Pacific Northwest Representatives Urge Administration to Not Privatize Bonneville Power Admin.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Pacific Northwest Members of Congress voiced their opposition to a proposal in the President’s budget to sell off the Bonneville Power Administration’s (BPA) assets.

In their letter to Secretary of Energy Rick Perry and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, fifteen Members of Congress – U.S. Representatives Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Denny Heck (D-WA), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Derek Kilmer (D-WA), Rick Larsen (D-WA), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Dave Reichert (R-WA), Kurt Schrader (D-OR), Adam Smith (D-WA), and Greg Walden (R-OR) – express their concern over the proposal to privatize BPA and highlight BPA’s unique role in providing affordable, clean energy to the Pacific Northwest communities.

Dear Secretary Perry and Director Mulvaney:

We write to you to express our concern with a provision in the President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 Budget Request that proposes to sell off transmission assets for federal Power Marketing Agencies, including for the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). We believe divesting BPA’s transmission assets will harm individuals and businesses, divert capital needed for further infrastructure investment in the Northwest, and undermine regional utility coordination. For these reasons, we are united in opposing implementation of these elements of the FY18 Budget.

BPA has a fundamental role in our region that dates back decades.  Established by Congress in 1937 as a nonprofit federal power marketing administration, BPA was tasked with helping to manage and sell power generated by the newly constructed Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.  Eighty years later, BPA has helped to develop and administer the complex electrical system that powers the Northwest, now providing affordable and reliable power to over 12 million people and the businesses that help the region thrive.

https://delbene.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pacific-northwest-us-representatives-urge-administration-not-privatize