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2. Conform to standard industry bonding practice relative to municipal power 

 generation projects. 



3. Maintain a "level playing field" among possible suppliers of wind energy 

 generation equipment. 



Is BPA an effective, indirect purchaser of regional resources through third-party financing. 

 billing credits and other indirect means? 



As the largest distributor of electricity and with its vast transmission system in the Pacific 

 Northwest, BPA is the ideal agency to act as a power marketing authority for a wide range of 

 electrical generation options in the region. BPA supplies electricity to virtually all of the 

 investor-owned and municipal utilities in the northwest and several in California. With the 

 quantity and variety of generation resources potentially available to BPA, they are uniquely 

 situated to purchase and distribute power throughout the region. 



Wind energy is most effective as a regional resource and is found throughout the region. The 

 large hydro-storage capacity of BPA is very compatible with windpower and can be used to 

 shape the wind resource. Wind can also be used to conserve the hydro resource. 



The extensive BPA transmission system can be used to move wind energy from the less 

 populated areas of the system to the load centers of the region. BPA can be a very effective 

 pathway to keep electricity balanced and flowing throughout the region. 



Has the Northwest Power Planning Council (NWPPC) adequately exercised its 

 responsibilities under the Act in the resource acouisition field? 



The NWPPC's plan calls for a hierarchy of resource acquisition beginning with all cost effective 

 Demand Side Management (DSM), then renewables, then high efficiency thermal and finally 

 other thermal. The region is doing an effective job in capturing DSM savings although more 

 work can be done in this area. 



We believe the plan should be revisited and that fuel risk and externalities should be evaluated 

 and included in the plan. We also believe that the new costs for wind energy should be factored 

 into the plan. If this is done, wind will emerge as the most cost-effective new resource which 

 can be added in the northwest. The NWPPC has the authority to approve plants of 50 MW or 

 larger in the BPA system. We would like to see the Council set at least a 250 MW target in 

 their plan for wind energy for the region by the year 2000 and to encourage BPA to be a major 

 factor to reaching that goal. 



