246 



Second, the Council's role is that of planning, not implementation. Congress never in- 

 tended that the Council actually implement the power plan, that job was left to Bon- 

 neville and the utilities. The Council's mission is to develop a power plan and to deter- 

 mine that the Administrators actions are consistent with the plan, but not to perform an 

 oversight role or to act as a regional public utilities commission. In fact, as a federal 

 agency, Bonneville reports to Congress and the executive branches of the federal 

 government. The Council is not to perform an "oversight" role and in fact the word 

 does not appear in the Act itself with respect to the Council's role. 



The legislative history of the Act is replete with references to Bonneville (and the 

 Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation) as the implementing agency. Regard- 

 ing the role of the Council: 



The chief task of the Council will be to prepare, adopt and periodically review 

 and revise, after public hearings and participation, a regional conservation and 

 electric power plan primarily for the purpose of guiding the Administrator in the 

 exercise of the resource acquisition authorities granted him by section 6 of this 

 legislation (sec.4(d)). 

 (H. Report 96-976, PartH, p. 33) 



The Council's responsibility is power planning, the responsibility for implementation 

 falls to Bonneville and the utilities. 



The Council's prioritization of resources for acquisition is descriptive, not prescriptive. 

 It is not necessary, nor wise, to focus only on the acquisition of high priority resources 

 until their supply is exhausted or a specific target is met. AU cost-effective resources 

 should be pursued with emphasis on those that have been given a higher priority. 



Under the Regional Act, consen'ation and renewables are granted a preference in 

 resource allocation. While we support this prioritization, it must be recognized that 

 this system ~ or any other "externalities" mechanism - does not presume that one 

 resource type will be pursued to the exclusion of all other resources. Those that would 

 suggest that the region must exhaust all available conservation before considering other 

 resources do not sufficiently understand the Act's intent, the concept of least-cost plan- 

 ning, or utility resource planning. 



