| Thursday, January 30, 1997 | NORTHWEST ENERGY REVIEW |
NWPPC Conference Room, Portland, Oregon |
Next Meeting: February 13 in Portland.
• STAFF OUTLINES THE TRANSITION BOARD'S JOB
Staffer Dick Watson presented a preliminary draft work plan for the Transition Board's role in implementing the recommendations of the Comprehensive Review, noting that the goal is to have a draft plan completed by mid-February. He reported that BPA and a group of its customers are meeting under the auspices of the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee (PNUCC) to work on issues related to the federal power subscription process. The Transition Board's function is "to ensure public accountability, regional acceptance and prompt implementation" of the Comprehensive Review's recommendations and to work with regional interests and BPA in a public process to oversee the subscription process, he said. Liaison with the Northwest congressional delegation is another role for the board, Watson pointed out.
Staffer Wally Gibson said the work plan suggests checkpoints in the development process, such as a determination in early 1998 of whether BPA's legal authority is adequate to allow the subscriptions to go forward, and a decision by the end of 1998 on whether the subscription process will work. The draft work plan proposes a number of activities to acquaint legislatures, regulatory commissions, and local utilities with the Review's recommendations, Watson explained. The board would work with the region's utilities to determine if their efforts are consistent with the Review's recommendations on consumer access and public purposes, he added. The work plan calls for five-year budgets for funding fish and wildlife (F&W) projects, a strategy to define how the river is to be operated over the five-year period, and a process to reach a decision on major system configuration or operational changes for F&W, Watson said.
• NW DELEGATION DOGMA: PROTECT HYDRO BENEFITS
Jeff Stier said the likelihood of legislation moving in the House demands that we in the delegation talk early to get the Northwest component together. The "dogma" in the delegation is to retain the benefits of the hydro system, he stated. "We'll be swimming against the current to do that," Stier added. "The message is, we've got to work together" -- we want to present this as a "fait accompli" and discourage people from drawing up their own bills, he said.
• HARDY: BPA WON'T REINTERPRET THE REVIEW'S RECOMMENDATIONS
Randy Hardy said he told his staff to work with customers to design a process that is commercially viable, and not to reinvent the Comprehensive Review's recommendations. "We at BPA aren't out to change or reinterpret what the Review said," he stated. The Transition Board needs to find a balance between the need to get going "so there won't be a political vacuum that is filled by others," and the needs of customers to overcome uncertainties, including F&W costs, Hardy said.
• CUSTOMERS AND BPA OUTLINE THEIR PROGRESS
John Saven of Northwest Requirements Utilities described activities of the group of federal power customers and BPA staff to implement the federal power marketing recommendations of the Review. The first step is to define the business interests collaboratively and assure that customers have a full understanding of the products and prices, and the second step is bilateral negotiations, he said. The group would like to report to the Transition Board quarterly to get feedback, Saven stated.
• THE PUBLIC SPEAKS
Rick Applegate of Trout Unlimited endorsed the Review's recommendation for a parallel process to resolve fish issues. Rachel Shimshak of the Renewables Northwest Project said public purposes issues are now before state legislatures, and she urged the board to have direct communication with legislative leaders. Angus Duncan of the Columbia/Pacific Policy Institute for Energy and Environment said the discussions to shape the federal subscription process should "not be a black box for everyone but the customers and BPA." Stranded costs, fish costs, and ecosystem costs were risk issues not resolved in the Comprehensive Review, he stated. Michael Tedin of the Columbia Basin Institute urged the board to consider the economic impact of irrigation assistance, and Glen Swift said a regional entity should be formed to oversee the hydro system. _________________________________________________________________
Please Note: This summary is based on detailed reports of the meetings of the Northwest Energy Review Transition Board. The reports are prepared by Resource Writers Inc. and distributed by the Northwest Power Planning Council. To request a copy, please call the Council at 1-800-452-5161 and ask for Public Affairs.