156 MULTIPLE PURPOSE RIVER DEVELOPMENT 



would grant Idaho Power Company the privilege of making up 

 the deficiency on its export power by increased charges on its 

 domestic customers. ^^ 



The scale of development which Idaho Power Company can 

 undertake profitably, therefore, is restricted by such institutional 

 factors as the more favorable terms under which publicly developed 

 sources tan be obtained in the area and the limitation on the 

 marketing territory which Idaho Power Company is franchised to 

 serve exclusively — in conjunction with the sheer amount of hydro- 

 electric potential in the Hells Canyon Reach. 



From these cost and marketing considerations alone, it appears 

 that a private firm — choosing between a more efficient two-stage 

 plan which would create surplus power over a longer period, and a 

 three-stage plan in which the capacity could be brought into pro- 

 duction more gradually — would select the socially less efficient 

 scheme of development. 



A further factor which would influence the private utility's deci- 

 sion is the plan of operation. Our estimates of at-site power 

 generation were predicated on operations consistent with an inte- 

 grated hydraulic system. ^^ The actual at-site generation for both 

 plans when operated by an independent private enterprise unit 

 would be somewhat different from the estimates in Tables 21 and 

 23. Those estimates assumed that the storage capacity developed 

 in the Hells Canyon Reach of the Snake River would be utilized 

 in the most efficient manner to maximize system output, irrespec- 

 tive of the effect on an isolated installation or set of facilities in a 

 sub-system. Under Idaho Power Company management, the oper- 

 ating rule curve for the reservoir would strive for high at-site 

 generation and peaking capability, irrespective of its influence on 

 the output of other units of the hydraulic system. ^^ Neither does 

 Idaho Power Company contemplate the transmission facilities 

 necessary to permit taking full advantage of the technical possibil- 

 ities for complete hydraulic and electrical integiation with the 

 remaining systems in the Northwest.-^ Operation of the reservoir 

 would involve annual drawdown and refilling operations rather 



""Ibid., p. 26. 

 ="See Table 21, note a. 



" Testimony of Witness Hogg for Idaho Power Company, FPC, Transcript 

 of Hearing, op. cit., pp. 3494-95, 5658-59, 5710, 5716. 5729-30, 5758. 6130-31. 

 *' FPC, Decision, op. cit.. Finding No. 139, p. 64. 



