382 



ACQUISITION OF REGIONAL ELECTRIC POWER RESOURCES 



Marc Sullivan, Director 



Energy Management Services Division 



Seattle City Light 



Before the Bonneville Power Administration Task Force 



House Committee on Natural Resources 



Portland, Oregon 



July 12, 1993 



I want to thank you for this opportunity to testify before the 

 Committee on Natural Resources Bonneville Power Administration Task 

 Force. I believe you have asked an important set of questions, and 

 we will be submitting a written response to each of them. Today I 

 want to focus on Seattle's core interest in coordinated regional 

 action to acquire the conservation resource — the first priority 

 resource mandated under the Act. 



The 1980 Regional Power Act assigned several new responsibilities 

 to Bonneville, including the acquisition of new resources to meet 

 the growth of regional utilities and the protection and restoration 

 of fish resources. But while the direct responsibility was to be 

 Bonneville's, the Act makes it clear that Bonneville was to carry 

 out these new responsibilities in cooperation with its customers 

 and the newly-created Northwest Power Planning Council (NPPC). 

 Many of the difficulties Bonneville has encountered in acquiring 

 resources are not its responsibility alone, so despite the Task 

 Force's explicit interest in Bonneville, my comments generally 

 speak to the performance of Bonneville's partners as well, and on 

 the adequacy of the Regional Act itself. 



I offer several themes for your consideration: 



1. The short term vs. the long term. 



Resource development must take a long-term perspective. 

 Generation resources generally take many years to get on line, 



-1- 



