(PORTLAND, OR) – The Public Power Council stated its
opposition to proposals in the Administration’s Budget released today that
would divest the electricity transmission system of the Bonneville Power
Administration (BPA), and would also have BPA change the way it sets its power
rates. BPA is a power marketing
administration (PMA) created to sell and deliver electricity from the federal
Columbia River power system “at cost” to citizens of the Northwest. It operates 15,000 miles of transmission
lines, and collects all of the costs of the transmission and power it provides
in rates BPA charges its customers.
“We are looking to the future, and are already working with
BPA to modernize its transmission system and to take concerted action to
address its cost of power,” said PPC Executive Director, Scott Corwin. “The bottom line is this budget proposes to
raise an extra $5 billion to $7 billion on the backs of Northwest electricity
customers over the next ten years without any added benefit.”
The transmission asset proposal would help fund the federal
government by selling off a critical system that electricity consumers in the
West have paid to construct and maintain.
And, the proposal to have the PMAs charge market rates raises several
implementation problems, including a conflict with BPA’s statutes and with its
current power contracts with utilities that continue through 2028.
PPC staff will be analyzing specifics of the proposals if
and when they become available. Reading
from the Budget Summary, the proposals raise several concerns including: (1)
significant increased costs to local residents and businesses; (2) loss of
regional control and value; (3) potential for remote areas of the system to be
neglected, harming rural communities; and, (4) impacts to reliability of what
is currently a complex and integrated system.
