Former Micron CEO may team up with engineers, developer to buy Ada County’s Barber Dam
Ada County may be a little closer to selling Barber Dam.
A group of four local investors told the Ada County Commissioners on Thursday that they were interested in buying the dam. Purchase details, including the price and a timeline, are still unclear.
The investors — engineer Ted Sorenson, former Micron CEO Mark Durcan, developer Larry Leasure and engineer Fred Boelter — told the commissioners they seek the dam in part to protect the Barber Pool Conservation Area, which is more than 700 acres of land along the Boise River on Boise’s eastern edge.
“I currently own property directly downstream of the dam, but my interest is not so much in the property, as I now live downtown, but primarily in the Barber Pool and leaving a legacy for a great community,” Durcan told the commissioners.
The commissioners voted to put the dam up for sale in December. An auction was supposed to take place in March, but the two bidders did not show up, and the dam remains for sale.
Anyone who buys the dam must show the ability to own and operate it under Federal Energy Regulatory Commission guidelines. When asked by Commissioner Patrick Malloy if they would be able to meet those standards, Sorenson said they would.
The group of investors would form a limited liability company to buy the dam. That, they said, would allow them to show the stability required to transfer the FERC license.
Sorenson said his company, Sorenson Engineering Inc., has been involved in FERC licensing processes for various projects “for 30-plus years.” He cited a dam in St. Anthony, Idaho, that he has licensed under another LLC, as an example. In addition, his company’s website lists projects across Idaho and in Montana, Colorado, Oregon and California.
The investors said they were prepared to move quickly to buy the dam, although the process to transfer the license from Ada County to the LLC may take several months, including time for public comment. Ada County spokesperson Elizabeth Duncan said the investors were the only ones who submitted a written proposal.
Ada County has owned Barber Dam since 1977, acquired after the owner at the time failed to pay taxes on it. The dam generates hydropower that is sold to Idaho Power. It is operated and maintained by Fulcrum LLC and Hull Street Energy, which acquired Barber Dam and 29 other hydroelectric plants across the country in January.
The dam made headlines in August after a power failure in the middle of the night cut off the flow of the Boise River. The Idaho Department of Water Resources said that meant fish, recreation and maintenance flows on the river all were interrupted, and downstream irrigators were deprived of water during the 61 minutes of the power failure.
Ada County was fined $50,000 as a result. State law allows a fine of $50 per one-tenth cubic feet per second that gets diverted, a fine that would have cost the county $832,500 if not for a statutory maximum civil penalty.
That wasn’t the first time a power outage has effectively cut off the river. A similar 2015 outage led Ada County to create an Environmental Advisory Board comprising members from Idaho Fish and Game, the Idaho Conservation League, the Barber Valley Neighborhood Association and several other stakeholders.
This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 11:57 AM.
.jpg)