels a sizeable chunk of the city’s drinking water from Bridge Creek to the Outback storage facility. The city estimates that by pushing drinking water through a turbine system before funneling it into the storage tanks, it could generate $1.8 million worth of electricity.

The only problem: nobody, except maybe the city, knows just how much surface water – one of the basin’s most scarce and precious resources – the city would have to divert to meet those estimates. And right now the city isn’t talking. According to the Department of Water Resources, Bend holds certificates for about 36 cubic feet per second (cfs) of surface water in Bridge Creek, or about 16,000 gallons per minute. However, the city diverts only about 14 cfs of that on any given day. The rest of the water is set aside for irrigation and “in-stream” flows – the water that is left in the river for fish and all other manner of life that depend on the river for sustenance.

Prior to the 1980s, and for the better part of a century, that number was zero. The state never saw fit to leave any water in Tumalo Creek when it doled out water rights around the turn of the century and farmers and irrigators weren’t about to hand over their water to a few trout and snails. As community values changed and people began to put a greater weight on the inherent value of a natural river, irrigators responded. In the case of Tumalo Creek, the irrigation district changed its point of diversion from near the source of Tumalo Creek to its current location downstream of Shevlin Park, the move restored summer water to roughly ten miles of stream, around Bend’s urban area.

“Tumalo Creek since the mid-‘90s has been on a restoration trend,” said Scott McCaulou, Deschutes River Conservancy program director.

“The situation in Tumalo Creek has been improving over the past 15 years in large part because of Tumalo Irrigation District’s desire to deal with the problem,” said McCaulou, who oversees DRC’s upper basin leasing and water bank programs aimed at restoring flows on the Deschutes River and its tributaries.

In addition to changing its point of diversion, the irrigation district also embarked on several water conservation projects with the assistance of the DRC and other state and federal agencies, McCaulou said.

Those projects, which consisted of replacing miles of open canals with watertight pipes, resulted in restored flows of about 8 cfs, or about 3,500 gallons per minute, below the district’s diversion near Shevlin Park. It’s the only thing keeping the water in that stretch of the river during peak irrigation months of August and September.

At this point it doesn’t appear that the conserved water from those projects is in any danger of being diverted by the city, but it could make it difficult to add more flow to that trickle that represents just a fraction of the water requested for fish by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

And it could impact how much water tumbles down the stream at other important times of the year, including the late spring when fish are beginning to spawn in shallow gravels.While a few cubic feet may not seem like much in a basin that flushes hundreds of gallons of water per second through its canals, it can have a significant impact on a small stream like Tumalo Creek, staving off fish mortality in summer months when water temperatures soar as well as preventing damaging ice-over events during the winter months.

“A few cfs is a significant volume of water in this context where maybe it isn’t on the main stem (of the Deschutes). Small changes could have a large impact and that’s one of the things that we’re interested in having a conversation with the city about once the plan is available,” McCaulou said.

It’s more than just a philosophical or abstract management question. The DRC, in collaboration with other state and federal agencies, has invested some $5 to $7 million in Tumalo Creek since restoration efforts started, mostly in the form of piping projects.

The DRC isn’t the only organization to pour resources into Tumalo Creek restoration in the recent past. The Upper Deschutes Watershed Council has also made a significant investment in Tumalo, mostly in the form of stream channel work designed to counteract erosion and enhance habitat.

The city’s diversion and hydro plan was the topic of discussion at a recent Watershed Council board meeting. And while the council is taking a wait-and-see approach on the issue, it’s watching closely. Like the DRC, the watershed council hasn’t heard much from the city and is waiting for its technical documents to see how much deference the city has given to the environmental issues. But right now, watershed council has very little to go on.

“We don’t know what their intention is, what they want to do, or what the consultants say they should do,” said Watershed Council Executive Director Ryan Houston.

A lack of a clear plan of action, however, didn’t stop the city from recently moving ahead with a major piece of the project. Last month, the city council authorized staff to purchase the steel pipe for the transmission line.

Veteran Bend City Councilor Jim Clinton explained the purchase as something less than a commitment to the Bridge Creek project. Should the city decide to go a different route, Clinton said it could simply recoup its investment by re-selling the pipe – for which there is presumably a demand. Still, the fact that the city would write a check for the pipe has some questioning just how serious the city is about considering other options.

“It’s probably one of the only times I’ve ever seen a government entity agree to buy materials before they actually had a feasibility report that was out and made public for comment. A lot of people might say, ‘So what?’ but usually these kinds of issues are expanded upon when we’re talking about a pretty important resource like Tumalo Creek,” said Tom Davis, a retired engineer and Sisters resident who sits on the Upper Deschutes Watershed Board and is active in fish conservation issues throughout the basin on behalf of the Native Fish Society.

While the Source had a relatively long list of questions for the city about its plan, as well as issues related to its current conservation strategy, phone calls to staff weren’t returned until after deadline. But some of the city’s existing public research does illuminate. For example, the city opted to purchase a pipe that is more than double the system’s current capacity, indicating that it plans to, at some point in time, divert more water. However, there are some legal limitations. According to a consultant report for the city released in September, the city can only divert water for hydro that is actually being used in the drinking system. Whether that would limit how much the city diverts depends on just how many showers and sprinklers are running on a given day – and perhaps on who is counting.

But with a strong financial incentive to divert more water (more water = more power = more dollars) don’t expect the city to pass on any water it can get. As the report indicates the city is counting on the fact that, “water will be available for generations up to the anticipated right/water use volume for each year.”

Not everyone at the city agrees that it should pursue an aggressive diversion strategy. Clinton, who also sits on the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council, said he supports the project, but only if the city limits its withdrawal to its historical diversion from Bridge Creek.

“I think that whatever the city does it should hold Tumalo Creek harmless,” Clinton said. “That’s a lot different than saying, ‘Let’s not do Bridge Creek at all.’”

Clinton isn’t the only one on the city council approaching the project with caveats. Not everyone is convinced that preserving the surface diversion makes sense. New federal drinking water rules, which were a big impetus for starting the conversation on the future of the Bridge Creek supply, apply only to surface water, but require from Bend an investment somewhere between $17 million and $30 million to meet new federal treatment standards. There’s also the question of the hydropower feasibility. While the physics are pretty straightforward – water comes downhill and turns a wheel – the economics are a little murkier. Due to the various tax incentives incorporated in the initial outline of the project the city would have to find a private partner to pick up as much as half of the initial investment in the project, or about $41 million when the pipe is included.

Yet there are some upsides to the project. The revenue from the hydro plant would help cut down on planned water-rate increases to the city’s customers. Under one scenario outlined by city staff, the annual-rate increase would be about half what it otherwise would over the next five years if hydro is included. There is also paradoxically an environmental incentive. Wells and pumps (the alternative if Bridge Creek is retired) are huge energy consumers. If the city went that route, it would be importing more energy, likely from coal plants and salmon-killing Columbia dams, to run its wells, rather than exporting hydropower from an existing pipeline.

While staff has pushed these benefits, some councilors are still eyeing the project cautiously.

“There are just so many moving parts with this issue. My main point from the get-go is let’s try to turn this into a series of manageable decisions, rather than just say let’s go forward with treatment and the whole piping, or let’s not do that. There’s no reason why right now we have to make the ultimate management decision,” said Bend City Councilor Jeff Eager.

In the meantime, if the city can’t find a partner for its hydro project, Eager said it might make sense for the staff to start looking at the possibility of moving away from surface water and relying on more wells. In the end, it may just come down to dollars and cents. City staff estimates that energy sales from the hydro project would generate $176 million over the next 50 years, an attractive proposition for a city that has been through several rounds of lay-offs.

But without a private partner, the hydro project is a bust and city-rate payers would have to shoulder the entire cost of the new pipeline through rate increases and charges on new development, which under one scenario could amount to an annual rate increase of up to 10 percent through 2014.

“That’s really the linchpin of the hydro project, if that doesn’t materialize or it looks like we can’t do that, then maybe a great reliance on groundwater makes sense,” Eager said.

Apparently the solar systems installation industry of Central Oregon will get another competitor: Advanced Energy Systems.  The physical location is currently unknown but the Bend phone number is listed on the company’s website as 541-520-5590.

The above image is from an advertisement in the October 21, 2009 Cascade Business News and the following announcement was in the September Economic Development for Central Oregon Newsletter:

New Member: Advanced Energy Systems – Bronze
With a new office in Bend, AES Advanced Energy Systems has expanded from the west side of the Cascades. With 25 years of hands-on involvement in the renewable energy industry, Advanced Energy Systems is dedicated to providing the best experience possible for the business owner with the acquisition and operation of a renewable energy system. Advanced Energy Systems specializes in the design of commercial solar electric systems and commercial solar water heating systems.

‘Boom’ begins Juniper Ridge hydro, canal piping project
KTVZ.com news sources – October 12, 2009

A thunderous roar from a small explosive charge marked the official start of construction Monday on the $26 million Juniper Ridge Project, an unprecedented project that will return water supplies to the Deschutes River and generate carbon-free energy.

U.S. Congressman Greg Walden, along with state officials, representatives from the Central Oregon Irrigation District, Deschutes County, the Deschutes River Conservancy and Portland General Electric Company attended the groundbreaking ceremony five miles north of Bend along Highway 97.

Immediately following the ceremony, construction crews began replacing 2.5 miles of open irrigation canal, owned and operated by Central Oregon Irrigation District (COID), with underground steel pipe and an innovative, small hydropower system.

By conserving water supplies previously lost through the porous canal, the Juniper Ridge Project will benefit Deschutes River salmon and reintroduced steelhead.

Approximately 20 cubic-feet per second of water presently diverted from the Deschutes River for irrigation purposes by COID will be permanently returned to the river, increasing instream river flows for fish and wildlife species.

Once the new pipe is in place, a small hydropower unit will be installed in the summer of 2010. This state-of-the-art unit will generate up to 3.37 megawatts of clean, renewable electricity annually, or enough power for roughly 2,000 homes.

Irrigation district patrons will also benefit because the project will modernize district conveyance facilities and improve overall system efficiencies.

“We appreciate the support we’ve received from the State of Oregon, the federal government and many others,” said Carroll Penhollow, chairman of COID’s board of directors. Penhollow added, “Our farmers, ranchers and everyone else who relies on our district should be proud that we’re improving district efficiencies while protecting the environment.”

The State of Oregon, along with several business and conservation groups played an instrumental role in financing the project.

“We are very pleased to help fund this important project through a state tax credit and small energy loan,” said Mark Long, Director of the Oregon Department of Energy. “This project not only benefits fish and wildlife species, it will provide economic benefits to the local community.”

“This project will improve water quality and fish habitat in a very important part of Oregon,” said Dick Pedersen, Director of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. “DEQ is pleased to work with a group of people who share our goals of improved water quality. The collaboration between the irrigation district, Oregon Department of Energy and DEQ worked very smoothly.”

“This project is a great example of how we can generate clean renewable local power in Oregon,” said Betsy Kauffman, senior program manager with Energy Trust of Oregon. “We’re happy to be involved with a project that has benefits for the district, the community, and the watershed.”

“The City felt it was important to step forward as a partner in this project,” said Bend City Manager Eric King. “The benefits to the community and the environment are truly significant.”

“Projects like this don’t come along every day. It is gratifying to see so many people come together to make the project happen,” said Julie Keil, Director of Hydro Licensing for PGE. “PGE and the Confederated Tribes are happy to be a part of the effort.”

Total project costs are estimated at $26 million. Oregon’s Department of Energy has provided a $4.2 million Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC) to COID, and a $12 million low-interest loan. Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality awarded the District a $2 million grant along with a $2 million zero interest loan from federal stimulus funds.

The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board awarded COID a $1 million grant and the Deschutes River Conservancy is providing a $1 million grant for the project from federal Bureau of Reclamation stimulus funds. Energy Trust of Oregon is providing a $1 million grant.

The City of Bend is contributing $278,000 and the Portland General Electric Company is contributing $250,000. The District is financing $5 million in upfront capital costs and will repay approximately $19 million in loans and debt service.

During the project’s construction in 2009/2010, COID will provide eight landowners with a supplemental water supply to compensate for the shutdown of the irrigation canal. These eight landowners have large livestock herds and no alternative water supply. The District will finance a six-day per week water hauling service to each landowner; the hauler will provide a 2-day supply. District costs for this service are roughly $100,000.

The project’s construction will be managed locally by the Slayden Construction Group along with Jack Robinson & Sons. Materials for the project are being produced by the Northwest Pipe Company of Portland, OR, and the James Leffel & Company of Central OH. All of the project’s materials are made in the U.S.

The Juniper Ridge Project is scheduled to be complete and producing energy by next summer.

Empty Wells Drilled as Part of Newberry Geothermal Project Cost $20 million
Daniel Pearson – Cascade Business News – October 6, 2009

After spending about $20 million to drill two exploratory holes looking for geothermal sources of energy west of Paulina Lake outside of the Newberry National Volcanic Monument, officials with Davenport Power say their efforts were a bust and that the company is back at the drawing board before beginning a new round of exploration.

Davenport Power President Doug Perry said the project resulted in the company locating plenty of heat but it didn’t find a way to mine the heat and get it to a power plant to operate a turbine.

“We have a number of acres up there where we’ve drilled exploratory wells,” Perry said “It’s expensive but there is a lot of energy up there. Our plans are now two-fold. The next steps in the exploration process we are preparing for are the completion of geophysical surveys as well as drilling temperature gradient holes. We’ve applied with the Bureau of Land Management to expand the area of operations.”

A recent newsletter released by the company said that “After drilling two deep exploratory wells (10,060 and 11,600 feet respectively), the Newberry Geothermal Project found very high levels of heat in both wells, but little commercially viable resource – neither hot water nor steam … The three pads and two wells the Newberry Project constructed last year remain in place and will continue to be maintained and utilized in exploration activities.”

Exploration at Newberry began back in the 1970s, and the Davenport Newberry Geothermal Project started in 2000, Perry said, but there has yet to be a successful dig, as far as finding a power source with enough energy to turn on the lights at a new power plant. Officials with Davenport believe the potential exists to create a geothermal power plant that can provide electricity to 100,000 homes in Central Oregon.

Back in early 2000, Davenport announced investors with U.S. Renewables Group, which operates in Los Angeles and New York, and Riverstone Holdings, also from New York, would fund the drilling that ceased this year. It was not known at press time if either of these companies plans to sink anymore capital into new wells.

The Newberry Project team started implementation of the next exploration phase on Newberry Geothermal Project\’s BLM-leases. Planned surface geophysical work will collect data to assist in understanding the nature and geology of Newberry Volcano.  This geophysical work consists of a series of gravity surveys and magnetotelluric surveys, according to information on Davenport’s website. This surface work will be non-invasive and low-impact in nature, and will occur on geothermal lease holdings along the western flanks of Newberry Volcano. The planned geophysical data gathering is similar to that which was approved by the BLM and U.S. Forest Service in 2006. Work is anticipated to begin in 2010.

“Achieving our goal of utilizing Newberry\’s tremendous geothermal energy potential to produce renewable, clean electricity remains the focus of our efforts,” Perry said. “We remain committed to exploring, developing and operating at Newberry Volcano in a safe manner, as good stewards of the public land and the geothermal resource.”

At the same time, Perry added that no one is a bottomless money pit.

“After a certain amount of time if there is no success, and I don’t know when that point is, we would have to stop,” he said. “The good news is there is a lot of heat up there.”

Deschutes County May Let More Wind Power Bloom
Keisha Burns – KTVZ.COM – October 7, 2009

Another issue discussed, which has hit a roadblock before, was whether to allow taller wind-energy turbines in the area. Current county restrictions prevent structures over 30 feet in most zoning districts, but that could change as soon as next year.

Planning Director Nick Lelack said many residents are for the idea, but adding wind turbines has its pros and cons.

“Generally we hear that people support them,” he said. “The key issue is when they are proposed on their neighbor’s property, and maybe between the neighbor’s property and view of the mountains, something of that nature.”

Luke said they won’t move forward with an ordinance until they hear from the public about any concerns, starting the public process with the county planning commission.

“That’s the process that I would favor, so the citizens would have the opportunity to comment on it,” he said.

After a proposal is drafted and debated before planning commissioners, commissioners will take up the issue again, to see if the public favors the idea, before moving forward.

The wind-power issues could be part of the ongoing update of the county’s overall land use plan – the first total rewrite in some 30 years – or it could be handled separately, Luke said.

While sucess at Newberry geothermal project would be a major positive step forward for distributed generation of renewable energy for Central Oregon the financial costs already incurred and the potential enviromental risks are concerns that should be constantly evaluated.

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The drill at Newberry
By Kate Ramsayer – The Bulletin – September 28, 2009

Last year, Davenport Power drilled two exploratory wells 10,000 feet below the flanks of Newberry Volcano searching for hot rocks and water but found nothing but heat.

Now the company, which hopes to tap into geothermal power in the Deschutes National Forest south of Bend, is making plans to use a suite of other less-intensive methods to further map the underground rocks and temperatures in the area to find other potential drill sites.

When crews bored two wells just to the west of Paulina Lake, outside of the Newberry National Volcanic Monument last year, instruments measured plenty of heat but not enough water or steam to turn turbines and generate power, said Doug Perry, president of Davenport Power.

The company hopes eventually to drill production wells that could fuel a power plant capable of providing electricity to about 100,000 homes.

But first, scientists will try to get a broader picture of the area’s geology, building on geologic mapping that other companies had done in previous years.

“One of the things we want to do is engage in some more exploration activity,” Perry said. “The idea is to still try to get the best picture we can of what it looks like down deep. Hopefully, from that we would end up targeting where we would drill some more exploratory wells.”

One way to get a better picture is with narrow temperature gradient wells that reach about 3,500 feet below the surface — an easier and cheaper procedure than the exploratory wells drilled in 2008. These temperature gradient holes can be drilled from the back of a truck, like a water well, Perry said, as opposed to the 180-foot-tall derricks needed to drill the exploratory wells.

Davenport plans to create a string of up to 12 temperature wells west of the monument to gauge the extent of the area’s hot rocks.

“We think that the area of heat may be larger than just the area where we were drilling those (exploratory) wells,” Perry said. “But we can do exploration and drill these temperature gradient wells a lot less expensively.”

There’s still no guarantee that a site will have water or steam, he said. The company would have to bring back the big drilling rigs later to test for that.

But the company also plans to try out a relatively new technology. Davenport plans to drop listening devices into the temperature gradient holes, Perry said, to see if they can pick up any background sounds that might be a hint of water moving through the ground.

“This is to try to hear if there’s any liquid moving,” Perry said.

Davenport also plans to conduct ground-level surveys, he said, continuing work geophysicists started in 2006. A gravity study could help tell scientists about the different rock layers, while a survey of changes in the magnetic field could help provide clues about the location of hot water.

“We’ve tried to come up with a program to hopefully give us additional and better information about what’s down there,” Perry said.

While Davenport is still hoping to find steam to fuel a power plant, he said the company is also considering using a technology called enhanced geothermal systems, or engineered geothermal systems.

In those systems, crews drill a well and create small fractures in the deep rock, then circulate fluid through the hot rocks. That way, they don’t need to find naturally occurring steam.

The technology created some controversy after a project set off a small earthquake in Europe.

Perry said the geology is different in Central Oregon, and if Davenport receives funding to try the enhanced geothermal technology, the company will do further analysis, reviewed by outside experts, to determine the local risk. The company would also have to get additional OKs from federal land management agencies.

For now, though, Davenport is focusing on the temperature wells and geophysical surveys.

The company still has to get permission from the Bureau of Land Management for the temperature wells. The agency is getting ready to start an environmental assessment of the potential impacts of the series of drill sites, said Linda Christian, environmental coordinator with the BLM’s Prineville District.

Davenport is proposing to do the work without building new roads or cutting down trees, she said, but will instead drill along existing forest roads and in previously clear-cut areas.

“The total area that’s going to be disturbed in this whole environmental assessment (area) is 2.5 acres, in 100-by-100-foot lots,” Christian said.

The work could damage some habitat, but once the company gathers data it will restore the area, she said.

And the information will help provide a better picture of the geology in the area, she said.

“We’re trying to get the science and figure out if this is a viable alternative energy source,” Christian said. “Maybe it won’t be, but they need to look at all avenues.”

Davenport Power’s attempts to find steam to fuel a power plant have yet to succeed. Now the company will use much smaller drills in hopes of finding the right site.

CEC wins round in fight over transmission line
By Jim Cornelius – NuggetNews.com – September 22, 2009

Central Electric Cooperative (CEC) won a round in an ongoing battle with the Cyrus family of Sisters, and others, over the Jordan Road transmission line.

Deschutes County Hearings Officer Karen Green ruled last week that “CEC has a common-law vested right to complete, operate and maintain the entire Jordan Road line upgrade from the Cline Falls substation to the Black Butte substation.”

CEC had claimed that right under property rights Measure 49. The Cyrus family and Trail Crossing Trust contested the right. The Cyruses have long maintained that CEC did not have the right to install tall new steel towers for the Jordan Road line upgrade and they have a case pending in Deschutes County Circuit Court arguing that the poles trespass on their property.

The hearings officer’s decision is unrelated to the trespassing case.

“We are satisfied with the 41-page decision by Deschutes County hearings officer Karen Green,” said CEC Member Services Director Alan Guggenheim. “Her decision confirmed Central Electric didn’t need to obtain building permits from the Deschutes County Building Safety Division for the upgrade project. It confirmed that CEC was entitled to rely on the Measure 37 waivers granted by the Deschutes County Commission. And it confirmed that those waivers didn’t require local permits.”

Matt Cyrus disagrees with the ruling and told The Nugget that, though no decision has been made, it is likely that it will be appealed and “most likely will go all the way back to the court of appeals.”

Cyrus said the chances of reversal are high.

“The last time this hearings officer reached a decision in favor of CEC (regarding expansion of a non-conforming use) it was overturned in the courts,” Cyrus said.

Guggenheim greeted the ruling as “good news for the 24,000 consumer-owners of Central Electric – especially the 6,000 members who live in Sisters Country.”

He acknowledged that the project has been controversial since it was first proposed in 2001 and accepted some responsibility for that: “Could we have done anything differently the past eight years to obviate some of the controversy? Sure, of course. Our communications with our members haven’t been perfect. Nobody’s perfect, and anybody in the business of communications should be. But I will say this: everybody I know here at Central Electric does his or her best every single day to keep the lights on and meet our members’ energy needs.”

So as to not dwell on the negative three articles on this subject are included in this one post.  The first two articles are recent while the last one is dated one year ago.  Each article has duplicate details but some different information too.

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Bend solar contractor charged in million-dollar theft case
Victims include homeowners, high-profile local businesses
By Nick Budnick – The Bulletin – September 17, 2009

A Bend renewable-energy systems contractor who for years has been accused of shoddy work, unkept promises and worse was taken into custody Wednesday following his arraignment on 29 counts of theft, unlicensed construction work and racketeering.

Eric “Gabe” Wisehart, 38, was booked into the Deschutes County jail on $500,000 bail and was being held there Wednesday evening. He has not yet entered a plea, and his lawyer could not be reached for comment.

Deschutes County District Attorney Mike Dugan said, “This is a very large and (detailed) fraud, theft-type case that has probably in excess of $1 million of fraud. There are numerous, numerous victims not only inside Deschutes County but outside Deschutes County.”

Wisehart did business under the name New Path Renewables, Pac-Wind OR LLC and Solect Systems Inc. The indictment, which was issued Monday, describes a pattern of theft and theft by deception since 2004 committed against more than two-dozen customers. It expands upon documents filed in Deschutes County Circuit Court last year when detectives raided the house Wisehart shared with his wife, Sonia. His wife has not been indicted.

The documents accuse Wisehart of having repeatedly promised to install solar or wind-power equipment while collecting full or partial payment up front. Then, he frequently never completeed the job.

At times, he is accused of completing the job, only to return later to remove without permission equipment that he’d already installed.

Wisehart’s alleged victims include some well-known Central Oregon firms such as Pronghorn, Aspen Lakes Golf Course and Jeld-Wen, the developer of Brasada Ranch.

The list also includes people like Sandy Veeck, 68, who hired Wisehart in April 2006 to install solar panels on her east Bend home.

It took eight to 10 months and “a lot of harassment on my part” to get the panels installed, Veeck said, and then the work kept flunking inspection by the county. Finally, she hired another company that fixed the problems in a single day, she said.

She said she is out $12,000 and likened Wisehart’s business pattern to a “pyramid” scheme in which later customers’ payments were used to fund work on previous customers.

“This guy is smooth,” said Veeck, who said she is now undergoing expensive chemotherapy. “I am unemployed and a widow. I have not got infinite funds; I need every dollar like everybody else today.”

Cathy Jensen, of northwest Bend, who said she and her husband are out about $8,000, said that Wisehart’s victims were those hoping to be pioneers in advancing a more sustainable future.

“He was a very cool operator,” she said.

Kelli Hewitt, co-owner of another Bend solar-energy contractor, E2 Powered, said her firm has been called in to repair or complete as many as 12 renewable-energy projects that Wisehart had started.

She said Wisehart was well-known in the industry and had been at the forefront of the solar boom starting about five years ago.

“I would say in Bend he was very well-known, and I would say it’s not just Bend; he’s done systems throughout Oregon and probably in California and Washington as well.

“We’re too small of an industry and too new to fight those kinds of stigmas,” she said of the allegations against Wisehart, which she called “unfortunate.”

Between 2001 and 2007, he was suspended four times by the state Construction Contractors Board for a number of violations including “dishonest or fraudulent conduct,” according to the agency. In January 2008, the board refused to reissue his license based on at least 16 complaints, including for dishonest and fraudulent behavior.

He owes the board about $40,000 for claims filed by past clients, according to the board’s Web site.

Wisehart was first arrested one year ago, in September 2008, when detectives with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant on his home. Court documents show that detectives also seized computers and other equipment.

Deschutes County Chief Deputy District Attorney Darryl Nakahira said the investigation has been long and involved because of the need to analyze computers, as well as the decision to prosecute him for racketeering, a criminal statute originally written for organized crime and which alleges an enterprise based on a pattern of criminal activity.

To assist in the case, Dugan and Nakahira requested assistance from the Oregon Department of Justice and state Attorney General John Kroger.

In a news release Wednesday, Kroger said, “Oregon needs green jobs, not green crime.”

Wisehart is scheduled to return to court to enter a plea Sept. 30.

# # #

Bend solar contractor indicted on $1.5 million in thefts
Largest fraud case in Deschutes County history, DA says
KTVZ.COM news sources – September 16, 2009

A year after his initial arrest, a Bend solar contractor appeared in court and was ordered jailed Wednesday on an indictment accusing him of stealing more than $1.5 million in solar panels and renewable energy equipment from over two-dozen former clients.

Oregon Attorney General John Kroger and Deschutes County District Attorney Mike Dugan said the 29-count indictment alleges that contractor Eric Robert “Gabe” Wisehart, 37, returned to job sites and stole more than $1.5 million in property.

Wisehart did business as New Path Renewables, PacWind-Or LLC and Solect Systems Inc. Victimized clients included homeowners, the Ray’s Food Place on Bend’s Westside, and the Pronghorn and Brasada Ranch golf resorts, authorities said.

Wisehart appeared Wednesday morning before Circuit Judge Michael Sullivan, who ordered him jailed on $500,000 bail pending another court appearance and possible plea entry in two weeks.

“This is the largest fraud case in Deschutes County history. and it represents how local law enforcement and the Attorney General can work together to crack down on consumer fraud,” said Dugan. “I look forward to working with the Attorney General Kroger to hold Gabe Wisehart accountable.”

“The indictment alleges that Wisehart stole solar panels and renewable energy equipment,” said Kroger. “Oregon needs green jobs, not green crime.”
The 29-count indictment accuses Eric Robert “Gabe” Wisehart of stealing property valued at $10,000 to $900,000.

The charges include accusations that Wisehart returned to job sites and unlawfully removed his former clients’ property, including solar panels and other renewable energy equipment.

The case is being prosecuted by Deschutes County Chief Deputy District Attorney Darryl Nakahira, Deputy District Attorney Evander McIver and Senior Assistant Attorney General Andrew Campbell.

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office and the Oregon Department of Justice Criminal Justice Division are conducting an ongoing investigation into additional alleged financial improprieties by Wisehart.

A year ago, sheriff’s detectives said Wisehart bilked customers out of thousands of dollars when he didn’t finish solar and renewable energy projects.

# # #

The initial allegations as reported September 17, 2008 are below:

Bend solar contractor ripped off many, police say
Police raid home, seek public’s help in finding victims
By Nina Mehlhaf and Barney Lerten, KTVZ.COM – September 17, 2008

Arrested but not yet booked into jail, a Bend contractor is awaiting the final tally of charges he’ll face for theft.

Deschutes County sheriff’s detectives say Eric Grybyal Wisehart, 37, or “Gabe” as he’s better known, bilked customers out of thousands of dollars when he didn’t finish solar and renewable projects.

Detectives are now going through records on the Oregon Construction and Contractors Board Website.

Wisehart owes nearly $37,000 just in penalties and civil dispute payments for work complaints dating back to 2001. The unlicensed contractor and owner of New Path Renewables, a solar panel and renewable energy business in Bend, has been hit with violations of dishonest and fraudulent business practices.

But it turned criminal when those victims started calling the sheriff’s office with the same accusations.

Authorities say Wisehart would take tens of thousands of dollars of their money for something like a solar panel project, do it halfway, then take off.

“There were large sums of money put up front with an inability to pay it back and based on the number of times this occurred, we believe it went beyond bad business practices,” Sgt. Michael Espinoza said Wednesday.

Nobody answered the door Wednesday at Wisehart’s Woodside North Drive home in southeast Bend Wednesday.

Neighbors NewsChannel 21 spoke with were surprised to hear the news, calling him a nice family man. But some others in the solar power industry around town say Wisehart’s a legend, and it was just a matter of time before he got caught.

“We’ve certainly known about this for awhile, but it’s frustrating because we’re trying to run an ethical business here and take care of our customers,” said Chance Currington of Sunlight Solar Energy Inc. in Bend.

“This is something specific to our industry and gives (businesses like) us a bad name, and we don’t like that at all,” he said.

To avoid becoming a victim, Currington says get the contractor’s CCB license number and check it to see if they’re bonded and insured. And get phone numbers of past clients to see if they were satisfied.

Authorities say this kind of alleged fraud is getting worse because of the bad housing market and economy.

“It’s hard to say negative things about someone so charismatic that people do like and like to be around,” Currington said. “But at the same time, you can’t do that to people, and it’s come around full circle now.”

To check and see if your contractor is legit, you can log onto the state Construction Contractor Board’s Website at www.oregon.gov/ccb and look up their name and status.

If you believe you were a victim of this fraud, sheriff’s detectives want to talk to you. You can call them at (541) 617-3393.

Gabe Wisehart will remain out of jail until the investigation is done and the final charges are tallied up. Most likely, he will face a grand jury indictment.

Sheriff’s detectives executed a search warrant around 8 a.m. Tuesday at the Wisehart’s home, Espinoza said in a news release, adding that he will face “multiple counts of aggravated theft.”

An investigation began several months ago, after the sheriff’s office received several complaints that Wisehart had defrauded customers around Oregon and Washington since 2001, Espinoza said.

Wisehart operated several renewable-energy companies that authorities allege he used to defraud potential customers: New Path Renewables Inc. (NPRI), New Earth Works Inc., Pacwind LLC and Select Systems, Inc., Espinoza said.

The charges claim Wisehart sold customers solar and renewable-energy systems that were never completed, leading to complaints to the sheriff’s office and the Oregon Construction Contractors Board.

Because the investigation is still under way, Espinoza said he could not detail the number of victims or money involved as of yet, but said “multiple victims have been defrauded of large sums of money for these systems.”

Espinoza told KTVZ.COM that Wisehart was not immediately jailed because authorities want to “work with him” on the allegations, adding that he “cannot operate like he was” in the meantime.

“Even though the investigation is not over, we wanted to get information out before anyone else would be victimized financially,” the sergeant said.

While the investigation is pending, Espinoza added that no other suspects are expected to be charged in the case.

“We don’t anticipate this expanding any further than the businesses we’re investigating” and have identified publicly, he said

State lawmakers target energy tax credit costs
Benefit to large wind-power projects is likely to be reduced
By Nick Budnick – The Bulletin – September 3, 2009

Lawmakers and state regulators plan to put new restrictions on a state tax credit that has helped Central Oregon’s renewable energy businesses.

Lawmakers for the Senate and House revenue committees met last week in Salem to discuss the state’s budget picture, including the business energy tax credit, or BETC, which encourages investment in alternative energy, recycling and energy conservation measures.

Lawmakers were told that the tax credit is estimated to cost the state $168 million over the next two years. That’s a jump of $24 million over the previous estimate, and about $100 million more than it cost the state in the last two-year budget cycle.

Earlier this year, lawmakers had tried to curb the tax credit, shaving about $20 million by limiting the benefit provided to large wind-power projects.

But that legislation, House Bill 2472, was vetoed by Gov. Ted Kulongoski.

Now, however, legislative observers think lawmakers will muster the two-thirds supermajority necessary to override Kulongoski’s veto when they return to Salem for an expected special session in February.

Also last week, Kulongoski directed the Oregon Department of Energy to tighten its rules on the program.

Mark Long, the department’s director, said companies will be asked to provide data on other tax breaks they are receiving as well as information that will allow the state to estimate profit margins. He said safeguards also will be put in place to ensure companies are obeying state laws, and also that projects deliver on promises made to the state.

“We’re thinking of this as a contract between our department and the person who wants the tax credit,” he said.

He said the new rules will help tax credit applicants by providing better timeliness, predictability and consistency.

“The rules right now leave a lot of open-ended questions” for businesses, he said.

The rules will be finalized by Oct. 1.

Meanwhile, the Legislature could take an even bigger bite out of the program.

HB 2472 was aimed largely at large wind-power projects that some lawmakers felt were abusing the state’s program.

The Senate Revenue Committee chairwoman, Sen. Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, said that not only is a veto override in the works, but lawmakers also will explore other tweaks to save the state money.

The program will be targeted for even more dramatic reductions if voters reject the personal and income tax hikes that are expected to be on a January ballot, according to Burdick.

“We don’t have very many places to go for cuts,” she said.

Sen. Chris Telfer, R-Bend, a member of Burdick’s committee, thinks major cuts or elimination of the BETC program would hurt Central Oregon in particular. That’s because she thinks the renewable energy industry has a lot of gains to make in the region.

Depending on what lawmakers do, she said, “I think it could have a major impact” on the region’s future development. “This is a prime area, there’s really some potential there.”

Mike Costanti, principal of Western Community Energy, a wind power company, said the tax credit was a big reason for his company’s decision to relocate from Montana to Bend last year. And any major changes could cause it to rethink that decision.

“It is the BETC that is making renewable energy in Oregon work,” he said. “If you take the BETC away, it would be very difficult for our company to be not only in Bend, but in Oregon.”