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conclude its hearing activity no later than October 28, 1993. 

 The Task Force will be chaired by Representative Peter DeFazlo 

 and composed of Members of the Committee on Natural Resoxirces. 



The mission of the Task Force is to conduct oversight of BPA 

 and of Implementation of the Pacific Northwest Electric Power 

 Planning and Conservation Act and the Federal Columbia River 

 Transmission Act of 1974. The Task Force will consider a wide 

 range of Issues, including BPA's proposed energy resource 

 acquisitions, efforts to save the endangered salmon, Columbia 

 Basin water management and the long-term financial status of BPA. 



The Task Force will consist of the following Members: 



Maiorltv MingrltY 



Peter A. DeFazlo, Chair Robert F. Smith 



Philip R. Sharp Barbara Vucanovich 



Pat Williams Craig Thomas 



Richard H. Lehman John Doolittle 



Larry LetRocco Don Young (ex officio) 



Karen Shepherd 



George Miller (ex officio) 



BPA Background 



BPA was originally established within the Department of 

 Interior in 1937 to market and distribute power from federal 

 hydroelectric projects in the Pacific Northwest. Over time the 

 responsibilities of the agency have gro%m to include the 

 acquisition of new energy resources, the protection of fish and 

 wildlife and regional energy planning. 



In 1977 BPA was transferred to the Department of Energy. The 

 agency presently markets and distributes power generated at 30 

 Corp of Engineer and Bureau of Reclamation dams, the WNP-2 

 nuclear power plant, and other generating facilities. BPA also 

 funds and im>l«Bents demand-side management programs and fish and 

 wildlife restoration activities. BPA provides services in 

 Oregon, Washington, Idaho, western Montana and small parts of 

 Nevada, Wyoming, California and Utah. Approximately one-half of 

 the electrical energy consumed in the Pacific Northwest is 

 provided by BPA. BPA also dominates the electrify transmission 

 system in the Northwest, it owns and operates approximately 

 15,000 miles of transmission lines and provides about eighty 

 percent of the region's transmission capacity. 



The Administrator of BPA is a political appointee who serves 

 at the pleasure of the Secretary of Energy. Under the 

 reorganization plan recently Issued by Secretary O'Leary, the BPA 



