BPA

Puget Sound P&L Berates BPA

Puget Sound Power & Light (PSPL) has protested Bonneville Power Administration's (BPA's) plan to negotiate industrial power contracts with its own direct services industries, giving them rate cuts without first taking part in full public hearings. Gary Swofford, PSPL senior vice president for customer operations, said in August that BPA planned to have signed contracts in place by September, when consumer hearings are scheduled.

Sithe Alleges Niagara Mohawk Overcharged

Sithe/Independence Power Partners, L.P., an independent power producer (IPP), has filed a petition at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) alleging that Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. (NMP) has been overcharging for electric transmission. Sithe believes NMP has been calculating transmission losses on an incremental basis; FERC policy requires that transmission losses be calculated on an average basis.

Privatization: Fantasy or Reality?

Randall Hardy

Administrator

Bonneville Power Administration

BPA's central role in the Northwest has no counterpart among the other PMAs proposed for privatization. We hold approximately 45 percent of the market share, serve 85 percent of our customers' load, and provide rate benefits for 85 percent of all Northwest residential consumers.

By contrast, the other PMAs have less than 10 percent of the market in their respective regions.

This New Congress Means Business

After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness as a minority party, House Republicans are ready to slash and burn what they see as a bloated federal bureaucracy. The next two years will demonstrate just how powerful the legislative branch can be when both House and Senate are controlled by a strong-willed party on a mission. Electric industry officials seem optimistic, but cautious, about this Republican revolution.