Rural towns would be hard hit by electric transmission sell-off, say lawmakers

A proposal to privatize the Bonneville Power Administration would not only cause prices to rise, but transmission to some rural areas of Washington and Oregon might be abandoned, say congressional representatives.

All 15 representatives of the two states sent a bipartisan letter on Monday to Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget. Among those signing the letter were Reps. Dan Newhouse and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, both Eastern Washington Republicans.

The lawmakers oppose selling off most of BPA’s transmission assets, a proposal in the federal fiscal 2018 budget request sent to Congress from the Trump Administration.

If BPA is privatized, high-value assets likely would be sold off at a premium and lines that serve rural areas and contribute to the reliability of the electric grid would be abandoned, lawmakers predicted.

“Private companies are unlikely to give these communities the proper maintenance and attention they need to maintain complex transmission assets,” the letter said.

BPA owns 75 percent of the transmission network in the Pacific Northwest, including serving most Tri-City-area homes and businesses.

“All Northwest utilities and the customers they serve depend on BPA’s grid to assess affordable and reliable power,” the letter said. “Selling off BPA’s transmission assets is bad public policy that undermines the president’s economic objectives and betrays a lack of understanding of the Northwest.”

BPA was established by Congress 80 years ago as a nonprofit federal marketing administration to manage and sell power generated by the newly constructed Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River and expanded to include other power sources.

BPA is self-funding and passes along no cost to taxpayers. The capital investment, operation and maintenance of its transmission system is paid for by those who buy electricity through their local utilities. BPA also has paid $32.5 billion to the U.S. Treasury.

“Divesting these assets to the highest bidder could transfer the benefit and equity of these investments form the Northwest consumers, who have financed the system, to distant investors,” the letter said.

“Furthermore, this proposal will lead to a certain rate increase for consumers, imposing increased costs on families and economic development,” the letter said. It also could jeopardize the ability of BPA to repay the costs of the Federal Columbia River Power System.

BPA markets electricity from hydropower and other sources, including Energy Northwest’s nuclear power plant near Richland.

Each year the presidential administration makes a budget request to Congress, but Congress sets spending amounts and budget policy.

This story was originally published June 5, 2017 at 2:29 PM with the headline "Rural towns would be hard hit by electric transmission sell-off, say lawmakers."