Governor Kulongoski Speaks Out Regarding BPA Residential Exchange

Oregon’s Governor Ted Kulongoski spoke recently at the December 2007 meeting of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. His comments were clear, concise, and spoke to a few issues CUB holds to be extremely important.

He reiterated a basic principle under which CUB has long operated: “Oregon agrees that conservation and renewable resources are the foundation of our energy and economic future.” He spoke about the Renewable Energy Standard of 2007, which he first proposed last year, and on which CUB took a leading role, in bringing it to fruition as SB 838.

He went on to talk for several minutes about “one of my greatest frustrations: the sharing of the benefits of the Columbia hydroelectric system.” He said that the issue is often discussed in terms of “public vs. private power.” But as the Governor said, there is another way to look at it: “The reality is that families have little discretion in who they buy their power from. And currently some families are not getting a fair share of the Columbia hydro system benefits and as a result are paying significantly higher electric bills. As you know, I am referring to the BPA residential exchange program…”

Governor Kulongoski spoke of his letter to the Bonneville Power Administration in August and his wish to see any future exchange agreements meet the principles of meeting historical averages of value and including an inflationary adjustment. Unfortunately, he said,“The recently reported utility agreements that I’ve seen and heard talked about meet neither of my principles. Under the agreement the rate credits drop under the average historical levels to around 10-12% of the system value, and they are flatlined for 20 years. Based on projected future system value, by the end of the contract, these credits will only represent about 2% of BPA value. So as Oregon’s governor, I am looking at a proposal where three fourths of the State’s families will essentially be getting no benefits from the Columbia hydro system within 20 years. Frankly, and as I said in my letter, I think this is unacceptable, and I believe that this Council should also believe the same. I ask that you join me in calling on BPA and our regional utilities to reconsider their proposal. At a minimum, any proposal should contain a mechanism to maintain the sharing proportions as time moves forward.”

CUB supports the Governor in his call to ask the BPA and the region’s utilities to create a proposal that is more genuinely fair to all those involved. We appreciate his knowledge and activism on behalf of a truly fair resolution regarding the residential exchange.

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