STOP B2H Coalition

Green Energy or Greenwashing?

Transmission line projects are worse than ugly. They create enormous environmental damage. We’ve all seen areas of Oregon crowded with forests of transmission towers, an ugly contrast to the pristine forests that Oregon was once famous for. To decrease our carbon footprint, of course new energy sources like wind and solar must be developed with transmission lines to move this vital green energy to points of use.

But, not all transmission lines are equal. Don’t be fooled. Many utilities are hopping on the renewables bandwagon, greenwashing their applications to build transmission lines because there’s a guaranteed profit for construction. These lines are not only unnecessary, they will devastate the natural areas they cross. Damaged scenery is the most obvious result of new transmission projects. Still, hidden environmental consequences will be enormous if Idaho Power is allowed to build the 300 mile Boardman to Hemingway (B2H) transmission line.

Once Gone, Gone Forever!

Favorite hiking, birding, and cycling areas in northeast Oregon will be crossed, with 29,500’ of barbed wire used to isolate the project. Greater sage-grouse will be imperiled by towers above their leks, providing ideal perches for predators. Two sage grouse PACs in the project vicinity will go extinct. Fishing streams will be silted by building access roads, endless traffic will cause dust and noise during construction, and the buzzing popping of overhead lines will be a constant. For decades, residents of impacted rural communities have willingly traded city convenience for quiet living. Now, the B2H will stand within a half mile of private homes. Owners will be provided curtains to cover their view windows to mask the noise. Really, that’s the planned mitigation for the noise intrusion.

Construction of the unneeded B2H transmission line will impact five counties of northeast Oregon: with 206 miles of new roads and substantial modification of another 223 miles of access roads, resulting in a pathway of invasive weeds while crossing two protected areas and releasing more carbon. Endangered plants and critical habitats stand in the way.

The 250’ wide right of way will be lined with 1,198 steel lattice towers up to 180’ high. Support for these towers’ four bases will require a total 50,360 cubic yards of concrete, buried 40’ deep. You get the idea: billions of dollars to manufacture a project across private land, endless resources for a line whose purpose is not to provide energy for Oregonians but to create profit for Idaho Power shareholders. Powerful utilities have corrupted Oregon’s regulatory agencies; otherwise, such a line could never be approved.

Saving Oregon's Wild and Open Spaces

Stop B2H Coalition has fought the B2H for over ten years. During the past three, we have actively participated in Idaho Power’s application process at the state level. We have highlighted serious errors and omissions in their plans and filed briefs and responses on 41 separate issues in eight different levels of litigation, knowing that the two Oregon agencies involved would always support the utility. Distracted by other issues, our elected officials persistently encouraged us to “follow the process.” Now, we’ve “completed the process” and have a chance to have a fair hearing before the Oregon Supreme Court.

Our local supporters have been more than generous, but we are now facing a $75,000 court case. We have abundant evidence, committed and skilled attorneys, and we’re asking you to help us help northeast Oregon. We’re working to safeguard Oregon’s wide open spaces and incomparable natural areas. Stopping this profiteering utility will send a message to their colleagues. Our land is not their land, a commodity to develop for their shareholders.

Don't Let Them Fool You.

Our "friendly" local power companies are not public service agencies. Unless they are co-ops, they are corporate utilities operating as poorly regulated monopolies. That's why you don't have a choice of who you buy your power from. Their priority is profit, not service. Greedy corporate utilities make a guaranteed profit by building structures, like transmission lines, whether needed or not. Who foots the bill? Ratepayers like you. Who benefits? Corporate executives and shareholders.

For the past five years, our small non-profit, Stop B2H Coalition has been fighting to protect eastern Oregon from Idaho Power, a $7 billion out-of-state corporate utility. We are 40+ activists with no paid staff, all volunteers. Our profiteering adversary has 2,000 employees. Idaho Power plans to construct a massive unneeded 500 kV transmission line, the B2H, that would gouge a hideous 250’ wide clear cut across 300 miles of northeast Oregon from Boardman to Hemingway, Idaho.

We're working to protect our magnificent open spaces, including the pioneers’ wagon ruts at the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center near Baker City. Morgan Lake Park, a beloved natural wildlife and recreation area with unparalleled views, will be invaded by massive 150' steel towers (180’ in “non-scenic” areas.)

[Photo: Morgan Lake Park, La Grande, Oregon]

If Idaho Power prevails, Oregonians’ farm and forest land will be taken, and habitat for endangered wildlife like sage grouse and salmon will be destroyed. Transmission lines will disrupt electronics to irrigation pivots, and buzzing, popping overhead cables will pass within a half mile of tranquil rural homes. That is just a partial list of the B2H’s potential negative impacts.

After almost five years of litigation, we have an excellent chance to prevail. We’re informed, well organized, and determined to stop the B2H. Idaho Power’s application is 100,016 pages, and the legal records are several thousand more. Idaho Power’s team of lawyers has used every strategy to silence us and eliminate our issues. Nevertheless, we’ve successfully filed 41 well-documented contested cases, highlighting glaring errors and omissions in their data.

[Photo: the Grande Ronde Valley, Eastern Oregon, B2H towers super-imposed.]

We know new transmission lines are necessary to provide essential renewable energy, but not everywhere, and not without consulting with communities on the least damaging routes. In many areas, conservation, distributive energy, battery storage for local wind and solar projects, and upgrading existing power lines will fill the bill at much less cost to ratepayers and the environment. The B2H is one of those unnecessary lines, but building it will guarantee an immediate $120 million profit for utility shareholders, and even more profit every year into perpetuity. At the same time, ratepayers' bills will increase to pay for it.

We should have won these cases on the state level, but corporate utilities’ undue influence on state regulatory agencies is well known. Our only chance for a fair hearing will be a costly case in the Oregon Supreme Court. For that, we need $70,000. Our local donors have overwhelmed us with their repeated generous support, but we will need outside help to pay our attorneys in this all-out effort to stop the B2H.

With your help, we can defeat Idaho Power and send an important message to other profiteering corporate utilities. They need to learn that our land -- and your land -- is not their land to pillage for profit. Thank you so much. We need and appreciate your support. Please circulate this link as widely as possible. Who knows where the greedy utilities’ next target will be?

Protect Our Land, Preserve Our Heritage

In 2017, a generous donation from the Oregon-California Trails Association provided funding for the STOP B2H Coalition to organize as a not-for-profit 501(c) (3). Since then, with over 900 supporters, we have been continuously in litigation, filing comments, contested cases and appeals highlighting the serious flaws in Idaho Power’s application for the Boardman to Hemingway (B2H) transmission line project. If approved, the B2H will slash a 250’ wide clear cut across 300 miles of eastern Oregon. B2H transmission towers will mar the vast open view from the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, with one tower only 125’ from Panorama Point. In eastern Oregon, the B2H will cross the Oregon Trail 17 times, and 43.89 miles of the National Historic Trail will have visual impacts.

OCTA’s generosity gave us invaluable financial and moral support when it was vital to establishing our organization. Now we need everyone! Please help us protect our land and preserve our heritage. This is a one-time request. Our only opportunity for a fair hearing to save priceless remnants of the Oregon Trail in eastern Oregon will be appeals to the Oregon Supreme Court.