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What are PMAs? There are five Power Marketing Administrations which are government owned and operated power suppliers. For the most part, the electricity generated by these organizations is a by-product of other missions such as flood control, navigation, irrigation, etc. While the Bonneville Power Administration and the Tennessee Valley Authority are the best known, there are other, smaller PMAs including the Southeast Power Administration (SEPA), which has been in the news recently. A key congressional committee recently voted to sell SEPA to the highest bidder and study the best method of selling the remaining PMAs including Bonneville. What does this mean? Several things. First - if the purchaser pays a very high price, they will charge more for electricity to make a profit on their investment. Secondly, to maximize their profit, power might be sold to the highest bidder. This would leave small utilities like OPALCO to fend for themselves in the wholesale power market. Finally, there are many utilities, like OPALCO, who may not be able to generate enough profit to keep the doors open (lights on). There are additional problems if the Bonneville Power Administration is to be sold. The government may not be able to find a buyer for the entire BPA system and may be forced to sell off the best parts of BPA. This would leave someone, either the taxpayers or customer utilities like OPALCO, to pay for the undesirable parts - like the WPPSS nuclear plants. BPA also has a "social" mission assigned by Congress. In addition to its role as a power supplier, BPA has legal responsibilities for fish and wildlife enhancement, conservation, legally mandated subsidies to types of utilities, etc. What would happen if BPA was sold to a profit oriented purchaser? What about keeping enough water behind the dams for shipping on the Columbia River? These are all concerns to me. I think there is merit to reducing the social mission of BPA so they can compete in the market. BPA's rates to their customers today are higher than offers from other potential power suppliers. If BPA's rates are not competitive, will they even have any customers left? I am concerned about the sale of SEPA because all of the ramifications have not been examined. I am also concerned that this moves us closer to the sale of BPA - something that will not be good for OPALCO. I am also concerned that a majority of the congressional committee members who voted to sell SEPA to the highest bidder came from the Northwest. Regardless if you feel pro or con about selling the PMAs, you should write to our congressional delegation and let them know how you feel about the issue.
Doug Bechtel
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