Comprehensive Review of the Northwest Energy System:
Change challenges electricity industry, impacts on citizens uncertain

• What's happening now?
• Why should you care?
• How will this affect the Northwest?
• Will your concerns be addressed?
• Make your voice heard!

What's happening now?

Like the telephone and airline industries before it, the electric power industry is beginning to face competition.

Competition is opening the industry to new companies that ultimately may compete with your local utility, potentially changing the price you pay for electricity and bringing you more choices about energy.

The Northwest's electricity system is made up of the federal Bonneville Power Administration, consumer- and investor-owned utilities, and independent power producers and marketers.

Currently, the electric utility serving you is determined by where you live. You can't buy electricity from one utility because it is cheaper or from another because it uses renewable resources.

But with competition, that might change. You might choose to purchase electricity produced only by gas-fired plants, dams, or windmills; or, you might choose your electricity solely on the basis of price. As a result, you may help decide what kind of electric power system the Northwest will have in the future.

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Why should you care?

Changes in public benefits

Competition also is causing the region to review many of the public policies related to the electricity system.

For example, rural customers currently are given assistance in meeting the sometimes higher costs of providing electricity to remote communities.

Urban customers who live far from electricity-generating facilities are served at the same prices they would pay if those facilities were right next door.

And, low-income people who live in both urban and rural areas sometimes receive assistance with their electricity bills. The impact on these and other ?public purposes? is uncertain.

The environment and the economy

Energy conservation measures, renewable resources such as wind, solar and hydropower, and the restoration of salmon and other fish and wildlife are important to the Northwest. So are low electricity prices for our homes, offices and industries -- prices that help the region compete in an increasingly global economy.

Competition in the electricity industry may force a re-evaluation of all of these benefits and the way the region pays for them.

Lower electricity prices... or not?

Competition may give you more choices about energy. But even though greater choice is likely, the effects on energy costs for various consumers are unknown.

Some people expect competition to produce modest decreases in everyone's bill. Others are concerned that larger business customers may benefit from competition at the expense of other customers.

New power sources ? better or worse?

The electricity system itself will change. A majority of the region's electricity is now provided by a system of hydroelectric dams, although some is supplied by more expensive nuclear plants and coal-fired plants with a range of costs.

The overall system long has provided low-cost, reliable electricity. But despite efforts to minimize their negative effects, dams, along with logging, pollution and many other human activities, harm salmon runs and wildlife habitat.

Due to low fuel prices and new technology, natural gas-fired power plants are now competitive with the current system. The exact effects new gas plants will have on our environment are unknown, but natural gas is a fossil fuel.

Some people are concerned that burning natural gas will increase air pollution, and that the price of natural gas may go up in the future, leading to higher energy costs.

Others argue that newer, more efficient gas plants will replace older, dirtier power plants, resulting in cleaner air, and that the supply and price of natural gas will hold steady for the foreseeable future.

As you can see, from the price of your power to the quality of your air, changes in the electricity industry could very well affect you and your family.

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How will this affect the Northwest?

Recognizing the opportunities and challenges competition poses for the region, the Governors of Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington launched a Comprehensive Review of the Northwest Energy System.

The Review is looking at how the BPA, consumer- and investor-owned utilities, industries, agricultural and residential customers in the Northwest will adapt to the changing world of competitive energy services.

The challenge is maintaining low-cost electricity while protecting our environment.

The Northwest governors appointed representatives from regional utilities, as well as industry, consumer and conservation groups to serve on the Steering Committee that is conducting the Review.

The Committee's goal is to develop recommendations on how the Northwest should manage the changes competition causes ? finding regional solutions to regional concerns.

The Committee is scheduled to present its recommendations to the region's governors in December. The governors will take the recommendations to Congress, Northwest Indian tribes and state legislatures.

The Committee's meetings are open, and you are welcome to comment at specific times during every meeting. Call the number listed below for the schedule.

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Will your concerns be addressed?

The governors want to ensure that everyone in the Northwest has a chance to shape the region's energy future. A series of public hearings in all four states will be held in the fall.

Other opportunities for you to make your views known to the governors and the Steering Committee are being planned.

The Steering Committee also created working groups to tackle key issues and concerns. The working groups will include a broad range of participants, including consumers, low-income groups, conservation organizations, labor, and representatives from energy, fishing, agriculture and other industries.

Working group sessions are being held throughout the spring and early summer. They are open to the public. Some of the critical questions the working groups are likely to examine include:

• How can utilities, public policy makers and the public shape the electric industry marketplace so it's fair for everyone?
• Will Northwest residents realize the benefits of competition, and if so, how quickly?
• What kind of new choices will consumers have in a deregulated electric industry?
• How will the region pay for energy conservation, renewable energy resources and salmon and other fish and wildlife recovery programs?

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Make your voice heard!

There are several ways for you to receive more information about how competition in the electricity industry will affect you, the issues at stake, and about opportunities to make your views heard at hearings or other public events.

[This listserv no longer available.] Or, add yourself to the Comprehensive Review e-mail list by sending a message to: listserver@nwcouncil.org In the message field, type: subscribe compreview yourfirstname yourlastname An example, using a person named John Doe, is:

subscribe compreview john doe

World Wide Web: For a complete archive of the Comprehensive Review activities, visit www.newsdata.com/enernet/review.

This text was cooperatively prepared by the Northwest Power Planning Council, Bonneville Power Administration , Northwest Conservation Act Coalition, Public Power Council, PacifiCorp, Portland General Electric, Northwest Environmental Advocates, Columbia River Alliance and the Washington State Energy Office.

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