VETO MESSAGE ON HB 2831-S2

                   April 2, 1998

To the Honorable Speaker and Members,

  The House of Representatives of the State of Washington

Ladies and Gentlemen:

     I am returning herewith, without my approval as to section 5, Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill No. 2831 entitled:

"AN ACT Relating to unbundling the components of electrical service;"

     E2SHB 2831 requires utilities to provide information on the components of electricity costs and on their histories of system reliability and customer satisfaction.  This information, to be assembled and reported by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission and the State Auditor, should prove useful in evaluating our current electric system and proposed changes to it.

     Section 5 of the bill would single out one utility, Seattle City Light, and require it to produce additional information.  No justification is offered for why one utility should be treated differently from others.  Moreover, the information requested is already available and has been provided to interested parties.  Section 5 is therefore unnecessary.

     For these reasons, I have vetoed section 5 of Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill No. 2831.

     With the exception of section 5, Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill No. 2831 is approved.

                   Respectfully submitted,

                   Gary Locke

                   Governor