38 



Government corporation status would move BPA out from under the Department of 

 Energy and require that the Administrator be appointed by the President for a fixed term. 

 The Administrator would be solely responsible for BPA's compliance with its legal authority. 

 The Administrator would continue to be supervised by the Secretary of Energy on major 

 policy issues. All of the authorities of BPA would be vested in the corporation. 



7. Are there alternatives to government corporation status that would achieve all or 

 many of the same administrative efficiencies sought by Bonneville? 



The single most significant action that could be taken to achieve efficiencies at BPA 

 would be to free BPA from the current federal personnel system. By getting rid of the 

 reduction in force (RIP) procedures, bumping rights, and an antiquated performance 

 appraisal system, BPA would be able to bring its staffmg procedures into the 20th century. 

 In addition, BPA should be removed from 0MB budgetary oversight. 0MB oversight leads 

 to an atmosphere of political meddling in budgetary decisions that is subject to change based 

 upon the prevailing Presidential administration in Washington, D.C.. BPA must be allowed 

 to operate more like a business and less like a government bureaucracy. BPA's procurement 

 procedures are another example of a relic of the past that should be jettisoned. Also, BPA 

 should be given the authority to take actions without the approval of DOE. DOE's 

 participation in BPA decision-making seldom leads to anything more than delayed 

 decision-making. 



Since legislation is needed for any of these actions we believe that we should solve 

 the problem all at once rather than piece-meal. 



8. Would Bonneville's relationships with Congress, the N.W. Power Planning 

 Council, other federal agencies, its customers or the public change with a change 

 in its structure? 



BPA's continued existence in the role of power supplier of choice to the members of 

 PPG is currently imperiled by overstaffmg, slow decision making and increasing costs. If we 

 did not expect, and desire, a change in the relationship between BPA and its customers we 

 would not be supporting government corporation stams for BPA. As stated above, we expect 

 that this stams, along with the other actions that BPA is taking right now, will lead to a more 

 responsive and cost-effective power supplier. If this comes to pass, and if BPA continues to 

 increase its responsiveness to its customers, then we expect the relationship between BPA 

 and its customers to improve markedly. We do not see any change in the relative influence 

 over BPA of the other entities listed above if BPA is to change to a government corporation. 

 However, we are not willing to support this change at any cost - the principles that we have 

 described above must be adhered to. 



- 4 - PUBLIC ^OWER COUNCIL 



500 N.E Mumo-iah, Suite 729 Portlanc 00 T732 

 (503) 23224Z7 



