Bill would stop BPA 'rate hike'

Bill would stop BPA ‘rate hike’

By The Daily World staff

Thursday, June 15, 2006 11:25 AM PDT

Washington, D.C. — A bipartisan provision blocking an administration plan that would raise Northwest power rates passed Congress today.

 

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and other Northwest lawmakers had worked on the measure since the Bush Administration announced plans in February to reverse a decades-old Bonneville Power Administration policy of using revenue from surplus power sales to lower electricity costs for Northwest ratepayers.

 

The measure to block that change was included in emergency supplemental appropriations, which provides money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and hurricane recovery.

 

“An energy rate hike is like a tax on the Northwest economy, and I’m proud that the entire Northwest delegation came together to stand up for Northwest families and businesses,” Cantwell, a member of the Senate Energy Committee, said today.

 

In April, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the amendment that would prevent the administration from implementing the change through April 1, 2007. The Senate passed the legislation on May 4.

 

This morning, the Senate gave final approval to the measure after negotiations with the House. It now will now go to the president for his signature. The House approved the measure on Tuesday.