Oregon Public Broadcasting

State lawmakers signed off on a plan Monday that would help pay for the removal of the four Klamath Dams.

That is, if the four dams are indeed removed.

Central Oregon correspondent Ethan Lindsey reports.

This bill is just an outline for how Pacific Power and its customers would pay to get rid of the dams.

But dam removal is far from a certainty – and still requires farmers, tribes, and fisherman to sign a final settlement.

The bill caps ratepayer costs and creates a trust fund to pay for dam removal, if it's finally approved by the Secretary of the Interior.

Bob Jenks is the executive director of the Citizens Utility Board.

Bob Jenks: “Pacificorp is going to have to come in and prove that this is the best deal for customers. And what you are really doing there, in my mind, is comparing taking out the dams under this agreement, versus not taking out the dams."

Jenks says he’s not against keeping the dams – if it saves ratepayers’ money.

Tribes, environmentalists and others say the dams must go.

The settlement agreement could be signed by the end of the summer.