47 



it is subject to many time-consuming and superfluous accounting, 

 budget and staffing directives from DOE and 0MB that serve to 

 raise costs and impede performance.^ These costs are real and 

 we all have a stake in reducing them; a paralyzed BPA can't be an 

 effective environmental steward or resource manager. The 

 challenge in any reform initiative is to eliminate these burdens 

 without in the process diluting BPA's Regional Act obligations or 

 reducing the agency's accountability to Congress and the public. 



4. What advantages or disadvantages would there be to 

 restructuring BPA into a government corporation? 



RESPONSE: The potential advantages Involve a more nimble agency 

 that can deliver better services more quickly at lower costs. 

 The principal risks lie in possible efforts by special interests 

 to invest such a bill with their own agendas, to the detriment of 

 broader public interests in a sustainable regional energy future. 



5. Would a government corporation structure either enhance or 

 diminish Bonneville's ability to comply with its statutory 

 mandates to meet social and environmental goals, including the 

 protection of fish and wildlife? 



RESPONSE: I am aware of nothing inherent in a government 

 corporation structure that would adversely affect BPA's ability 

 to meet these mandates. In framing any bill, however, it would 

 be crucial both to reaffirm BPA's undiminished obligation to 

 comply with its mandates and to prevent any express or implied 

 erosion of BPA's responsibilities to the region's tribes. Also, 



*For example, "[i]n developing financial systems, BPA must 

 provide multiple accounting and financial reports to meet the 

 conflicting requirements of the Federal Energy Regulatory 

 Commission, 0MB regulation and the Chief Financial Officers Act 

 . . . GSA imposes numerous constraints on BPA's acquisition and 

 maintenance of buildings and property and has exercised control 

 over BPA's acquisition of automatic data processing equipment 

 . . . Unlike the TVA, BPA is siabject to the civil seirvice laws 

 and Classification Act and cannot develop a personnel system 

 consistent with merit requirements but tailored to the 

 competitive, deregulated utility market in which BPA operates." 

 National Academy of Public Administration, Reinventing the 

 Bonneville Power Administration (October 1993), p. 10. 



