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The Oregonian: A Proposed Power Plant May Be Canceled, but Controversy Remains

April 16, 2021
Categorie(s): In the Press

By Ted Sickenger, The Oregonian

The developer of a proposed gas-fired power plant in Hermiston has apparently decided to pull the plug and withdraw its state-issued permit with Oregon’s Energy Facility Siting Council.

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Columbia Riverkeeper and Friends of the Columbia Gorge filed lawsuits after they say staff at the energy department and Perennial “concocted an illegal scheme to green-light construction of the project in violation of state law and the terms and conditions of the site certificate.”

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Nathan Baker, staff attorney for Friends of the Columbia Gorge, said that the terms “construction” and “facility” are defined in statute and that energy department can’t unilaterally change their meaning. If developers or energy department staffers want certain conditions to apply to only certain parts of a facility, or only at certain points in time, he said, they should write the site certificates that way.

“Friends and our allies will continue to seek to hold ODOE accountable for violating state law in the Summit Ridge litigation,” Baker said.

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