Controversial PGE Forest Park transmission proposal wins city approval
A city of Portland hearings officer has approved a proposal to cut down more than 370 trees on about 5 acres in Forest Park to upgrade existing Portland General Electric transmission lines – despite a searing city staff report that recommended the project’s denial. PGE’s proposal had touched off a months-long clash between the utility, which says it aims to meet the region’s growing electricity needs, and conservationists who focused on environmental protection. In her decision, issued Friday, city hearings officer Marisha Childs said PGE’s project will address the Portland area’s increase in energy demand and the potential transmission vulnerabilities that a bottleneck could cause. Childs also said routing through Forest Park “is the least environmentally detrimental option” of all the alternatives PGE analyzed. Conservation groups had maintained that PGE failed to adequately consider alternatives and that going outside Forest Park was preferred. In January, a report from Portland’s Permitting and Development office recommended that the hearings officer reject the project due to non-compliance with environmental standards. Environmental groups had called on the city to kill the project because it would eliminate valuable habitat and tree canopy that are critical in the era of climate change.In addition to removing trees on the north side of the 5,200-acre park, the PGE upgrade will require the permanent filling of two wetlands. The entire work will take place within the existing right of way owned by PGE that was created in the early 1970s. The groups and staff report questioned why PGE had failed to provide more information about future phases of the transmission project in Forest Park. PGE had said those phases could affect another 15 acres of the park. But the hearings officer said the current project should be evaluated independently of future phases.“It is possible to both have questions regarding future phases and to have concerns about the impact upon Forest Park as it relates to those future phases, but if the approval criteria has been met, those questions cannot be the basis which to deny that,” Childs wrote in her decision.Childs also found that PGE provided persuasive evidence that the project will, upon completion, provide opportunities to maintain the park’s biodiversity and improve the park’s wildlife habitat. PGE’s proposal entails planting Oregon white oak on the edges of its right of way and seeding the area under the lines and access road edges with a pollinator-friendly native seed mix.Kristen Sheeren, PGE’s vice president of planning and policy, praised the decision, saying it “will allow PGE to proceed with work that is crucial for safe, reliable and increasingly clean energy for Portland homes and businesses.” “We appreciate that this decision weighed all evidence and found that the project is needed and meets the stringent requirements for work within an existing utility easement, including extensive plans to improve forest health and wildfire safety,” Sheeren said in a statement.Conservation groups said they were disappointed. The decision will pave the way “for Portland General Electric to destroy wetlands, streams and nearly 400 trees in Forest Park, many of which have been growing for hundreds of years,” Damon Motz-Storey, the Sierra Club Oregon chapter’s director, said in a statement. Motz-Storey said the hearings officer repeatedly accepted PGE’s analysis without question. He said the organization supports clean energy but wants to make sure transmission and other projects don’t destroy the environment. “We remain ready to work collaboratively to find a better route for needed energy transmission that doesn’t further Oregon’s shameful history of cutting down ancient forest,” Motz-Storey said. The decision can be appealed until March 21. — Gosia Wozniacka covers environmental justice, climate change, the clean energy transition and other environmental issues. Reach her at gwozniacka@oregonian.com or 971-421-3154.Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.
A city of Portland hearings officer has approved a proposal to cut down more than 370 trees on about 5 acres in Forest Park to upgrade existing Portland General Electric transmission lines.
A city of Portland hearings officer has approved a proposal to cut down more than 370 trees on about 5 acres in Forest Park to upgrade existing Portland General Electric transmission lines – despite a searing city staff report that recommended the project’s denial.
PGE’s proposal had touched off a months-long clash between the utility, which says it aims to meet the region’s growing electricity needs, and conservationists who focused on environmental protection.
In her decision, issued Friday, city hearings officer Marisha Childs said PGE’s project will address the Portland area’s increase in energy demand and the potential transmission vulnerabilities that a bottleneck could cause.
Childs also said routing through Forest Park “is the least environmentally detrimental option” of all the alternatives PGE analyzed. Conservation groups had maintained that PGE failed to adequately consider alternatives and that going outside Forest Park was preferred.
In January, a report from Portland’s Permitting and Development office recommended that the hearings officer reject the project due to non-compliance with environmental standards. Environmental groups had called on the city to kill the project because it would eliminate valuable habitat and tree canopy that are critical in the era of climate change.
In addition to removing trees on the north side of the 5,200-acre park, the PGE upgrade will require the permanent filling of two wetlands. The entire work will take place within the existing right of way owned by PGE that was created in the early 1970s.
The groups and staff report questioned why PGE had failed to provide more information about future phases of the transmission project in Forest Park. PGE had said those phases could affect another 15 acres of the park.
But the hearings officer said the current project should be evaluated independently of future phases.
“It is possible to both have questions regarding future phases and to have concerns about the impact upon Forest Park as it relates to those future phases, but if the approval criteria has been met, those questions cannot be the basis which to deny that,” Childs wrote in her decision.
Childs also found that PGE provided persuasive evidence that the project will, upon completion, provide opportunities to maintain the park’s biodiversity and improve the park’s wildlife habitat. PGE’s proposal entails planting Oregon white oak on the edges of its right of way and seeding the area under the lines and access road edges with a pollinator-friendly native seed mix.
Kristen Sheeren, PGE’s vice president of planning and policy, praised the decision, saying it “will allow PGE to proceed with work that is crucial for safe, reliable and increasingly clean energy for Portland homes and businesses.”
“We appreciate that this decision weighed all evidence and found that the project is needed and meets the stringent requirements for work within an existing utility easement, including extensive plans to improve forest health and wildfire safety,” Sheeren said in a statement.
Conservation groups said they were disappointed.
The decision will pave the way “for Portland General Electric to destroy wetlands, streams and nearly 400 trees in Forest Park, many of which have been growing for hundreds of years,” Damon Motz-Storey, the Sierra Club Oregon chapter’s director, said in a statement.
Motz-Storey said the hearings officer repeatedly accepted PGE’s analysis without question. He said the organization supports clean energy but wants to make sure transmission and other projects don’t destroy the environment.
“We remain ready to work collaboratively to find a better route for needed energy transmission that doesn’t further Oregon’s shameful history of cutting down ancient forest,” Motz-Storey said.
The decision can be appealed until March 21.
— Gosia Wozniacka covers environmental justice, climate change, the clean energy transition and other environmental issues. Reach her at gwozniacka@oregonian.com or 971-421-3154.
Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.