BPA official says rates should be higher
By EG. WHITE-SWIFT
Of the Emerald
Expensive electricity is coming
to your neighborhood — soon.
Consumers of hydroelectric
power supplied by the Bonneville
Power Administration (BPA),
which includes the Eugene area,
should expect their utility bills to
inflate substantially in the next
several years.
Ray Foleen, BPA deputy ad
ministrator, told a utility rates
symposium in Spokane, Wash.
Thursday that BPA officials ex
pect to apply for large wholesale
rate increases in 1979 and again
in 1981
"BPA estimates that it will have
to increase its rates in December
1979 so as to produce at least a 60
per cent increase in total re
venues, said Foleen "A second
rate increase to generate an addi
tional 20 per cent increase is an
ticipated for 1981.”
He noted that the actual in
crease above existing BPA rates
will depnd upon various rate struc
ture factors, the results of a cost
of-service study now underway
and the amounts and types of
power delivered to BPAA utility
and industrial customers.
By law, he said, the federal
power marketing agency must
repay the investment and operat
ing costs of the hydroelectric
dams and transmission lines built
with federal funds. Also to be re
paid and considered in the energy
costs to consumers is accrued in
terest on capital investments and
BPA borrowings under its 1974
bonding authority.
New energy generating
sources, either adding hydroelec
tric generators at damsites
or burying thermal (coal or nuc
lear) power, is costly. So is string
ing transmission lines.
The BPA recently awarded con
tracts for construction of a
150 - mile 5,000 - megawatts
transmission line. It will cost $86
million to build a line to move elec
tricity from the Pebble Springs
area of northeastern Oregon to
Salem.
The line is expected to help in
tegrate power generating sources
Energy outlook worsens
By E G WHITE-SWIFT
Of the Emerald
The outlook for electric energy
supply in the Pacific Northwest
worsened during June
A report issued by Merrill
Schultz of the Northwest Power
Pool noted that precipitation over
the entire region in June was
much below normal. The report
forecasts that the low rainfall will
result in a continued drop in water
run-off levels this summer
The forecast expects run-off to
be more than 10 per cent below
previous dry years and only 50 per
cent of average
Schultz says the energy situa
tion requires continued cutback of
electric energy consumption. If
curtailment is not achieved volun
tarily, he says, there is still a
strong risk of mandatory curtail
ments later this year
ror the four weeks ending June
3C. the region s electric energy
consumption was about six per
cent below the forecast for June,
ard it was three per cent below the
corresponding figure for June
1976
"If consumption continues to
run below forecast because of
voluntary efforts as it has in May
and June, the probability of man
datory cutrailments is very small,"
Schultz said.
Of the three Pacific Northwest
states, a study finds Oregon the
most adequate energy contin
gency planning authority and
capability if conservation fails and
the drought continues
The study was released last
week by the Northwest Energy
Policy Project (NEPP), which is
funded by the Pacific Northwest
Regional Commission.
Contingency planning is the ad
vance preparation of measures to
balance demands and supplies in
the event of an emergency energy
shortage The NEPP study,
"Energy Contingency Planning,
was prepared by the consulting
firm of Arthur Little of Cambridge,
Mass.
Among the study s findings:
• Temporary energy shortages
can be corrected by either increas
ing supplies or reducing de
mands, but as a practical matter,
the Northwest can do very little to
increase energy supplies on a
short term basis To be effective,
energy contingency planning
should be aimed at modifying de
mands
• Measures which can be used
to reduce energy demands to
meet temporary supply shortages
include efficiency inprovements,
use restrictions, reductions in
space heating and cooling, and
outright curtailment.
• If states lack adequate author
ity or capability, responsibility for
energy contingency planning
would pass by default to the
energy supply industries and the
federal government.
• Among the Northwest s
energy supply industries, electri
cal utilities are probably the best
prepared for emergencies, as
they have the best data available
and the highest level of coopera
tion.
The Northwest Energy Policy
Project plans to publish several
other energy reports this year.
They will encompass energy con
servation opportunities and im
pacts, social aspects of energy
conservation, energy demand
forecasts, conventional and un
conventional energy supplies and
environmental impacts and an
energy policy analysis which will
combine all of the studies into an
integrated overall report
LCC energy plan wins $10,000
ay MELODY WARD
Of the Emerald
Lane Community College (LCC) won the
$10,000 first place Cost Reduction Incentive Award
for its energy management program recently.
"It is tremendously satisfying to see national
attention given to the work done at LCC on energy
savings. LCC Pres Eldon Schafer said of the
award. "We ve been progressing in this area for the
last three years. This energy management program
is a culmination of that effort. It shows what can
happen when an institution works for its own benefit
in ways that have pay-off in the community."
LCC's energy management system uses a
computer, heat recovery unit and two mammoth
stainless steel tanks. Recently completed, this sys
tem is expected to save the college over $100,000 of
its present almost $300,000 annual electric bill by
storing and reusing heat.
i ne neart ot the system is a mini-computer that
will monitor the college s electrical system, which
includes fans, motors and use of outside air as well
as heating and air conditioning
Construction, purchase of the computer and
heat recovery unit, transporting the two tanks and
engineering of the project brought the total construc
tion cost to $285,000. It should pay for itself within
three years.
LCC’s energy management program was first
recognized last April when the school received the
Governor s Energy Conservation Award for ' sig
nificant contributions to energy savings" within the
state.
Presented by the National Association of Col
lege and University Business Officers (NACUBO),
the latest award was made possible by a grant to
NACUBO by the United States Steel Foundation.
The competition was open to any of the more than
3,000 institutions of higher education in the United
States.
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.v
on the lower Snake River and the
Hanford nuclear complex with
high consumption centers in Port
land and the Willamette Valley.
BPA officials say the new line,
which replaces an existing
230-kilovolt line along the same
route, will create a double-circuit
line that should reduce the possi
bility of power outages.
The current drought situation,
although improving with spring
rains and consumer conservation
measures, adds to the BPA finan
cial plight and its needs for in
creasing rates.
“We have estimated that in
fiscal year 1977, BPA would have
received $320 million in revenues
under normal water conditions.
We now expect $231 million, an
$89 million reduction,” Foleen
said. “Over 90 per cent of the es
timated reduction is drought re
lated.”
Pres. Jimmy Carter’s energy
program, if enacted, will require
adoption of several rate variations
by utilities in the next few years,
Foleen said. These will include
time-of-day and seasonal rate on
ferentials, interruptible rates for
large commercial and industrial
consumers and the possibility of
rates which reflect the true incre
mental costs of futrue energy
facilities.
Energy conservation incentives
will affect future utility rate struc
tures, he said. Cutting back on
power usage may initially result in
higher unit costs for the con
sumer, but will hold down electric
rates in the long run.
For electricity consumers that
have begun conserving now,
rather than waiting for high costs
to be accrued in monthly utility
bills, there is another incentive.
If you have cut back electricity
use by 10 per cent, you are eligible
to receive a certificate of apprecia
tion from Oregon Gov. Bob
Straub. Write the Oregon Ed
partment of Energy, Salem, OR
97310 and detail how you have
saved 10 per cent. They will send
a certificate and several decals as
a reward.
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