BILL REQ. #:  H-1676.1 

Read first time 02/16/2005.   Referred to Committee on Technology, Energy & Communications.

     TO THE HONORABLE GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE SECRETARY OF ENERGY DR. SAMUEL BODMAN:
     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:
     WHEREAS, The State of Washington's economy is constructed on affordable and reliable electricity; and
     WHEREAS, About half of the electricity consumed in the State of Washington is produced by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), which today is sold at cost, rather than at market-based rates; and
     WHEREAS, This low-cost power has been a cornerstone of the northwest economy, stimulating growth and new jobs; and
     WHEREAS, Many industries moved to Washington to take advantage of low-cost hydroelectric power. They are now paying more for power in Washington than in most of their other locations in the nation; and
     WHEREAS, Without affordable energy for these industries (aluminum, pulp and paper, aerospace, agriculture, etc.), thousands of family-wage jobs will be lost; and
     WHEREAS, Many of these jobs are in rural and economically challenged areas. These industries are at the core of many northwest communities and provide the foundation for numerous secondary employment opportunities and also provide substantial tax revenues; and
     WHEREAS, Bonneville power is not tax supported through government appropriations, but rather recovers all of its costs through the sales of electricity and transmission and repays the United States Treasury in full with interest for any money it borrows; and
     WHEREAS, Northwest ratepayers, not taxpayers, continue to repay the United States Treasury for the federal government's investment in the Federal Columbia River Power System; and
     WHEREAS, The principal on all BPA capital-borrowing costs is fully repaid to the United States Treasury, with legally required, market-based interest; and
     WHEREAS, The President's budget proposes to fundamentally alter BPA's traditional cost-based rate structure, and increase the northwest's power rates until they are equivalent with market rates throughout the country; and
     WHEREAS, Even the administration's most conservative estimates suggest this would raise energy rates by $100 a year for northwest consumers; and
     WHEREAS, The Office of Management and Budget has said that market-based rates could force wholesale electricity rates to double over the next four years; and
     WHEREAS, The President's budget proposes to restrict BPA's ability to invest capital, which will lead to underinvestment in the transmission grid, resulting in electricity shortages that produce price volatility and decreased reliability; and
     WHEREAS, Enron has engaged in fraudulent activities dating back to 1997, which garnered them illegal profits of approximately $1.8 billion through unfair market manipulation; and
     WHEREAS, The State of Washington has lost $1.5 billion due to the 2001 energy crisis that was exacerbated if not instigated by Enron's unfair market manipulation; and
     WHEREAS, The nation is slowly recovering from a severe recession and the Pacific Northwest -- the hardest hit region in the country --is experiencing an even slower recovery; and
     WHEREAS, Any increase in BPA rates will only slow or prevent economic recovery as well as exacerbate the state's budget crisis; and
     WHEREAS, This region simply cannot support an additional two and a half billion dollar hit to its economy over the next five years;
     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that President Bush abandon his proposal to increase the northwest's electricity rates until they are equivalent with market rates throughout the country, and that Congress refuse to approve this shift to market rates that would so harm the Pacific Northwest.
     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable George W. Bush, President of the United States, Dr. Samuel Bodman, Secretary of the United States Department of Energy, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.