<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
<h1><small>Will Oregon Lawmakers Get The State to Buy PGE?</small><br>
</h1>
<small>March 24th 2009 5:35pm</small>
<p></p>
<div class="story_tools">
BY: <a href="http://www.wweek.com/wwire/?author_id=21"
title="View all posts by 'Nigel Jaquiss'">Nigel Jaquiss</a>
</div>
<div class="story_itself">
<p><a title="Biglow Canyon by wweek.media, on Flickr"
href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/31222852@N00/3383793588/"><img
src="cid:part1.06060402.04010600@meek.net" alt="Biglow Canyon"
height="194" width="240"></a> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>For five years after Portland General Electric's former parent,
Enron,
declared bankruptcy in 2001, various politicians—most notably former
Portland City Commissioner <a
href="http://wweek.com/editorial/3408/10186/">Erik Sten</a>—tried to
find <a href="http://wweek.com/editorial/3204/7006/">ways</a> for the
public to buy the state's largest utility. <a
href="http://wweek.com/story.php?story=6127#comments_add">Private
investors</a> tried as well. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Although PGE and the state's second largest utility, PacifiCorp, are
investor-owned, publicly owned utilities are common around the country.
Residents of Los Angeles, Seattle, Orlando and many other large cities
get their electricity from publicly-owned sources. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>In 2005, Oregon lawmakers led by Sens. Ryan Deckert (D-Beaverton),
Dave
Nelson (R-Pendleton) and Rep. Vicki Berger (R-Salem) pushed Senate Bill
1008 through both houses of the Legislature. The bill would have
created <a
href="http://oregoncub.org/archives/2005/05/senate_passes_o.php">Oregon
Community Power</a>,
an entity that would have established a structure for the state to
acquire PGE. Gov. Ted Kulongoski vetoed the bill. And in 2006, PGE sold
stock to investors ending, at least temporarily, interest in a public
takeover. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>But proponents of public ownership quietly came back with a related
bill in 2007 that put into law most of the structure necessary for
Oregon Community Power to buy PGE. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>As soon as tomorrow, Berger will introduce a bill aimed at using
that structure. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"It's my priority bill and it basically says Oregon Community Power
may use eminent domain to acquire PGE," Berger says. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Berger, a fourth-term representative whose father wrote Oregon's
bottle bill, says she was motivated by recent <a
href="http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/index.ssf?/base/news/1237607708116510.xml&coll=7">news
accounts</a>
of retiring PGE CEO Peggy Fowler's $4.5 million compensation. She says
she thinks such payments mean the utility is putting executives and
stockholders' interests ahead of ratepayers' interests and therefore,
electricity rates are higher than they should be. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I think if PGE has $4.5 million to give away to Peggy Fowler, their
rates are too high," Berger says. "I’m aware of other models such as
Seattle Power and Light where public ownership works just fine." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>PGE spokesman Steve Corson says the utility does not yet have
information about Berger's plans. "I'm hearing rumors of a bill, but
have no specifics," Corson says.
</p>
</div>
</body>
</html>