Litigation strategy begins
Karen Peterson
Chairman Tim Orr explains the location of the different districts encompassing the Flathead Joint Board of Control during the meeting.
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ST. IGNATIUS - The Flathead Joint Board of Control started working on a litigation strategy to negotiate the terms and conditions of the low-block cost of power during the regular board meeting on Tuesday, March 8, in an effort to ensure that low power rates for irrigation use continue.
The low-block cost of power was issued to the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project for irrigation and general consumer use through a licensing agreement between the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the former Kerr Dam.
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes now own the dam and are in the middle of negotiating the terms of the FERC licensing agreement along with the FJBC in regards to the low-block cost of power.
The FJBC voted to hire David Dismukes as a consultant for $54,000 to analyze information pertaining to the low-block cost of power and provide data for the litigation strategy with testimony beginning this month. He is a consulting economist that does research associated with energy on a regular basis. He is not an attorney. He will testify on behalf of the FJBC as a witness.
FJBC attorneys also recommend that the board have a second witness to testify about historical data concerning the low-block cost of power. The board didn't make a decision concerning that recommendation.
Some members on the FJBC again stressed concern that power bills for everyone on the Flathead Indian Reservation could go up if the low-block cost of power is not included in the FERC licensing agreement.
Mission Valley Power General Manager Jon Matt explained during a phone interview after the meeting that as a power distribution center, the facility was subject to rates from different electricity sources and rates could change.
Matt said that it was too early to speculate whether rates would increase from the Seli_ Ksanka Q_ispe Dam, but he did say that if for some reason the low-block cost of power went away and rates did change, people need to keep in mind that most of the power provided to the valley comes from the Bonneville Power Administration, which is not involved in the low-block cost of power.
“Mission Valley Power gets 80 percent from Bonneville and 20 percent from the former Kerr,” he said.
In other FJBC news, the board passed a motion to send the three district chairs to a mediation meeting in Washington to discuss management of Flathead Indian Irrigation Project in April. The FJBC plans to present a proposal that would return management of the project back to the FJBC. The Bureau of Indian Affairs is currently managing the project.
“This is a starting point,” Chairman Tim Orr said. “It's a negotiation.”
The FJBC discussed sending Wade Shepard to the Compact Implementation Technical Team meeting on Tuesday, March 15, as a representative of the irrigators. The CITT is tasked with implementing the Water Rights Compact. The FJBC doesn't yet know if the appointment will be accepted.
FJBC regular board meetings are scheduled for the second Tuesday of each month at 1 p.m.
