I want to stress at this point that the Secretary has made it clear that any debt 

 restructuring proposal must not harm Pacific Northwest ratepayers. 



We believe this proposal deserves serious consideration by the Congress. 



Government Corporation 



The Department of Energy has strongly supported Bonneville's efforts to improve its 

 management efficiency. The Department nominated Bonneville to be a reinvention 

 laboratory within the framework of the National Performance Review. With this status 

 Bonneville is actively pursuing changes in government regulations which create costs to 

 Bonneville without commensurate benefit to ratepayers. 



The Department of Energy is actively pursuing the removal of barriers to improved 

 Bonneville efficiency. Bonneville has estimated that DOE regulations alone are costing 

 85 to 90 FTEs and $5 to $6 million per year. We are working regulation-by-regulation 

 to make changes and capture cost savings. 



In addition, the Department has supported Bonneville's efforts to modify or eliminate 

 unnecessary and/or duplicative regulations of other Federal agencies. With the support 

 of the Vice-President, we are enjoying success in this effort. 



Still, we do not expect that we can reach all the desirable efficiency improvements 

 through administrative means alone, nor can we count on the permanence of 

 administrative remedies. We are open to considering a change in the Bonneville 



