161 



required to support acquisition of the additional consrvation over the same 

 period. 



These results indicate that following the Least Cost Path over this period 

 would have resulted in higher costs, and accordingly would not have helped 

 BPA's current financial situation Prices of natural gas used in thermal 

 resources proved considerably lower than was anticipated at the time of the 

 1998 Resource Program, and purchase power accordingly proved more 

 attractive than forecast in the late 1980s. 



