Groups suing EWEB will burden customers with litigation-driven costs
Several environmental groups are suing EWEB, a customer-owned electric and water utility, and have asked the judge to award them litigation expenses, expert witness fees and costs, and attorneys’ fees, if they win.
EWEB firmly disputes the claims made in the lawsuit relating to operation of the utility’s Carmen-Smith Hydroelectric Project nearly 70 miles east of Eugene. EWEB takes its environmental and public safety responsibilities seriously. Contrary to the assertions in the lawsuit, construction of fish passage was postponed because EWEB’s regulator, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), required the utility to study and resolve urgent dam safety issues first.
And, while conducting those studies, EWEB spent more than $18 million on fish and habitat improvements at the Carmen-Smith project.
In late 2024, after several years of investigation and analysis, the dam safety work concluded. EWEB is working closely and collaboratively with federal regulators to put permanent fish passage infrastructure in place as swiftly as possible.
EWEB, which does not have general legal counsel on staff, has contracted with outside legal counsel to defend against the lawsuit and protect customers’ interests. Meanwhile, EWEB staff who could otherwise be advancing projects to benefit fish have been pulled into responding to the lawsuit.
As a customer-owned utility, EWEB collects no profits, and no shareholders benefit from customer rates. Instead, rates directly fund the generation and delivery of reliable, affordable and environmentally responsible power and water. A five-member Board of Commissioners, elected by the people of Eugene, governs the utility and oversees its finances.
Customers, including customers who are members of the groups suing EWEB, will pay for the expenses that result from this lawsuit through the rates they pay each month.
“We are disappointed that these groups are choosing to waste public funds on an unnecessary and unhelpful lawsuit. Our community will suffer as customers bear the costs of litigation,” said EWEB General Manager Frank Lawson. “With our needed dam safety investigations recently completed, we are working with our regulators to develop and implement permanent fish passage at Trail Bridge Dam.”
The groups’ complaint, which they announced in a press release before officially serving EWEB, alleges that EWEB has violated the Endangered Species Act.
The Carmen-Smith project generates carbon-free electricity and is made up of three dams, three reservoirs and two powerhouses. EWEB increases power generation at the facility during peak demand hours, when regional grid operators often rely on natural gas power plants to meet energy needs.
In their initial complaint, the groups mischaracterize EWEB’s efforts to build facilities that would allow native fish to migrate past the lowermost dam in the project, the Trail Bridge Dam.
“EWEB believes that it has remained fully compliant with the Endangered Species Act requirements of its federal license,” Lawson said. “We have faced one obstacle after another in our pursuit of fish passage facilities at Trail Bridge Dam. These setbacks have been well-documented and EWEB has been fully transparent with FERC and with the community at large about the schedule for fish passage.”
EWEB has worked with its regulators to implement mitigation measures to offset the impact of the delay, including funding habitat restoration lower in the watershed, planning for additional habitat restoration near the project, changing the timing of releasing water through the project to benefit fish, and constructing temporary fish passage.
Caution and extensive analysis have been required to ensure the safety of the project and mitigate the potential for catastrophic impacts to people, property and natural resources that could occur if the dam were to fail. EWEB’s actions were consistent with directives from FERC.
“We are disappointed that the complaint filed by these groups barely addresses dam safety issues,” Lawson added. “EWEB’s values align with the values of our community and environmental partners. We all want the same thing: healthy native fish populations, abundant renewable energy, and sound and stable infrastructure that protects public safety. But we don’t see those values reflected in this lawsuit.”
