Appeals court rules against CEC

The Oregon Court of Appeals last week dealt a blow to Central Electric Cooperative's (CEC) plans to upgrade its power lines feeding into the Sisters community.

The court upheld an earlier opinion from the Land Use Board of Appeals that CEC is not acting under a "lawful requirement" to improve its power lines, which run across land owned by the Cyrus family of Sisters.

CEC is itself proposing the improvement; it is not being demanded by a government authority. "No authority, lawfully or otherwise, has called on CEC to make the proposed improvements. Accordingly, those improvements are not sanctioned by (Oregon statutes)."

CEC spokesman Jim Crowell said that "any subsequent decision by the (CEC Board of Directors) on this matter must await the advice of the cooperative's legal counsel."

Crowell said that, "Central Electric began this process of trying to provide an upgraded main transmission line to the Sisters area because the demand for power there continues to increase at a rate faster than that in most other parts of CEC's territory.

"The line was designed to be built at the lowest possible cost to the 20,000 members of CEC," he stated.

Crowell noted that, "CEC's project was approved by both the Deschutes County Planning Department and later by the Deschutes County Hearing Officer. The Court of Appeals has reversed those two decisions but the need for more power in the Sisters area remains."

In February 2003, CEC applied to the county for "non-conforming use verification" and changes to the Jordan Road line, which is one of the power lines serving Sisters.

The electricity provider wants to upgrade the line and replace wooden supports with slightly taller and more tightly spaced towers made of weathered steel.

The Cyruses argued to LUBA that "the (county) hearings officer erred in concluding that the proposed alterations to the Jordan Road line were 'necessary to comply with any lawful requirement for alteration in the use.'"

LUBA -- and now the court of appeals -- agreed with the Cyruses.

CEC argued, in part, that growing power demand in Sisters and the vulnerability of the Jordan Road line to interruption made the changes necessary.

Cyrus attorney Tia Lewis has said in the past that CEC could pursue a conditional use permit, but that would require mitigation of the impact on the Cyrus property.

That impact has to do mostly with views from property the Cyruses own.

The matter is expected to return to LUBA and/or Deschutes County where it will be thrashed out further.