The BPA Residential Exchange Program Settlement Agreement Lives!
Posted on November 1, 2013 by Catriona McCracken
Tags, Generation, Transmission, Distribution, Public Involvement and Coalitions, Utility Regulation
CUB’s long term readers will know that CUB spent three of the last four years working with Investor Owned Utilities (IOUs), Consumer Owned Utilities (COUs), Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and others towards settlement of the vexing issue of how best to distribute the benefits of the federal hydro system (for background go to our previous blog posts “CUB Signs the BPA REP Settlement Agreement”, “Revised REP Settlement Agreement”, and “Revised Residential Exchange Program Agreement – 93.8% of COUs and IOUs sign!”).
The Residential Exchange Program was established by the Northwest Power Act in 1980 and lays out the methodology to share federal hydro power benefits. Public Power has preferential rights to the power, but the residential exchange shares some of the benefits with the residential and small farm customers of investor-owned utilities. Depending on the assumptions used, the methodology can have a wide range of results. This has led to a constant battle over exchange and several court challenges. The good news is this decision will allow the region to implement a 20 year settlement of the program. Many felt “peace in our time” was not possible, but it is now getting close.
The past many months has been spent waiting for a decision from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals with regard to appeals filed against the Settlement Agreement by an industrial customer (ALCOA) and industrial customer group (APAC) - and the decision is in. In a 57 page majority opinion the 9th Circuit panel explained its reasons for denying the petition for review. And they were quite emphatic – the Revised Residential Exchange Settlement Agreement signed by 93.8% of COU’s and IOUs, and adopted by BPA in its Final Record of Decision, is legal. CUB is elated! The Settlement Agreement, and now the 9th Circuit ruling, move us one step closer to the region being able to focus on important topics such as Integrated Resource Plans (IRPs) related to coal plant clean air emission retrofits, energy efficiency, wind integration, energy imbalance markets and preparing for the changes in hydropower that will be caused by climate change.
CUB likes to celebrate each milestone along the way. This 9th Circuit Opinion was another HUGE MILESTONE! CUB thanks all those in the public power and investor owned communities who have come together to keep the dream of peaceful and equitable distribution of the federal hydro benefit alive in this region!
If you want to read more about what others think of this historic ruling see last month’s article from the Oregonian.
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04/04/17 | 0 Comments | The BPA Residential Exchange Program Settlement Agreement Lives!