The company and its forerunner, West Linn Paper Co., had accused PGE of wrongly denying it the “long-term direct access” status that West Linn Paper had before ceasing operations in October 2017. The rights were valuable because West Linn Paper had paid off fees that are required when companies bypass their local utility to buy energy from an electricity service supplier or at market prices under the direct access program.
Willamette Falls Paper has said regaining its previous status could save it as much as $4 million a year in electricity costs over other PGE options.
PGE had maintained that the mill’s long-term direct access rights ended when West Linn Paper dropped its service with an electricity service supplier after it shut down, “and then accrued several months of missed power and light payments to PGE, (and) PGE closed West Linn Paper’s accounts without protest.”
The companies were in a contested case before the Oregon Public Utility Commission, both offering extensive written testimony to support their positions. But in late December, they told the PUC they had settled the matter.
In an emailed statement this week, PGE said the settlement acknowledges that West Linn Paper had indeed passed its long-term direct rights and obligations onto Willamette Falls Paper.
“In addition to receiving the assignment, WFPC also assumed WLP’s outstanding obligations for unpaid retail electric service provided by PGE,” PGE said. “Both parties look forward to a cooperative relationship in the years ahead.”
Willamette Falls Paper Co., which restarted the mill in July 2019, declined to comment on the settlement or its current operations. According to federal records, in April the company was approved for a Paycheck Protection Program loan worth $2.3 million. The company reported 128 workers in that application, the Small Business Administration records say.
Oregon lawmakers called for a direct access program in a 1999 bill, intending to bring competition into the electricity market. It has spawned many fights, most frequently over PUC-established “transition charges,” fees that direct access users pay for several years to compensate the utility — and by extension its ratepayers — for system investments that were made in expectation of serving the customer’s load.
Some companies say transition charges are too steep to make
the program viable, but others, including Nike, nonetheless find direct access
a pathway to energy that is greener or cheaper — or both — than what the
utility offers.
