185 



'».■-. (-.-.■ 



Question 5: As a longer term solution, what are your thoughts on the possibility of creating a 

 board of Bonneville's customers (or perhaps expanding the authority of the 

 Northwest Power Planning Council) which would have more input or control over 





Answer; The Northwest Power Planning Council was created under the Northwest Power 



Act as a compact agency responsible for developing a Regional Energy Plan with 

 which certain BPA actions must be consistent. While such an arrangement has 

 been found constitutional by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, making the 

 Council the executive authority of BPA in the form of a Board of Directors would 

 raise serious constitutional issues under the Appointments Clause of the U.S. 

 Constitution An Appointments Clause issue would also arise with a Board of 

 BPA's customers, unless members of such Board were federally appointed See. 

 Seattle Master Builders v Northwest Power Planning Council . 786 F.2d 1359 (9th 

 Cir 1986) 



In Seattle Master Builders a group of home builders sued to strike down as 

 unconstitutional the Council and its Energy Plan Before BPA may acquire major 

 resources, BPA and the Council, a^e required, to determine whether the proposed 

 acquisition is consistent with the Energy Plan. The home builders also challenged 

 the reasonableness of certain provisions of the Energy Plan. The Court concluded 

 that the Council was a compact agency whose members were not Federal officers 

 under the Appointments Clause. 



