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A narrow price advantage for Bonneville power over alternative sources may not be 

 enough to maintain our customers' willingness to buy from us. This is in part because of 

 the risks they perceive in relying on Bonneville, and in part because of the value many 

 utilities place on having an independent source of supply. Even if Bonneville rates have 

 not yet reached the cost of new resources, customers vnl\ increasingly develop their own 

 resources because of the uncertainties which the agency faces. These uncertainties include 

 Endangered Species Act fish costs, possible repayment reform, and nuclear plant 

 decommissioning costs. 



Coordinated regional resource development in accordance with the Northwest Power 

 Planning Council's Energy Plan is desirable if it minimizes costs and environmental 

 impacts. However, such results will come about only if the plan and Bonneville's actions 

 in support of it produce a product that is attractive to our customers. 



If Bonneville fails to offer the best product at the best price, regional resource 

 development will become more fragmented, undermining the effect of the Council's energy 

 plan, and potentially impairing Bonneville's ability to pursue the environmental goals of the 

 Council's Fish and Wildlife Plan. Further, to the extent there are efficiencies of 

 coordinated regional resource development, these could be lost. 



Creating a New BPA 



Bonneville's Competitiveness Project is our vehicle for creating the necessary change in 

 the agency. 



The vision of the new more competitive Bonneville is still taking shape, but the outlines 

 are coming into focus. At the first of these Task Force hearings, we discussed that 



