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utility load growth... The mean value of this benefits 

 distribution is $3.6 billion. Benefits are seen across 

 the entire spectrum of load conditions and range from 

 $1.6 billion to $7.2 billion. The maximum values occur 

 in the higher probability medium-low to medium-high load 

 conditions . 



As the region considers ideas such as "unbundling" 

 Bonneville's services (including the service of meeting load 

 growth) and using wholesale tiered rates to encourage 

 independent utility resource development, we should keep in 

 mind the benefits of cooperative regional resource 

 development. While there is no necessary conflict between 

 these ideas and regional cooperation, there is the potential 

 for losing the benefits of coordinated regional energy 

 resource development through a misapplication of these ideas. 



We speak from some experience in this regard. In the mid-'80s 

 Seattle experimented for several years with a cost formula 

 which allocated the costs of load growth to those customer 

 classes which were experiencing growth. We ended up 

 discarding that system on the grounds that it created at least 

 as many inequities as it solved, that it introduced new and 

 divisive complexities into rate-making, and that such an 

 allocation of growth costs was fundamentally incompatible with 

 our belief that a healthy and growing Seattle economy 

 benefitted our entire community. On the other hand, Seattle 

 established two tiered retail rates in the late '70s so that 

 all residential customers would experience the marginal cost 

 of resource acquisition. As a result, our residential 

 customers have responded by installing energy efficient 

 measures and decreasing consumption. 



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