Oregon Public Broadcasting

At a conference in Portland Wednesday, Democratic Senator Ron Wyden attacked a wind energy rate increase.

Earlier this year, the Bonneville Power Administration proposed a wind integration rate increase Wyden called “downright unaffordable.”

Some estimate that the rate increase would charge more than $300,000 a year on a 10-megawatt wind farm.

Bonneville Power Administration spokesman Michael Milstein says the proposed increases are likely to be reduced.

Michael Milstein: “We’d like to see that rate lower, as much as anyone would because we recognize how important wind generation is to the region. Things are going better than we expected, and the benefit of that is the rate is not going to be as high as we expected.”

Milstein says the cost increase is necessary because for every wind turbine brought online, a more stable backup power source must be found.

Bonneville Power Administration sells power from hydroelectric dams and wind farms to local utility companies. So its rates determine power costs across the Northwest.