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HJM009.....................................................by STATE AFFAIRS
POWER MARKETING ADMINISTRATION - Stating findings of the Legislature and
urging Congress to reject the administration proposal to move Power
Marketing Administration rates to market rates, thereby ensuring the
continued responsible management of power generation, transmission and
sales.
03/14 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
03/15 Rpt prt - to St Aff
03/17 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/18 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/21 3rd rdg - ADOPTED - voice vote
Floor Sponsor - Anderson
Title apvd - to Senate
03/22 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to St Aff
03/24 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 10th Ord
03/25 10th Ord - ADOPTED - voice vote
Floor Sponsor - Hill
Title apvd - to House
03/28 To enrol
03/29 Rpt enrol - Sp signed
03/30 Pres signed
03/31 To Secretary of State
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]]
Fifty-eighth Legislature First Regular Session - 2005
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 9
BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
1 A JOINT MEMORIAL
2 TO THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES IN CON-
3 GRESS ASSEMBLED, TO THE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION REPRESENTING THE STATE OF
4 IDAHO IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES AND TO THE SECRETARY OF THE
5 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, SAMUEL W. BODMAN.
6 We, your Memorialists, the House of Representatives and the Senate of the
7 State of Idaho assembled in the First Regular Session of the Fifty-eighth
8 Idaho Legislature, do hereby respectfully represent that:
9 WHEREAS, Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs) market electricity gener-
10 ated primarily by federal hydropower projects in thirty-three states served by
11 the 1,190 consumer-owned electric utilities giving preference to public bodies
12 and cooperatives; and
13 WHEREAS, Bonneville Power Administration provides a substantial amount of
14 the electric power consumed in Idaho, including the sale of firm and surplus
15 electric power to Idaho's investor-owned utilities and directs wholesale power
16 to 26 rural electric cooperatives and municipalities in Idaho serving over
17 250,000 Idaho citizens; and
18 WHEREAS, the Administration's budget proposes to sell electric power from
19 PMAs at market rates rather than the current practice of selling at cost-based
20 rates; and
21 WHEREAS, the Pacific Northwest region has experienced a nearly fifty per-
22 cent increase in wholesale power rates since the energy crisis of 2001-2002;
23 and
24 WHEREAS, the current federal power program of cost-based rates ensures
25 that all federal costs, with interest, from the generation, transmission and
26 sale of federal power are recovered from purchasers through the rates charged;
27 and
28 WHEREAS, the proposal contains a projected rate increase of twenty percent
29 each year until it totals a one hundred percent increase, which is an escala-
30 tion of significant magnitude and will severely harm the region's businesses
31 and industries, as well as all the residents of the region; and
32 WHEREAS, the budget proposal constitutes a thinly disguised tax on the
33 millions of Americans who purchase power through utilities supplied by PMAs;
34 and
35 WHEREAS, recognizing the true costs of this proposal and assessing the
36 economic impacts it entails, we find that the proposal is not a prudent choice
37 and should be rejected.
38 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the First Regular Session
39 of the Fifty-eighth Idaho Legislature, the House of Representatives and the
40 Senate concurring therein, that we urge the Congress to reject the Administra-
41 tion proposal to move PMA rates to market rates thereby ensuring the continued
42 responsible management of power generation, transmission and sale.
43 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the House of Representa-
44 tives be, and she is hereby authorized and directed to forward a copy of this
2
1 Memorial to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Repre-
2 sentatives of Congress, the congressional delegation representing the State of
3 Idaho in the Congress of the United States and to the Secretary of the United
4 States Department of Energy, Samuel W. Bodman.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 15139
Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) was created in 1937 as
a federal agency headquartered in Portland, Oregon. BPA markets
wholesale electric power at cost from federal dams, one non-
federal nuclear plant, and other non-federal hydroelectric and
wind energy generation facilities. BPA also serves the Pacific
Northwest by operating extensive electricity transmission
systems.
BPA is part of the Department of Energy, however, it is not
tax-supported. BPA recovers all of its costs through the sales
of electricity and transmission and repays the U.S. Treasury in
full with interest for any money it borrows. The Administration
proposal to have BPA transition from cost-based rates to market
rates would cost the Northwest region $480 million next year and
$2.5 billion over the next three years. The Administration
proposal would violate the basic premise of BPA's creation.
Northwest ratepayers pay the full cost of their power; there is
no subsidy.
This memorial urges Congress to reject the Administration
proposal to move Power Marketing Administration (PMA) rates to
market rates ; thereby ensuring the continued responsible
management of power generation, transmission and sale.
FISCAL NOTE
There is no fiscal impact to the state general fund.
Contact
Name: Representative Eric Anderson
Phone: 208-332-1000
Name: Representative George Eskridge
208-332-1000
Name: Senator Brent Hill
Phone: 208-332-1347
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE HJM 9