People in and around the city of Monroe in Benton County may soon have a new electric utility.
Blachly-Lane Electric Cooperative agreed to terms to buy PacifiCorp’s Monroe territory, covering 1,162 residential, commercial and irrigation customers in Monroe, Alpine, Bellfountain and along Highway 99W.
The move is a chance for Blachly-Lane to acquire more members, which can help lower costs.
"It’s a rare opportunity, frankly. We’re one of the smaller cooperatives in Oregon,” said General Manager Jeff Jones. “Scale matters to use quite a bit so we can spread our costs evenly amongst more members."
Jones said people in the potential addition to Blachly-Lane’s territory will now get to experience the difference between being a customer of a utility company and a member of a cooperative.
"Part of being a co-op member is you get to participate in the future of the cooperative by voting for the board membership and participating in our annual meetings and such," he said.
The sale must still be approved by the Oregon Public Utility Commission before the utilities finalize the deal and set a date for the transfer.
Once details are finalized, affected customers will be notified. Jones expects the transfer process will take about a year.
