Northwest Newspaper Hydropower Articles

PUD, tribes settle for $13.5 million and percent of dam's output

By Staff
Douglas County Empire Press

After nearly two years of negotiation, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation and Douglas County Public Utility District signed a settlement Monday giving the Tribes $13.5 million and the profits from 4.5 percent of the dam’s power output a year to settle a dispute over flooded lands.

The tribes contended that the P.U.D. had not paid enough to the tribes and tribal members for the 1,004 acres acquired for the Wells Dam project when the dam was first licensed in 1962.

The settlement ends negotiations that had been going on and off since the dam’s construction, plus wins the P.U.D. a promise from the tribes to support re-licensing efforts in 2012.

At one point, the tribes sought $950 million from the P.U.D.

The Wells Project will pay a lump sum of $13.5 million to the Colville Tribe within six months of the date the Federal Regulatory Commission approves the settlement. Douglas PUD will sell bonds to finance the payment.

Current users will bear the cost of debt service through Aug. 3!, 2018. Douglas P.U.D. will give 466 acres of Wells Project land to the Colvilles within 30 days of federal approval. The properties are owned by the P.U.D. but are above the project boundary and are surplus to the operational needs of the Wells Project, said Meaghan Vibbert, public information officer for the P.U.D.

Douglas P.U.D. does not anticipate raising electric prices immediately, but the settlement will likely contribute to higher rates in the future, according to Vibbert.

The Colville Tribes will receive four and one-half percent of Wells Project output through Aug. 31, 2018, increasing to five and one-half percent thereafter. Douglas P.U.D. will initially sell the power for the tribe, giving the profits to the tribes.

A provision in the Federal Power Act and also in the Wells Project license requires the licensee to pay a reasonable charge for the use of tribal lands embraced within the Colville Indian Reservation. Over the years compensation has been paid for some, but not all of the land in question, and the amount of that compensation has been disputed.

“We are fortunate that conditions allowed us to work out a solution with the Colville Tribes,” said Douglas PUD Manager Bill Dobbins.

Douglas County Empire Press
East Wenatchee, WA
November 04, 2004

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