State Legislators Taking Voluntary Pay Cuts

Twelve state House members have volunteered to take a pay cut. Only one of them is from the North Olympic Peninsula. Kevin Van De Wege has opted for a five percent pay reduction.

Today's online poll question at the PDN is: "Should state legislators voluntarily send back 3% to 10% of their pay to the state?"

With 922 votes cast, 88.1% voted Yes; 9.2% said No; and 2.7% were Undecided.

Biomass Power Plant in Western Washington — Possibly on the Peninsula

Energy Northwest, a public utility consortium, and Adage — a private company — are planning to build a biomass plant in western Washington. They haven’t determined a specific location yet. The plant could be built as early as 2012.

This will generate energy through the burning of wood waste from logging and mill operations.

Rep. Kevin Van De Wege and Senator James Hargrove have introduced legislation to encourage the development of biomass energy in Washington. Van De Wege said a plant on the Peninsula would be a “win-win” for the timber industry and for renewable energy. “I think that there is a lot of promise. I think that the timber industry needs it. It creates family-wage jobs based around energy.”

Wherever it ends up being built, this plant would generate about 50 megawatts of electricity — enough to supply 40,000 households in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.

The Port Townsend Paper Mill and Nippon Paper Industries USA Co. mill in Port Angeles both burn wood waste that could be used for this plant.