Statement of William H. White, Deputy Secretary 



Department of Energy 



October 28, 1993 



Chairman DeFazio, I am Bill White. I am the Deputy Secretary of the Department of 

 Energy. It is my pleasure to appear today before the Bonneville Power Administration 

 Task Force. Thank you for the invitation. 



We want this task force to know that this Administration recognizes the importance of 

 the Bonneville Power Administration to the economy and the environment of the 

 Pacific Northwest. Bonneville provides over half the electric power used in the Pacific 

 Northwest and carries out extremely important environmental missions through its 

 energy conservation and fish and wildlife programs. This Administration is committed 

 to improving the nation's economy and environment. Consequently, we take very 

 seriously the initiatives that impact Bonneville. 



Earlier this month, Bonneville put in place a rate increase of approximately 15 percent. 

 We are concerned about the impacts of that rate increase for the electric power 

 consumers of the Pacific Northwest, and concerned that additional substantial rate 

 increases could lead to negative impacts for the Pacific Northwest economy. We are 

 also concerned about Bonneville's ability to compete in an increasingly competitive 

 electric power market. 



For these reasons the Secretary and I are committed to supporting actions which can 

 help keep Bonneville's costs low, assure a fair return to the U.S. taxpayer on their 



