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We urge this task force to reaffirm the potential benefits of 

 the 1980 Regional Power Act for the whole Northwest. More 

 efficient and effective approaches to regionally meeting load 

 growth may well be available but this is no time to throw 

 overboard the benefits of adhering to, and moving forward 

 with, the "one utility" concept which has guided development 

 and operation of the Northwest power system for decades. We 

 shouldn't undo the Act unintentionally. 



4. Conservation Program Efficiencies. 



Bonneville is asking its utility customers to deliver their 

 conservation programs as efficiently as possible. 

 Bonneville's interest in the efficiency of program delivery is 

 one we share wholeheartedly as it is our customers' dollars 

 which fund all of Bonneville's conservation programs. We part 

 company with Bonneville, however, in their unqualified 

 assertions that is obvious we can acquire the resource at less 

 cost. Until we have clearly identified efficiencies which 

 will reduce costs without reducing acquisitions, we should not 

 make sweeping cuts in conservation program budgets. 



One must discuss the concept of program efficiencies with some 

 care. The concept is tricker than it first appears. What do 

 we mean by efficiency? We would consider as a program 

 efficiency improvement only changes which reduce the total 

 cost of acquiring conservation while continuing to meet 

 megawatt targets. I emphasize "total" because we do not 

 concede that shifting costs from Bonneville to utilities or 

 from utilities to participating customers qualifies as an 

 efficiency. 



Seattle City Light has just implemented a 17% rate increase 

 with the likelihood of more to come in the near future. We 



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