BILL REQ. #:  S-2005.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/25/05.   

     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 THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, SAMUEL W. 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 Bonneville Power Administration supplies seventy percent of the electrical power consumed in the state of Washington; and
     WHEREAS, Currently and since its creation the rates established for such power have been based upon recovery of its costs; and
     WHEREAS, The ratepayers of the Pacific Northwest and West Coast have paid those costs in their entirety through their rates; and
     WHEREAS, The Pacific Northwest region has experienced a nearly fifty percent increase in wholesale power rates since the energy crisis of 2001-2002; and
     WHEREAS, The President's proposed fiscal year 2006 budget would transition the Bonneville Power Administration from cost-based rates to market-based rates;
     WHEREAS, The Office of Management and Budget has estimated that such change would result in an estimated increase of one hundred dollars per year for each Pacific Northwest ratepayer; and     
     WHEREAS, This budget proposal would cost the Northwest region four hundred eighty million dollars next year and two and one-half billion dollars over three years; and
     WHEREAS, The first argument to justify these increased rates, that the ratepayers of the Pacific Northwest are being subsidized by the federal government, is not well-founded in light of the fact that all of the Bonneville Power Administration's costs, including repayment of debt at market-based interest rates to the Unites States Treasury, are recovered from ratepayers, primarily individuals and businesses in the Pacific Northwest; and
     WHEREAS, The second argument to justify these increased rates, that of further accelerating Bonneville's debt repayment to the United States Treasury, are not well-founded in light of Bonneville's success in recent years of early repayment of its debt, despite the sale of power at-cost and during difficult economic times; and
     WHEREAS, This proposal if enacted would essentially result in a one hundred percent increase in power rates over a seven-year period, which will severely harm the region's businesses and industries, as well as all the residents of the region; and
     WHEREAS, The administration's additional budget proposal to increase the types of transactions that would count against the Bonneville Power Administration's authorized debt limit would negatively impact the Bonneville Power Administration's ability to upgrade existing or build new vital infrastructure; and
     WHEREAS, This proposal would lead to further limiting investment in an already constrained transmission system which could result in electricity shortages and decreased reliability;
     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that the proposal to transition the Bonneville Power Administration from cost-based rates to market-based rates, as expressed in the President's fiscal year 2006 proposed budget, be rejected; and furthermore, your memorialists respectfully pray that the proposal to add additional transactions for inclusion into the Bonneville Power Administrations's authorized debt limit be rejected.
     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable George W. Bush, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington, and the Secretary of the United States Department of Energy, Samuel W. Bodman.