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August 1999
The Circuit interviewed Administrator Judi Johansen shortly after her first anniversary as administrator. The interview looked back over her first year, but Johansen also shared her thoughts about the future.
Circuit: You came to BPA with an ambitious agenda. What do you think are your key accomplishments during your first year?
Johansen: I think we made good progress on the business initiatives.
The initiatives I talked about included getting the unified fish plan in place. I certainly didn’t think we’d do that within a year, but we’ve made significant progress and I feel very good about that. It’s not visible to folks who aren’t working directly on it, but progress is there.
I said I wanted Bonneville’s transmission system to foster an open and competitive market. That was an easy one for me because that was the ethic that Bonneville had when I came to this job. We’ve certainly achieved that, and we’re on the brink over the next year or two of positioning BPA to be the RTO [regional transmission organization]. A year ago I wasn’t even cognizant that that was a possibility for us. So, I think on the transmission side, we continue to position ourselves well.
On power, the big issue for me was to keep us at cost and below market. We’re going to hit that objective. We have resisted pressure from all sorts of outside groups, be it the industries or the environmental community or others to arbitrarily raise our rates when we don’t need to.
I’m tremendously proud of what Bonneville’s done to maintain and keep focused on a competitive cost structure because I think that’s the key to our future success. The market will continue to swing back and forth, and we need to maintain a constant low cost structure so we don’t have to do the eleventh hour program cutting or staff reductions or those types of things to react to changes in the market.
Circuit: And your accomplishments on employee issues?
Johansen: We haven’t made as much progress as I would like, but we’ve made some progress in connecting with employees. If you went back and looked at my calendar, you’d see that I’ve spent a lot of time with employees, although not as much at headquarters. I’ve focused on getting out to people who’ve never even seen an administrator.
My priority has been meeting those people and making sure we’re connecting with them, but that has come at the expense of headquarters people. I’m sorry, about that. However, I’ve seen many of our managers who’ve been working hard at trying to redirect their efforts toward more employee focus. It’s not enough, but it’s a start.
One work force initiative I set out to do last June was to revamp rewards and recognition. We’re not quite done, so I wish we could have done that more quickly. Now it’s going to get rolled into HPO [the “high performing organization” initiative], which is where it belongs.
Circuit: What do you see as the big workplace issues?
Johansen: The immediate big workplace issue is getting focused on the seven principles that came out of our strategic planning, such things as rewards and recognition, fair processes, encouraging a learning environment and, above all, trust and respect. We must deliver on that vision. We’re going to continue to focus on the workforce issues through the HPO initiatives.
The second big challenge is succession planning. That’s going to be part of the staffing strategy. When you look at the demographics of our work force, it’s obvious that a lot of institutional knowledge is going to walk out the door in the next few years. Many of these people are in mission-critical areas that take many years of training.When I came into the job, I didn’t realize what a tremendous challenge succession planning was going to be for this agency. In hindsight, I wish I’d put more attention on it than I did a year ago, but it’s squarely front and center on our screen now.
The third challenge is separation. If and when it happens, it will be a huge undertaking. It’ll feel good in many ways because we’re moving forward. But it’ll also feel bad because we’ll have to say goodbye to a lot of colleagues. If I had to guess, I’d say separation is on a three-to-five year horizon.
Circuit: Do you believe the Administrative Efficiencies Project is important enough to pursue in face of the controversy it has provoked?
Johansen: It’s critical. As I said, we’ve got huge succession planning problems in this agency. If we don’t have the latitude to offer different benefits packages, offer more flexibility in the way we compensate people, we’re not going to be able to compete with neighboring PUDs and IOUs. I sound like a broken record, but 60 to 70 percent of our mission-critical workforce will walk out the door in five years under voluntary retirement. We can’t bring people in quickly enough under our current system to deal with that. If for no other reason than that, we’ve got to have AEP.
There’s a misconception that AEP is about getting rid of people. AEP is not about giving us the ability to fire people. We can fire people now. I don’t know why anyone would prefer a RIF [reduction in force] with all of its subsequent disruption.
Circuit: What is the status of AEP?
Johansen: It’s in DOE. We didn’t get it through the department as quickly as I would have liked. We haven’t given up hope, but it probably won’t make it through this session. My guess is it will make it through the next session of Congress. We resolved all the legal and policy issues that were raised by the department, but we’re having a tough time getting it on the screen of the very busy deputy and the secretary. Once we do that, we’ll be able to move ahead.
Circuit: What is your read on employee satisfaction? Do you think the concern over the AEP affected the results of the employee survey?
Johansen: Yes. But there is another factor and that is we just concluded negotiations with our biggest bargaining unit. So, I think, naturally, when you’re in labor negotiations and you’re revising a personnel system, there will be increased dissatisfaction. To the extent the employee survey reflects that, it does not surprise me. But that doesn’t mean that we’re going to throw up our hands and say, “Oh, there’s nothing we can do.” We’re going to continue to focus on the work force issues through the HPO. We will infuse the HPO initiatives into the business units. I expect to see improvement in FY 2000.
Circuit: So, you are most satisfied with progress on the business side?
Johansen: Yes. Subscription and the beginning of the rate case took us about six months longer than we had planned to get clearance within the administration and resolve the direct service industries issue [how much power they get and at what rate]. If it had pushed out much longer, I would have started to get concerned. But we still have ample time to get the rates in place and get contracts signed before the existing contracts expire in October 2001. We’re basically talking about getting contracts signed a year before the others expire. I’d prefer that this had started six months ago, but it’s not a fatal blow to our strategy.
Circuit: What is the goal of having the contracts signed so early?
Johansen: When we get the rates concluded and the contracts negotiated this time next year, that will put in place the solid financial foundation Bonneville needs in order to give the region some economic stability. With this stability, we can then start talking about the bigger issues of separation, allocation of federal benefits (this whole debate about the residential exchange), the DSIs [direct service industries]. This will give the region a more stable foundation to engage the big regional-act-type issues if it chooses to engage them.
Circuit: O.K. Let’s talk about some of those big issues. Where are we on separation?
Johansen: We are continuing down the separation path, but where exactly we will end up isn’t clear at the moment. Functional separation is done. We’ve been sustained by FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) in the way we’ve implemented it. We’re proud of their acknowledgement of our squeaky clean way of approaching separation.
Now, the question is whether we move to complete separation. Legal separation would require legislation, and we’d have to get clearance from OMB [Office of Management and Budget], DOE, the administration and, of course, the Northwest delegation. They’re aware of the concept of separation, and we haven’t heard anything that would stop us from proceeding to explore legal separation, so it’s very much on the table. The question is “when.” If I had to guess, I’d say we’re looking at a three-to-five-year horizon.
Circuit: What does it mean for BPA to be the RTO?
Johansen: Clearly the RTO concept is driving separation. FERC has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that encourages the establishment of regional transmission organizations. We want to be the RTO. The question is whether legal separation is necessary. Since it’s a draft FERC rule, we haven’t had the full conversation with FERC yet. If it’s necessary to separate, then my guess is that we’re going to be pushing separation. But, we’re definitely seeking to be the RTO, and we definitely believe our people and our transmission assets should be the heart and soul of the RTO.
Circuit: Why is an RTO important? What advantages does it offer, and why should BPA be the RTO?
Johansen: An RTO is important if it’s implemented properly. It will be a more efficient, reliable way to operate and maintain the region’s transmission grid. The region still has inefficiencies. For example, there are currently more than 10 control areas. Efficiencies and cost savings ultimately can be gained in operations and central planning and by eliminating bottlenecks and pancaked rates.
BPA should be the RTO because we have the people and assets and track record to be the best in the nation. Nobody does it better than we do. We are among the safest and most reliable systems in the nation. Already we make up 80 percent of the high voltage transmission system in the region, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to work with the other owners to cover the remaining 20 percent. The region can’t succeed without BPA’s system, just from a work force issue alone. Without our work force, it would be impossible to train and find enough people and still keep rates low and the system safe and reliable.
Circuit: Another of the big issues is fish. Is it realistic to think we can get a 10-year fish plan that will give us peace for that time?
Johansen: I don’t think the point of the fish plan is necessarily to get peace. It’s to get focus on commonly agreed-to objectives. And I’d say, yes. I think there are a lot of people in this region who are frustrated with the diffuse objectives and the lack of coordination for what’s going on in the basin. For that reason, there’s a lot of desire to keep plowing ahead on a regional plan. I’d like to see it a minimum of 10 years, and more like 20 years.
I think it’s very achievable. But I have no illusions it will be a consensus plan. There will be people who don’t like it, don’t support it. But I do think it’s very achievable to get the critical mass — that being the states, some tribes, federal agencies, some stakeholders — aligned around common performance measures and objectives. It may not be pretty getting there, but we’ll get there.
Circuit: What’s your guess on where the dam breaching debate is headed?
Johansen: The Administration hasn’t taken a position on dam breaching, but my personal perspective is that it won’t happen, if at all, for at least a decade. It’s not as immediate an issue as, for example, modifications to river operations that could further the decline in system capability. This is the real challenge we are facing. I expect to see increased pressures for more spill that will continue to degrade our ability to follow load through peaking operations.
Circuit: Why is the 4H paper the federal caucus is working on so important? [4H refers to addressing all stages of the anadromous fish life cycle: hydro operations, habitat, hatcheries and harvest.]
Johansen: The 4H paper is important for three reasons. First, nearly everyone now acknowledges that it will take significant activity in all four Hs to achieve recovery of listed Snake River stocks. There is no silver bullet in one area that will result in recovery or harvestable levels. Second, if and when major decisions are made about hydro—such as breaching dams or changing operations—those decisions have to be presented in the context of a broader picture of how they fit with other actions. So the 4H paper is really a context paper. Third, and most important, neither NMFS [National Marine Fisheries Services] nor USFWS [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service] have ever finalized recovery plans for listed species under the Endangered Species Act. These plans are really critical to laying out the road map, and I see the 4H paper as the first step in putting a recovery plan in place.
Circuit: One of the sticky allocation issues is what the DSIs get from BPA. What has happened there and where are we going?
Johansen: It has been a struggle getting agreement with the DSIs. We have authority, but not the obligation, to serve them. There are those who characterize the issue as big industry versus little guys. But there was a jobs issue, and that’s another way to help the little guy. If we’re going to reflect what the region wants in this instance, then this was the right approach. It was the desire of some members of the delegation and the governors to do something for the DSIs. Would it have been right to raise people’s rates or to affect fish funding or affect our Treasury payment to serve the DSIs? No. Those were the lines I drew.
It was not our original strategy. That was to have the DSIs take what was left over. That didn’t work for them, so we had to come up with plan B. Is the subsidy $50 million? Yeah. And we didn’t make any bones about that. But that’s pretty much the limit of what we could have done without affecting those other parameters.
Circuit: You mention that the DSI issue reflected what the region wants. Let’s focus on the region and on regional values for a moment. Where are we in our Regionalization initiative?
Johansen: Chuck Meyer has developed a draft plan to involve the region in a discussion of its energy future and the role it wants BPA to play in that future. Ideally, I’d like to complete subscription and the rate case before we engage those issues. We want to make sure that those initiatives get underway so people don’t confuse the forums and the issues, although there will be overlap.
But, realistically, others outside the region may force the issue sooner. There are certainly increasing attempts to do away with cost-based rates or regional preference. In addition, the value of the region’s hydropower appears to be increasing significantly relative to other resources. If the Northwest wants to preserve the value of its own resource for itself, it cannot be passive.
Our role is not to lead. This is a regional issue. The governors and the delegation are the obvious leaders here. But we can help inform the region and help define the issues, as well as the risks and benefits of alternative futures.
Circuit: O.K. Who or what is the “region?”
Johansen: It’s customers; it’s constituents. Across the board, you have advocates for consumers, tribes, ratepayers, industries, the environment and conservation. It’s elected officials ranging from state legislators and state officials and governors to the delegation. I certainly consider the delegation to be part of the region. We’ve also had increasing interactions with unions — the steelworkers, the IBEW [International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers], the AFL-CIO. They’ve been interested in our issues. It’s all of the fabric of the society in our region, not just the three customer groups.
Circuit: With the region made up of so many interests, how do you determine the region’s values?
Johansen: You balance; you make decisions; you make trade offs. There’s no regional value per se. You’ve got rural-urban, west side-east side, upriver-downriver, IOU-public power and many more divided interests. So, it’s a balance. I think the important thing is listening and reaching out to those folks and saying, “We’re going to make some big decisions here, and we want to know what you think.” We’re not just focusing on any one group. The key is to look broadly at what the region wants out of the resources we are stewards of.
I think subscription is a great example of a success story. Stepping back and looking at it, we can say we managed to hold rates stable for preference customers and significantly divert more benefits to rural and residential ratepayers. We are true to the fish funding principles. We are taking the lead on conservation and renewables through our green marketing and our rate discount. And, the DSIs are being served.
We did it by going out and talking to a lot of people. There was an unprecedented amount of dialogue in subscription, in pulling the fish funding principles together and even in just putting the initial proposal for the rate case together. A lot of dialogue! The outreach to the tribes is improving exponentially in the quality of the information and the quality of the dialogue. Do I think in a year we’re going to be able to turn all the tribal issues around? No. There are years of history there we can’t change, but I think a lot of progress has been made.
Outreach to the states and the governors has been a high priority for me, and their input, their issues, their concerns definitely affected our subscription strategy. So, I believe we are doing a good job of reaching out to the region, constituent groups, customers and elected officials and trying to reflect their views.
Circuit: How do you define the public service we provide the region?
Johansen: Safe reliable low-cost power is the core. The partner to that would be leaving a lighter footprint on the environment than we’ve done in the past The initiatives on the fish and wildlife side and on conservation and renewables and the new technologies are important ancillary pieces.
Another benefit, where it fits with our core business, is looking for opportunities to provide service to the region. Fiber optics is an example. I’ve had several people from rural communities talk to me, very excited that we are installing fiber on our network so they have the opportunity to tap into that and bring high quality communications service into their communities. I was talking recently to an official from Sherman County, and he said their county has the highest per capita of people telecommuting. So, this has tremendous potential for them in terms of economic development and crafting a way of life they like.
Circuit: The residential exchange is another one of those perennial issues. Will it ever be resolved?
Johansen: The exchange is nearing the end of its relevancy in terms of the way it is implemented, but the concept behind spreading the benefits to rural and residential consumers regardless of their serving utility is a very valid concept. The challenge is finding a new mechanism for spreading the benefits.
The exchange was put in place by the Northwest Power Act of 1980, and that act did not anticipate electric industry restructuring. This is the reason the existing mechanism doesn’t work. For example, the calculation for the exchange depends heavily on the assumption that the IOUs (investor-owned utilities) own generation. But now you have IOUs such as Montana Power Company divesting generation. When you eliminate that variable from the equation, it doesn’t compute. So the principle is still valid but the implementation needs to be changed, which would require legislation.
Circuit: Right now, public power, the IOUs and the DSIs are all vying for a bigger chunk of our finite power. Do you foresee a change in allocation, for example putting IOU residential customers ahead of commercial and industrial customers served by public power.
Johansen: Speaking personally, I have a mixed mind on allocation. On the one hand, I think that the notion of spreading federal benefits first to rural and residential customers has appeal on the surface. But looking more closely, a city like The Dalles probably would rather see federal benefits go to its major employer, Northwest Aluminum, than to having individuals pay $5 less on their utility bills.
I think it is somewhat presumptuous to assume that everybody wants federal benefits to go to consumers. The Northwest has a very strong economy and the lowest electric prices in the nation, so the average bill is not a big issue with a lot of people. Maybe there is a way to restructure the way benefits are spread. If a community decides to pool to serve an industry, there needs to be a way to let them decide their own allocation. I’m not sure there is a burning mandate to revamp all the institutional fabric of the last six decades. If we had 50-mill power like some of the people in the East and were paying $500 a month to heat our homes in the winter, there might be a more definitive mandate.
Circuit: Do you expect some form of electric industry restructuring to make it through Congress by at least the next session?
Johansen: I think restructuring will pass because of East Coast blackouts and brownouts. The driver will be reliability. It won’t happen this session, but it might in the next even in an election year. At a minimum, I expect to see major federal legislation dealing with reliability and possibly carrying out some of the principles that are contained in the administration bill.
Circuit: What do you see in national utility trends?
Johansen: Most interesting is what is happening on Wall Street with the IOUs. Wall Street is penalizing mid-size utilities such as Puget, Avista and PacifiCorp by suppressing earning ratios, driving share values down and sending signals that they are too small if they don’t merge. The message seems to be eat or be eaten. I expect, in the end, much like the oil and gas industries, there will be big players, multinationals, and then small regional niche players and, further down, small distribution companies.
I think consumers are going to get fed up with the impersonal service from large companies. Look at the extreme dissatisfaction with phone companies and banks. People will be willing to pay a premium to be served by companies where they can talk to a person and see a face. Local distribution still can be very relevant. The big players will own the assets and supply the commodity, but there is still room for the distribution companies to be locally owned and consumer driven.
Circuit: What role will BPA have in this future?
Johansen: The economy of the region is built around low-cost reliable electric power. It influences everything from our industries to the way we heat our homes and where we locate our communities. It is depends heavily on the current structure. BPA’s role is to supply those small local distribution companies. We need to stay focused on retaining cost-based power. Who gets what and how much is up for debate, but it still needs to be available. If we tinker too much, we risk losing the economic foundation of the region.
The region is in a transition period. It is probably close to a load/resource balance and will soon need new resources. At the direction of the region’s comprehensive review, we are not in a resource acquisition mode. But someone is going to have to start acquiring. And any acquisitions will need to leave a light environmental footprint.
There’s an infrastructure for conservation and renewables that needs to be maintained until someone steps up to the plate and starts acquiring and building resources to respond to an impending deficit. We have to make sure the infrastructure doesn’t atrophy to the point that we have to reinvent it. We are in a transition period and need to keep the flames burning. This means encouraging new technologies. It used to be that the big central plant was the only way to approach resources, but that’s not true any more. Twenty years from now, lots of little “hummers” [for example, fuel cells and micro turbines] may be around so we won’t be stringing lines. By “we,” I mean the region not just BPA.
Circuit: In what way do you seem BPA in a leadership role.
Johansen: We have led in renewables and conservation, and now fuel cells. Often, the only reason anyone else did projects was because the public utility commissions made them. We are exerting leadership on a unified fish plan. A year ago there was very little, if any, dialogue among the federal agencies regarding fish issues. We seemed to be heading toward a train wreck. Today, the region is finally debating the 4H plan, and the Northwest Power Planning Council is doing a framework for a multi-species plan, so we have provided lots of leadership. We are providing leadership on an RTO, but leadership today means inspiring and encouraging unity, not BPA issuing an edict.
Circuit: How is our relationship with DOE? Are we still seen as, in Hazel O’Leary’s famous words, a “rogue agency?”
Johansen: When I go back to meet with the dep-uty secretary or senior staff, I don’t sense anything but support and collaboration. I feel very good.
Are there pockets within DOE where there’s history and some bad feelings. That’s nothing new. I don’t think BPA is unique within the department. I think the whole department is trying to learn about the new secretary and what’s important to him. What the secretary did when he revoked the delegations to the deputy apparently is consistent with other authorities in other parts of DOE, so it’s his style. I don’t want anyone to get the impression that Bonneville’s being singled out as a rogue agency. I don’t think that’s true at all. I’ve only had one conversation with the secretary, and it was a very cordial, pleasant conversation.
Circuit: Are you still having fun as administrator?
Johansen: Absolutely. I am very lucky to work here. BPA employees are among the most skilled in the nation. And, the work we do is in the public service. You can’t beat that.
Judi Johansen talks with former Administrator Peter Johnson last year after her swearing in.
Larry Scherschel, son of Bill Scherschel SPC District Engineer at Redmond, was among the 52 Oregonians that traveled to the 1999 Special Olympics World Games in Raleigh North, Carolina. Nearly 7,000 athletes from 150 countries competed in the 10th Summer World Games, which started June 26 and continued through July 4.
Larry participated in the game of golf. He had to play 18 holes of golf each day for five consecutive days. His scores from the first two days determined his division of play and the scores from the last three days determined his ranking within the division. Larry came in first in his division and received a gold medal.
BPA's own Don "Buck" Clark (right) also made the trip to North Carolina. Clark was the goalie on the Team Oregon soccer team that placed third and came home with a bronze medal.
”Within the next five years,” retired BPA engineer Paul Eichin says, “I’d like to hit all the major places I have left to cycle around the world.” Judging from his first two cycling tours, he shouldn’t have a problem meeting his goal.
Eichin started his around-the-world cycling quest last year. He says he began planning for the globe-cycling venture before he retired from BPA in 1995 at Spokane. But it wasn’t until 1998 that he had time to start down the road.
From August to October last year, Eichin covered 4,530 miles across the northern U.S. and Canada in 60 days. His route took him from Neah Bay, Wash., to Lubec, Maine, and then on to Nova Scotia, Canada. He timed the start of that trip to be at home near Spokane on his 60th birthday on Aug. 15. And at the end of the trip, he wound up in Cumberland, R.I., where he grew up. There he stayed with a sister and his 100-year-old mother.
Eichin did the second leg of his goal early this year when he bicycled across much of Australia and New Zealand. He left in mid-January and returned in late March after covering 2,600 miles by bicycle, “plus many miles on trains,” he says. He cycled about 1,300 miles in each country.
Just how far is it around the world by bicycle? Eichin says some cyclists have exceeded 20,000 miles. “It depends on the routes you select across the continents,” he says. He already has about 8,000 miles under his tires.
This August, Eichin starts the third leg of his goal. He is returning to Nova Scotia to cycle the Canadian maritime region and then back to New England. He says he’ll probably do 2,500 to 3,000 more miles in five to six weeks. Next year he plans to cycle Europe. China and other places will come later.
Eichin says he’s “not sure how far I’ll get in Europe because I have relatives in Germany to visit.” He also has European friends “I met on cycling tours in the past.” He said his casual approach to scheduling his cycling trips comes in part from the people he has met.
Since he began bicycling in 1984 as a fitness hobby, Eichin says he has logged more than 70,000 miles across the Northwest, New England, Canada, Mexico and Alaska. Yet, “the real highlight of doing this,” he says, “is that you meet all these different people from different cultures. And they’re just as interested in you and where you’re from and where you’re going as you are in them.” After the interesting people and new friends comes the cycling itself in the great outdoors, Eichin says.
During his trip last year, Eichin says he met another person who was bicycling across America. “I caught up to a man in North Dakota who had a hip replaced. His wife was following him with a van, and I cycled and camped with them a couple days.”
Another person in a small Montana town came to his aid just when he was about to either scrub or delay his tour last year. Eichin had a broken spoke and needed a bench vise to repair his wheel. “But it was the Labor Day holiday, and every place in town was closed,” he says. “Just when I was about to give up, I came across a man who was working in his shop and he let me use his place to fix my wheel.”
While his bicycling goal is his favorite outdoor pursuit now, Eichin enjoys some other outdoor sports and hobbies – hiking, running, skiing, gardening. And he is grateful that he’s able to do these things today. “An inspiring aspect of my adventures is that up until 30 years ago, I had cancer on my neck and the base of my skull,” he says.
Over a 14-year period, Eichin had several surgeries to remove tumors. They haven’t recurred since he was 31. Eichin says, “I give thanks, first to God for healing and energizing me, and then to my family and friends, including those at BPA, who helped me overcome these roadblocks in my journey of life.”
Eichin says, “Now I can enjoy retirement from BPA, doing things I never thought possible in years past. Life does get better after BPA, but life at BPA was a major factor in making today and the future possible for me.”
From top: Eichen leaving Spokane, Wash., for vancouver, B.C., and then to Mexico, 1997. Eichen on a fully loaded bike traveling in New Zealand, 1999. Eichen in Maine in 1998.
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A serious cycler’s budget
What does it take for serious cycling? Retired BPA engineer Paul Eichin kept a log for his Trans-American cycling tour a year ago. Here are some figures. Eichin’s trip was a solo self-contained tour. He carried 60 pounds of gear, including two spare tires and tubes, other parts and tools. Eichin says he usually gets about 3,000 miles on a good touring tire on his back wheel. That’s where most of the weight and friction are. Last year, he got 3,700 miles on a new rear tire. While he usually averages a flat tire every 1,200 to 1,500 miles, Eichin says he had his first flat in Washington and three more flats in just two days while crossing Idaho. But he completed his American tour with only one more flat and on time and under budget. Total cost was about $40 per day, or less than 50 cents per mile. His major expense was food at $25 per day to provide about 6,000 calories. Even at that, he said, he lost 15 pounds – which he regained after his return home. |
On June 25, the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservation dedicated the 8,441-acre property known as Rainwater Ranch. The tribe purchased the property for $3.9 million using funding by BPA.
The property is located in the Blue Mountains 10 miles south of Dayton in southeastern Washington. Despite rain, high winds and cold temperatures the event was a success. The tribal blessing was held at the site, but speeches and lunch were moved to the Dayton school at the last minute because of the weather.
The property includes large tracts of elk, great blue heron and mule deer habitat, as well as about eight miles of spawning and rearing habitat for migrating fish in the South Fork of the Touchet River. It also includes 5,500 acres of timber along with some range land.
Attendees witness the tribal blessing at Rainwater Ranch at the end of June.
BPA is front-page news in the small towns of eastern Washington and Oregon.
From Walla Walla to Dayton, from The Dalles to Pendleton to La-Grande, newspapers have featured BPA-sponsored wildlife projects — stream restoration on the Grand Ronde, rehabilitation of Birch Creek in the Umatilla River watershed, vegetation management on the Colville Indian Reservation and habitat restoration on Trout Creek in the Deschutes River drainage.
A third of the answer is Tony Morrell, environmental specialist in Environment, Fish and Wildlife. Another third is the work of the Environment, Fish and Wildlife staff to ensure the projects are scientifically sound and cost effective. The last third is the traditional secret to real estate investment: location, location and location.
Morrell is tireless in courting the newspapers in the areas in which BPA-sponsored field work is underway. “Every time I go to visit our projects,” says Morrell, “I invite a reporter along.”
He also takes along a representative of the state, federal or local agencies that have the lead on the project to answer detailed questions. In this way Morrell provides the essential bridge between the technical work of BPA’s Environment, Fish and Wildlife staff and their partners with the outreach needs of the fish and wildlife programs. This helps the public become aware of and understand the benefits of well-designed and well-implemented projects.
Morrell’s efforts bear fruit because the projects are in the reporter’s neck of the woods — it’s the location angle. “The watershed improvement projects in particular are great projects,” says Morrell. “But what makes them news is that they affect the people in the newspaper’s coverage area.”
This is in marked contrast to the population centers of Oregon and Washington where salmon recovery efforts and other wildlife mitigation projects are abstractions. This may change as urban areas come to terms with the effects of the increased number of Endangered Species Act salmon and steelhead listings, but it is true for now.
In the hinterlands, people see and feel the effects of the mitigation projects and have great expectations that they will increase the number of salmon and steelhead in local streams.
Just south of Pendleton, Ore., state fish and wildlife biologists have reversed damage to Birch Creek caused by a century of man’s activities and a series of recent floods. Birch Creek, a tributary of the Umatilla River, currently produces a third of the wild steelhead in the Umatilla Basin.
Channelized, or straightened, decades ago, the creek sliced a deep, narrow groove into its floodplain. This channel easily became plugged by debris, resulting in blowouts and massive erosion during flood events. Aggressive restoration techniques were necessary to restore the severely altered creek. Biologists completely redesigned the creek. To do that they relied on a discipline called fluvial geomorphology. A fluvial geomorphlogist, an entirely new breed of cat, designs streams by matching historical evidence of the stream’s configuration with current conditions in the floodplain.
The redesign wasn’t based on biological principles alone. Rather than attempting to restore the creek to presettlement conditions, biologists struck a balance. Tom Morse, BPA project manager/biologist for the project, says, “This project represents a balance between what the creek naturally wants to do and the needs of man. It is a compromise between land use and fish”. Part of the stream was rebuilt by installing a natural meander pattern. The new design allows the creek to overflow its banks during a flood event and then recede back into the channel without causing the major disturbances previously associated with floods.
Mark Shaw, BPA’s watershed project coordinator, recognizes the importance of working with the private landowners who own the riparian habitat. He says, “The landowners were involved in the design of the project. In exchange for giving up a wider buffer strip, the landowner gets a measure of stability and predictability.” Shaw says, the next time Birch Creek floods its banks, it is less likely to carve itself a new channel.
Rebuilding the section of the creek shown in the photo cost just over $200,000. Over the past decade BPA has invested approximately $3.5 million in the entire Birch Creek watershed.
Although the restoration work was completed just last fall, aquatic insects were already abundant on a recent field inspection. A sure sign of a healthy stream.
Birch Creek before and after redesign. Aerial view shows meanders.
It used to be that if you drove along the Columbia River north of Grand Coulee, Wash., sharp-tailed grouse would almost block out the evening sun. Now, there are only about a thousand of the birds left in the state. Something had to be done.
That prompted biologists with Washington State Fish and Wildlife to seek the help of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. Biologists proposed capturing and transferring birds from the Colville Reservation to nearby Scotch Creek Wildlife Area just outside Omak. At Scotch Creek, the birds are expected to re-establish a breeding population on what used to be one of the most productive breeding grounds in northcentral Washington.
Gathering in the predawn hours last spring, biologists set traps on the leks, or display areas, where the male grouse sparred, hooted, gobbled, spread their wings and stamped their feet. All in a competitive bid to attract the elusive female. Twelve birds, six males and six females, were caught and successfully transplanted to their new home. Before they were released, the birds were weighed and measured and had a blood samples taken. The birds were fitted with radio collars so biologists will be able to track their movements over the next year.
Maureen Murphy, a tribal biologist said, “ We have the best sharp-tailed grouse populations in the state, so we can afford to share. And besides, the sharp-tails on the reservation stand to gain in the long run if we can help restore the healthy populations around us”.
Joe DeHerrera, BPA project manager/wildlife biologist says, “Habitat is key to the survival of this once-popular game bird. Their decline is directly attributed to loss of sagebrush-grassland habitat to agricultural development over the last 100 years.” To compensate for the habitat loses from Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams, BPA provided $9.1 million for the acquisition of 16,500 acres of shrub-grassland winter habitat critical to grouse. This habitat is now part of the Colville Reservation.
BPA has also funded about $2 million in enhancements to the Scotch Creek Wildlife Area. Scotch Creek, located in Okanogan county, is owned and managed by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife.
If biologists are able to re-establish sharp-tailed grouse populations in Washington state, it will be due to cooperative efforts between the agencies and tribes supported by ratepayer dollars.
Releasing transplanted sharp-tailed grouse.
Were BPA to branch out from the electric utility industry, it might go into the music business. The agency is so deep in music talent that it has two “house” bands — RIF and the Earlyouts plays for employee meetings in the Portland/Vancouver area and Slammin’ Salmon plays the party circuit.
And then there are all those employees singing jingles and “advertisements” at the employee meetings.
How deep is the BPA talent pool? Very. Here’s a look at just a few currently active musicians. Watch for a sequel in a future Circuit.
BPA and music are tied together by the ribbon of Woody Guthrie. Guthrie worked for BPA in 1941 and wrote a host of songs about BPA and the Columbia River. To many people, the person who tied the bow in that ribbon is Bill Murlin, audio/visual specialist, banjo/guitar player, singer and historian.
“The Woody Guthrie project — to collect and publish all of his Columbia River songs and recordings for the first time — was the highlight of my musical and BPA career,” says Murlin. When Murlin wasn’t in the archives ferreting out those missing recordings and music sheets, he was playing and singing Guthrie and other folk songs on the folk circuit, which he still does.
His performances include one with Arlo Guthrie, Woody’s son: “I always have been lousy about remembering lyrics to songs. I was singing with Arlo Guthrie and had placed a chair on stage between us to hide a convenient lyric sheet. I don’t think it was too subtle.”
Nick Christmas (left), manager of Audio Visual Media, may be BPA’s busiest, and most versatile, pro. He’s a drummer who says he discovered percussion at the age of four and music at six. He’s currently jamming with Rico Lopez in “Smooth,” doing reggae with “Umogo” and playing hip hop/rhythm and blues with Kirk Green and Norman Sylvester as “Nick and Friends.” He also performed with the Richard Arnold Trio in February at BPA’s Black History Month kickoff celebration.
Perhaps he went into audio visual work because of one of his music experiences. “I was playing a live television spot with George Page when my cymbal fell over in the middle of a song. I couldn’t edit it out because the performance was live.” At BPA, anyway, he now specializes in Memorex.
Rod Aho (right), customer account executive for the Power Business Line in Idaho Falls, sings and plays keyboard and drums. He has a three-piece group that plays at church dances, wedding receptions and company parties. He also does solo work at special occasions and provides background music at the Bon Marche for special sales events.
His first job with a band prepared him for dealing with customers. The job was in a club in Plummer, Idaho. “Someone on the dance floor lost his balance while twirling his partner during a wild country swing song,” Aho recounts. “He fell into my drum set, cymbals crashing and flying, and almost knocked me off my seat. That same evening a man jumped onto the back of another man and started beating him over the head with his fists in what was apparently a dispute over a girlfriend.”
Many of BPA’s employees sing — and not just in the shower.
Some were even trained in voice. Pat Zimmer, a writer in Congressional and Field Support, majored in voice in college. “My career choices were professional performer or teacher, and I didn’t think I was cut out for either” she says, “Music criticism, maybe. But I enjoyed the writing part so much that I ended up as a journalist.”
Not resting on her past laurels — she was part of the Oregon Repertory Singers group that won first place in a 1987 competition in Austria — she still records with the Oregon Catholic Press, whose compact discs are marketed worldwide, and performs with the Trinity Episcopal Choir.
The Portland Symphonic Choir, which performs on its own and as the official choir of the Oregon Symphony, is the current and past venue for several other BPAers — Julie Adams, Audrey Perino, Wayne Litzenberger and John Rowan among them.
Adams didn’t major in music in college, but she chose her college because of music. “When I was eight years old, my parents took me to hear the Willamette University choir. After hearing the choir, I told my parents I wanted to go to Willamette, that became my goal. After graduating from Pendleton High School, I went to Willamette and immediately auditioned to be in the choir.” It has been nonstop performing ever since.
Perino, Adams and Rowan share a performance — they sang the “Carmina Burana” with the Portland Symphonic Choir in 1989 — which was a high moment for all. The standing ovations have stuck with them.
Of course, they have all have had low moments. Perino had a little trouble with standing during a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and fainted. “Only about half the audience noticed,” she says, “because we were in the singing loft.” She regained consciousness when she hit the floor and continued her performance from the horizontal position.
Rowan cites another performance with the Oregon Symphony when, he says, “The full choir came in on the wrong note three times in a row. [Conductor James] De Priest stopped us each time until we got it right. It was a very difficult piece, and we couldn’t find the right note.”
Litzenberger’s miscue made him a soloist. “I came in early on one entrance and really belted it out. It ended up being a solo moment; everyone else came in on the next beat when they were supposed to.”
From left: Roy Fox, Pat Zimmer, John Rowan, Petey Fleishmann, Lynn Baker, Perry Gruber, Nicia Balla and Audrey Perino.
David Mills (right, at drums), manager of the Revenue Process Study, has been in and out of the rock music scene for years. At the moment, among other things, he is the drummer for Slammin’ Salmon. As with Nick, he discovered percussion at an early age — even if he didn’t fully understand what it was all about. “My first interest in music was Ringo of The Beatles. At age 10 I bought a Ludwig drum set and practiced in the garage. The drummers I saw on TV all seemed to have a big black dot in the middle of their bass drum, so I used a can as a stencil and colored a big black dot on my drum. We even named our band ‘The Black Dot.’ A couple years later, I realized the dot was an actual hole cut into the bass drum for resonance and for miking the drum kit.”
Frank Weintraub (left), engineer and manager of the Fiber Optics Project in the Transmission Business Line, is a guitarist. He is currently playing in local clubs with a blues band called “The Stone Cutters.” He belongs to the Bill Murlin memory group. “I don’t have a good memory for lyrics,” he admits “I type them up in large print so I can read them. One time I somehow kicked my cheat sheet beyond my vision while performing. The bottom line was that I was able to keep the rhythm, but I became a spontaneous songwriter by ad libbing most of the lyrics.”
While Weintraub came to songwriting by accident, others have done it intentionally. Aho once won the award for best instrumental song in the annual Portland Music Association’s songwriting contest.
And songwriting is what Suzy Sivyer (right) does when she isn’t at BPA. “I’ve written over 270 songs since 1964,” she says. “But my three most interesting assignments were writing the musical background for the television program ‘Let’s Make a Date,’ working with Portland Mayor Bud Clark to write the Portland Sister City theme song and, of course, working with Gene Tollefson to write BPA’s 50th anniversary song ‘Power for the People.’”
While Sivyer doesn’t sing in public much, she has been caught on film singing on the main stage of the Coliseum in Portland during one of Mayor Bud Clark’s inaugural balls.
Mark Pierce (left), manager of IS Planning and Projects in Shared Services and bass guitar player with RIF, seems to be a renaissance man in the music world. He began playing the drums in elementary school and eventually gravitated to the bass guitar. In college he started writing his own music and lyrics while playing in nightclub bands. “By the mid-1980s,” he says, “the revolution in music industry electronics (primarily MIDI and digital audio) enabled me to produce my own music independently.” He still records his music and that of other artists in his Vancouver studio, Mount Vista. Pierce just released his second solo CD titled “Directions.”
BPA is for the birds.
For saving birds anyway.
BPA participates in the Avian Power Line Interaction Committee that was recently awarded the Department of Interior’s Citation for Conservation Service for pioneering work to reduce losses of birds from collisions with power lines. The citation culminated over 10 years of work by the committee, which was sponsored by the Edison Electric Institute, an association of investor-owned electric utilities and affiliates. Participants on the APLIC included representatives from government agencies as well as from utilities throughout the United States and Canada.
Wildlife biologist Phil Havens is BPA’s representative on the 18-member special study team. “The committee was formed to find ways to reduce losses of whooping cranes, an endangered species, and other birds from collisions with lines in the San Luis Valley of Colorado,” said Havens. “Because collision are a fairly common problem throughout the utility industry, EEI sponsored the committee, which was formed in 1988. Each participating utility or agency, including BPA, contributed money to the project (about $40,000 in BPA’s case) as well as the time and travel expenses of one of its employees.” The committee membership included engineers and economists as well as biologists.
Overhead groundwires strung above the conductors to protect the lines from lightening strikes are a major cause of bird collisions. The groundwires are smaller and more difficult for birds to see than the conductors. APLIC commissioned a three-year study of the problem and tested several markers designed to make the groundwires more visible to birds. The markers reduced collision rates by 40 to 60 percent.
“We used different techniques to determine the actual number of collisions on a line,” said Havens. “These included counting the number of dead or injured birds found within a certain distance of a line and stationing observers near a line to watch bird flight paths. We were able to observe bird movements at night by using mobile radar systems, motion detectors and thermal imaging systems that detect infrared emissions caused by the birds’ natural body heat.”
In 1992, APLIC sponsored an international workshop on avian interactions with utility structures that was attended by over 100 scientists, engineers and representatives of conservation and special interest groups from 10 countries. The proceedings of the conference, published in1993, included 28 papers by biologists, engineers and economists on the bird collision problem and approaches to solving it. APLIC also published two bulletins on how to assess and solve bird collision problems and electrocutions, the first in 1994 and the second in 1996. These have been widely distributed throughout the electric utility industry. Since 1995, working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, APLIC has provided a yearly two-day training course titled, “Reducing Bird Collisions and Electrocutions.”
“APLIC is an excellent example of how government and private industry can work cooperatively to address conservation issues,” said Alex Smith, BPA vice president for Environment, Fish and Wildlife. “Phil Havens’ participation contributed materially to solving an important wildlife conservation problem and demonstrates BPA’s commitment to minimizing the environmental footprint of the power system.”
Phil Havens (right) receives BPA's plaque from Jamie Rappaport Clark, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Imagine walking into your new house, arms full of groceries. Tap a button with your elbow, and your path to the kitchen is illuminated. The home automation system activates the built-in high-definition television and tunes in your favorite news program. You glance out at the garden and notice that the solar-powered water fountain is sparkling in the sun.
State-of-the-art windows, proper solar orientation, and walls and roof made from structural insulated panels have kept the house cool on this mid-summer day. You are breathing fresh, pollen-free air thanks to the latest innovations incorporated in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system. All materials, paints and finishes used in the home are low-toxicity, so the indoor environment is healthy.
After you finish stashing the groceries, you take a shower with hot water efficiently warmed by a geothermal heat pump that extracts heat from the earth through wells drilled into the building site. And extra heat and water vapor in the bathroom left over after your shower are whisked away by the home’s heat recovery ventilation system.
Sound like something you might see at the next world’s fair? Thanks to the combined sponsorship of BPA and Kootenai Electric Cooperative, you can visit the NeXt House at the North Idaho Building Contractors Association 1999 Parade of Homes July 31 through August 8 in Post Falls, Idaho.
“We are taking an innovative and untried approach to getting the word out to the public on energy efficiency, resource-efficient construction and a healthy indoor environment,” says Mark Jackson, BPA’s NeXt House project manager. “The NeXt House lets us put together a complete package of state-of-the-art techniques and technology in one home. As part of the home show, thousands of people will have the chance to see all the elements and systems working together to provide maximum comfort and amenity with a minimum energy requirement.”
And the project should largely pay for itself. “We plan to do a series of homes around the region,” says Vicki English, who coordinates BPA’s efforts in sponsored energy efficiency. “When the home show is over and NeXt House has gotten good public exposure, we will sell it at fair market value and roll the money over into another home in the series. The net cost to BPA should be near zero dollars.”
Now that’s efficiency. An educational program that pays for itself.
The 1900s are coming to a close. This is the last summer that we’ll have to vacation before 2000. The Circuit plans to help readers memorialize the 1900s and the end of the currrent millennium. We will run a photo page (or two) this fall of the best summer vacation shots by employees, retirees or any other readers.
So, BPA folks and friends will be able to point back to this edition – to grandchildren and others in awe — to show what the time, vacations and settings (not to mention styles) were like. The first and only rule for photos is that they must show people – you and/or members of your family or group of friends.
The types of things we’d like are you and/or family/friends hamming it up anywhere this summer; scenery with real people pictured; action (sports, outdoors, picnics, etc.); people with pets; and your all-around funny shots.
Photos can be any size – at least 3 ½ by 5, up to 8 by 10. Be sure to identify the photo on the back. Give your name, routing or home address, where the photo was taken and names of family and friends in the photo. We will return the photos to you. Send your photos to The Circuit, KCC-7 by inside mail. From outside, mail to the address on the page 2 masthead.
The deadline is Sept. 15. All folks who send one or more photos will be eligible for a BPA Power T-shirt drawing.
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1 Chats 5 Garment borders 9 Pallid 13 Eye-catcher 14 Texas Hellfighter, Red ___ 16 Culture medium 17 Golf club 18 Actress Rene ___ 19 Money South of the border 20 Mountian activity of 37A 22 Salutes, with a drink 24 Exploit 25 Panel 26 Paddlers 30 Beach activity of 37A 34 French school 35 Amino for one 36 Towel word 37 Yearly events for non-workaholics 41 Pub quaff 42 At this place 43 Where the antelopes play? 44 River activity of 37A 47 Thrusts 48 Spider’s homes 49 Washtub 50 Site for many boats 53 Automobile activity of 37A 58 Excited 59 Island beginning? 61 Administrative district 62 Hurry 63 Purchaser 64 Muskogee denizen 65 Exam 66 New Mexico art colony 67 Perceived |
Cross words about the June/July crossword puzzle
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1 Superficial 2 Halo 3 Coalition 4 Like the Titanic 5 Tease 6 Draw out 7 Jim Carrey Movie 8 Family member 9 Melon tree 10 Matures 11 Where nice guys finish? 12 Greek God of love 15 A large circular room 21 Strain 23 Globe 25 Word after orange or apple 26 Cut again 27 Of the eyes, (Lat.) 28 NOW members 29 Shade tree 30 Kerchief 31 Leather strip 32 Flexible joint 33 Sharp turns 35 Swears 38 Pieplant 39 Fact 40 Bond creator Fleming 45 Eisenhower or Yokum 46 Wash. DC VIP for short 47 Pub quaffs 49 Audio’s counterpart 50 Retail store 51 Chills and fever 52 Flag maker 53 Type of bean 54 Deuces 55 Rice wine 56 Great lake 57 Paradise 60 Shanty |