07.13.06

Cantwell: The Fight Continues to Protect Low-Cost Power in the Northwest

Senator believes Northwest stands ready to oppose administration’s proposal for BPA rate hike

WASHINGTON, DC – Thursday, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) reiterated her commitment to preserving cost-based power in the Pacific Northwest following the release of an outline for proposed long-term power sales contracts for Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) customers. Included in the proposal was language asking for regional input on a recent Bush administration proposal to increase electricity rates in the Northwest, which was defeated this year by bipartisan legislation.

“I am concerned that the administration continues to advocate for illegal proposals that the Northwest has vehemently opposed on a bipartisan basis. These long-term agreements are important to provide stability and predictability to our region and we will not be held hostage by proposals forced upon us by the other Washington,” said Cantwell, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “I know our region will continue to stand together in united opposition to this unfortunate plan. I am confident that the Northwest can come together to productively work through other outstanding issues and progress towards achieving needed regional consensus for long-term power agreements.”

Cantwell worked with her Northwest colleagues to successfully block a rate hike proposed by the Bush Administration in February that would have reversed a decades-old Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) policy of using revenue from surplus power sales to lower electricity costs for Northwest ratepayers.

On April 4, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved an amendment to the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act that would prevent the Bush Administration from implementing the rate hike through April 1, 2007. On May 4, the Senate passed the legislation with Cantwell’s support. In a bipartisan letter sent in May to conference committee leaders, Cantwell and 22 other members of the Pacific Northwest congressional delegation urged that the Senate language be kept in the final version of the legislation. Last month, in a move supported by Cantwell, the Senate gave final approval to the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, now enacted into law.

Earlier this spring, Cantwell and other Northwest members of the Senate Energy Committee met with Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to express opposition to the plan and question the administration’s legal authority to pursue the proposal. Cantwell also launched a petition, signed by more than 9,000 ratepayers, opposing the rate hike plan. Last month, Cantwell joined her Senate colleagues from Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Oregon in a letter to Rob Portman, the new Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requesting a meeting to discuss BPA rates.

Today’s release of the BPA policy paper is the latest step in the process for devising long-term power sales agreements between BPA and its customers. Included in the proposal was language asking for regional input of a recent Bush administration proposal to increase electricity rates in the Northwest, which was defeated this year by bipartisan legislation. Release of the policy paper will be followed by a series of public meetings throughout the Northwest. BPA is anticipated to make a decision on the parameters of long-term power sales agreements in 2007 and 2008. Contracts for most BPA customers expire on September 30, 2011.

Cantwell helped stop a similar BPA rate hike proposal last year. This year, the Bush Administration tried to implement a rate hike through an administrative process without Congressional approval.

Last July, Cantwell joined Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) to host a meeting of regional stakeholders in a discussion on the future role of BPA—including long-term regional power sales agreements. The Cantwell-Smith meeting followed a series of meetings coordinated by the staff of both senators.

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