| Question
|
Range of Positions | Comments |
| What is the problem to be solved? | A. Year-to-year variation in BPA’s revenues
due to weather, market variation (cash flow). B. Historic costs stranded by long-term market conditions. C. Increased costs to perform BPA’s current functions D. Unrecovered costs of incremental new measures to meet existing BPA obligations (e.g. screens). E. Unrecovered costs of large new measures (e.g. reconfiguration of power system). |
Mechanism should be appropriate to problem to be solved (e.g. cash flow might be handled separately as risk management) |
| How are stranded costs determined? (Definition -what’s included/not included?) | A. No stranded costs – after subscription,
both residual risks & residual benefits go to Treasury. B. Costs incurred up to some date included in stranded costs. C. Net costs incurred up to time trigger is tripped. D. Projected unrecovered costs over some future period. E. Actual future costs imposed on subscribers and/or past customers. |
|
| Accounting Treatment | A. Generation and transmission costs
functionalized per FERC rules with cross-functional cost recovery treated
as a loan between functions. B. Separate directed cost recovery not treated as a loan. C. Deferred Treasury payments are rescheduled (for either A or B). |
No proposal writes off Treasury debt. |
| What are incentives or mechanisms to control costs? | A. Separate cost control body (audit function). B. Risk of failure to make payments. |
Smith/Defazio require presence of "financing agreement among federal agencies for F&W" before stranded cost mechanism is activated. |
| Who determines?
|
A. BPA initiates, FERC judges under current
rules. B. BPA initiates, FERC judges under BPA-specific rules (legislative guidelines). C. Three Sovereigns process. |
Increased role for FERC expected. |
| What triggers stranded cost mechanism, e.g.
prospective determination or actual under recovery? Contingent on what? |
A. Actual deferral of Treasury payment. B. Actual reserve level below X. C. Projected probability of repayment below Y. |
|
| Any limit on recovery? $ limit? Time limit?
|
A. No limits. B. $100 million/yr, $600 million total over 2001-16. C. $50 million/yr, $400 million total over 2001-11. D. Some annual $ limit. E. X mills/kwh cap. |
Concept of some sort of cap on transition cost payments is common. |
| What is the mechanism or
mechanisms for recovery? How are stranded costs allocated to customer groups, treasury, others? |
A. Uniform transmission surcharge
-- allocates to current transmission users in some proportion to use of
transmission. B. Directed charge -- allocated in proportion to historic benefits. C. Directed charge -- allocated in proportion to costs each customer imposed on system. D. Any or all of above. |
|
| Is legislation necessary? | Yes |