479 



caui 



Rim 



PUD^ 



A caaaTS-o*neilxofie s i*y oswr 



July 13. 1993 



64001 ColufflBK Ri-«t Hiftiway 



ros Office toi 1193 



bt He Iciu. Ofcggn 9^05 1 



FAX(S03J397.S2IS 



Board uT 

 DirMtors 



DuniiWNy> 

 Agnei PeterMn 

 Rich;<rJ Sii)U|iidn 

 Richard Simpson 

 Arnold Ti/bell 



UtmnI Manactr 



Fergus A Pi Ion 



The Honorable Petei DeFazio 



United States House of Representative! 



do Committee on Natural Resources, BPA Task Force 



1328 LHOB 



Washington D.C., 20515-3704 



Dear Mr. DeFazio: 



You are to be commended on your July 12 hearing in Portland, Oregon, on BPA's 

 acquisition cffora. Your questions cut to the pivotal issues. 



W* wouLi like to UiHfy at the next BPA Task Force hearing to be held in Seatdt, Washington, 

 on comperittveneis and efficiency. Columbia River PUD is acutely aware of competitiveness issues. 

 We are in direa competition with three customer owned utilities as well as having Portland 

 General Electric serve the uland cities in our district. In addition. Columbia County needs to be 

 able to diversify its industrial base from pulp and paper, forest products and chemical 

 nunufacturing. 



BPA '/ cost-effectivenea and pricing have a direct impact on our ability to competitively serve and 

 attract family wage jobs to our depressed county. Since the closure of the Trojan Nuclear Plant, the 

 listing of the spotted owl as an endangered species and increasing regulations which protea the 

 environment, Columbia County unemployment rate has become one the highest in Oregon. 

 Wholesale rate design issues, such as tiered rates, have a direct impact on our ability to assist our 

 business customers in competing in the global economy, as well as atnacting new industry and 

 business. 



Adjacent to Multnomah and Washington counties, Columbia County is just now 

 beginning to grow. We want it to be an environmentally and economically attraaive option to 

 new industry and residents. We want to assist our community in attracting new industry and 

 £miily w^e jobs. The cost of power and regional approaches to energy (share the shortage) are 

 competitive issues for Columbia Rivet PUD as well as Columbia County. 



We want to offer your comminee our views and experiences in how to encourage busmess 

 diversification and serve our rural electric residential customers by being competitive and 

 working cooperatively with northwest utilities in defining and finding solutions to our regional 

 energy issues. 



Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to hearing from you. 



Very truly yours. . - 



Fergus A. Pilon 

 General Manager 



Mntoi i* iwcrAeA pbper 



