Last week was a particularly newsy week in Wallowa County (actually, I’ve learned in the year or so I’ve been doing this that Wallowa County generally is a pretty newsy place). 

So you can be forgiven for skimming over a story last week that has the potential to make a huge difference for the county for years to come: On Wednesday, Oct. 4, Joe Basile of Wallowa Resources presented to the county commissioners the final draft of the Wallowa County Community Energy Strategic Plan. Basile, the community energy program manager at Wallowa Resources, said he hopes the commissioners can adopt it at their Oct. 18 meeting. 

It should be an easy call for the commissioners to approve the plan: For starters, it represents more than a year’s worth of work from a community leadership team. And, although there will be challenges implementing some of the suggestions in the plan, it sets up a framework to help get that work done — in particular, having the plan in place makes it easier to attract the kind of grant funding that will be necessary to put the plan’s suggestions into place. (The leadership team that helped craft the plan now will transition into an Implementation Advisory Group to help push the plan forward.)

So it’s clear that this is not a plan that’s intended to gather dust on a shelf in the county courthouse: It’s a working document that includes a literal blueprint for implementation.

In Wallowa County, which sits at the end of the line in terms of energy, the need for this plan should be obvious: Rural communities often face a lack of energy access, high energy prices and can be subject to prolonged outages. 

But the county’s relative isolation also means that, at least to some extent, it can take matters into its own hands.

The leadership team creating the plan identified 34 recommended actions, and selected seven of those to take precedence for implementation. The proposal to move forward with a so-called “Microgrid Resiliency Corridor Project” has, justifiably, caught much of the attention thus far, and you can see why: The notion of “microgrids” built around the cities of Wallowa, Joseph and Enterprise, all powered by renewable sources, is extremely promising.

But some of the remaining six actions could lead to quick victories, such as the idea of creating a countywide weatherization team that will go to households to help them conserve energy. Another idea calls for installation of solar-powered crosswalk signals and streetlights. And another idea listed among the first seven — to help irrigators understand the benefits of modernized systems — could not just save water but could also create opportunities for additional sources of hydropower.

You can read the draft plan for yourself by going to the online version of Bill Bradshaw’s story about the commissioners’ Oct. 4 meeting. Once there, click on the link that will allow you to download the report. In the alternative, here’s another link that should take you right to the report.

You’ll find the report is compelling reading, if you have any interest in Wallowa County’s energy future (and, of course, you should: Consider, for just one example, that more than a third of the county’s households are considered energy-burdened, meaning that more than 6% of the household’s income goes to pay home energy bills).

I’ll go into more detail about all of this, space allowing, in Wednesday’s editorial. Bradshaw’s story about the plan will also be included in Wednesday’s print edition — and has been online since last week. 

And we have many other stories planned for Wednesday’s edition. Here’s a sampling:

• A group of recycling-minded county residents is looking for ways to improve the county’s recycling programs and facilities. 

• Some Enterprise residents are growing weary of low water pressure in the city’s system as work continues to repair a pump.

• All three county prep football teams won on Friday, and Joseph notched a particularly impressive win, knocking off previously unbeaten Harper Charter.

• Ann Bloom covered the keynote address from the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture’s intriguing “Chronicles of Change” exhibit and will have a report from the event.

• A staff member at the Wallowa Valley Center for Wellness has earned regional honors for his work with crisis intervention teams, the folks who are summoned in the event of a mental health emergency. (I mentioned this story last week, but ran out of time to write it; my apologies go out to the honoree, Brandon Miller.)

All of this is part of our continuing efforts to cover Wallowa County news to the best of our ability. As always, if you have a comment or question about the Chieftain, or want to suggest a story idea, email me at mmcinally@wallowa.com.

If you haven’t already, take a moment to register your subscription for digital access of the Chieftain. Call 541-963-3161 to talk to one of our customer service staff, who will be happy to walk you through the process. It’s easy, takes just a few moments to get set up and allows you to take advantage of our e-edition, app and website delivery along with your print subscription.

Finally, let me take this opportunity to once again thank the Chieftain’s subscribers: We simply would be unable to do this vital work without your support.

Mike McInally is the editor of the Wallowa County Chieftain. You can email him at editor@wallowa.com or mmcinally@wallowa.com.