Power line foes plan protest against BPA

Residents concerned about a new high-voltage transmission line cutting a swath through Clark and Cowlitz counties will turn up the heat with a protest rally at 11 a.m. Thursday at Bonneville Power Administration offices in Vancouver.

On Friday, the Lewis River Community Council will host a meeting with “A Better Way for BPA” regarding its I-5 Corridor Reinforcement Project. That meeting will be at 6 p.m. at Yale Elementary School, 11842 Lewis River Road, Ariel.

The protest rally will begin at 11 a.m. Thursday on the public sidewalk fronting a pair of office buildings at 7600 N.E. 41st St., where Bonneville leases space.

BPA is proposing to build a 500-kilovolt line atop towers as tall as 150 feet to connect new substations proposed for Castle Rock and Troutdale, Ore. The federal power marketing agency has proposed possible routes through Clark County, each of which has generated significant backlash from neighbors worried about health effects and property values.

Bonneville officials say it’s the first major transmission line they’ve proposed in such a highly populated area in at least 40 years. Opponents argue that BPA should push the line through largely forested lands on the Oregon side of the river, farther east through state and federal forestland in Washington or underground. They also question the burden placed upon local residents for a grid upgrade that primarily benefits energy companies outside the region.