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A 90-foot crane pulled a 20,000-pound generating unit at the Newport Avenue Dam on Mirror Pond last week. Data from the Energy Infrastructure Council show power output at the dam reached its lowest point in decades in 2020, producing just 315 megawatt hours compared to an average of 2,390 MWh over the past 20 years. “The […]
After what may have felt like an eternity, local officials have made some movement on the dredging of Mirror Pond—and for what the future might hold for one of Bend’s more recognizable landmarks. Mirror Pond—part of the Deschutes River in downtown Bend—has been building up sediment since it was last dredged in 1984. The issue […]
It’s been a hot topic since 2002—and even before: When to dredge the silt and buildup from Mirror Pond, and who pays for it. During the May 15 City Council meeting, Mayor Sally Russell asked the other councilors a series of questions, aiming at finding consensus on where the Council stood on Mirror Pond and […]
Starting on April 29, Pacific Power—which provides electrical service to most of Bend—will start installing “smart meters” to about 76,000 customers in Central Oregon. The company will eventually roll out about 590,000 meters in Oregon. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 78 million smart meters are already installed in the U.S. Smart readers will […]
Electric vehicle owners in Redmond and Madras can look forward to eight new public charging ports at Central Oregon Community College campuses, through the help of a Pacific Power grant program. Ten projects across the Pacific Northwest recently secured grants from Pacific Power, through a program that launched in late 2018 to help local organizations […]
Leaders in Bend are looking at a new way to fund the dredging of Mirror Pond: Increasing franchise fees for the utility that owns Newport Dam. The proposal, which became more of a reality following last week’s meetings with PacifiCorp—which owns Pacific Power—would see the City of Bend contributing $300,000 to dredging, with Bend Park […]
Pacific Power announced Monday it’s planning to repair a small leak in the Newport Avenue Dam some time in early November. On Oct. 10, a plant operator discovered more water than normal passing through an outlet that was once used to regulate river flow, according to a press release from Pacific Power. The power company, […]
Wherever you land on the issue of dredging Mirror Pond, some things are certain: Many people have strong opinions about dredging the pond—and those opinions vary widely. When there are varying opinions about a matter that has the potential to affect public budgets, the public should have every opportunity to gather information. Until 2016, there […]
Last Wednesday Pacific Power gave city and park district officials an exclusive tour of the beleaguered Newport Avenue Dam. A few media representatives were also allowed to tag along, but with a few caveats. First, we signed our lives away with a waiver and were required to wear steel-toed boots during the tour. Before entering […]
One by one, latecomers walked to the far side of the well-lit Bend Park and Recreation District community room to retrieve a seat from the stack of black chairs on the opposite wall. The mood was solemn but anticipatory for the Dec. 2 Mirror Pond Ad Hoc work group meeting. It was a mixed bag […]
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