Water Avenue, where a contractor is working to install underground electric wiring, was open to traffic after hours on Oct. 26.
A Pacific Power contractor is working on undergrounding electric wires along a section of Water Avenue on the Albany riverfront. Ratepayers in Albany can expect to get the bill, but the amount is not yet clear.
The crew of Potelco Inc., the contractor, is working along three blocks from Washington Street to the Lyon Street Bridge. City officials say periodic closures of Water Avenue may continue through the end of the year.
Replacing the poles and overhead wires is required by the City of Albany’s Waterfront Project, which calls for that section of Water Avenue to be rebuilt as a “plaza street” that can be closed to traffic for public events.
Pacific Power has estimated the cost of undergrounding at about $2.4 million.
The Oregon Public Utility Commission has a rule that governs such “forced conversions” of overhead utilities.
“When a local government requires an energy or large telecommunications utility to convert electric or telecommunications facilities at the utility’s expense, the utility shall collect the conversion costs from customers located within the boundaries of the local government,” one section of the rule says.
Other sections say the conversion costs must be separately shown on customer bills and shall be collected “over a reasonable period of time subject to the commission’s approval,” starting in the year after the project is completed.
In Albany’s case, a negotiated agreement approved by the city council says the costs will be collected over two years.
As of Oct. 29, the PUC had not yet received PacifiCorp’s filing on the conversion costs.
“The PUC will review and act on any request from PacifiCorp to adjust their tariff required to collect the costs of this work from customers in Albany when/if that happens,” PUC spokeswoman Kandi Young said in an email Tuesday.
Adam Kohler, PacifiCorp’s regional business manager in Albany, said the filing would be done after the underground project is completed.
When this issue was before the council in early August, Kohler told me the surcharge for the Water Avenue undergrounding on monthly electric bills would likely be between $3.50 and $4.
The PUC has a rule on that too: “The conversion cost to be recovered from each customer shall be calculated by applying a uniform percentage to each customer’s total monthly bill for service rendered within the boundaries of the local government.”
This language suggests — to me anyway — that the monthly surcharge will not be a flat amount but will vary with the size of each customer’s bill. (hh)
I’m not sure this project “requires” anything. It’s “discretionary”, subject only to the whims of the council/CARA.
But I digress.
I’m sold on this project because it clearly provides essential city services like multi-modal access improvements, municipal extraction, and traffic-calming measures.
I expect joyous celebration from every rate payer when the monthly bills start flowing.
Your humor (that is, well-crafted sarcasm) is probably a little bit too droll for some people, but thanks for the effort.
or Troll-ish
Oh goody, another fee attached to one of my utility bills. Let’s see, that’ll make 2 additional fees on my water bill and 1 on my power bill in just a couple years. At this rate we may find the fees total more than the cost of my actual usage.
I really don’t know what to say about this. Changing fee by how much your electric bill is. The street fee isn’t even added on to our water bill yet. Lets just continue adding fees and if I remember correctly, utilities were already increasing their costs.
Didn’t one of our dear city leaders say they were going to be looking into “alternative funding” for this pet project so they would not be sticking it to us?
Marilyn Smith, perhaps?
Maybe I dreamt it? Or more BS council smoke!
The council acting as CARA, should have, and probably did, know that this cost was going to happen and chose, for whatever reason, to ignore it. Leadership at its best.
Just wait for the monthly “Maintenance Fee” for the Waterfront Project.
So… it looks like the people who heat/cook with natural gas may pay substantially less than the rest of us but will enjoy the “plaza” as much. By now they are jumping up and down with joy. This should have been on the URD costs based on property values. No doubt the farmers market, annual car show etc. will move to this location to be enjoyed by all.
I hope Pacific Power takes this unfairness into account when adjusting this add-on. The usage of electricity has nothing to do with putting lines underground for the general public to enjoy the “plaza”. Very unfair to folks who heat their homes with electric heat in the winter. I may have to ramp it way down to achieve equity with the gas users.
Its getting tough to survive, with all the fees. I wish the council would realize it.