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Mr. DeFazio. Thank you. 

 Mr. Ramseyer. 



STATEMENT OF JIM RAMSEYER 



Mr. Ramseyer. Yes, Mr. Chairman and committee members. 

 Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. 



My name is Jim Ramseyer. I am the general manager of Blachly- 

 Lane Electric Co-op, serving Western County, near Eugene. I am 

 here representing the Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative, 

 serving Blachly-Lane and 27 other utilities in eight Western States 

 in the Northwest. 



Mr. Chairman, I would ask you please to include my comments 

 today and the written comments in the hearing record. 



The proposal today, refinancing a government corporation, are 

 important to the Northwest energy future. However, neither of 

 these proposals answer critical questions about where we are head- 

 ed in the future in the region. How are we going to deal with en- 

 dangered salmon runs; how would unbundled services and tiered- 

 rate systems economically impact customers' access to competitive 

 power. 



Solving these issues allows you to put Bonneville's financial 

 house in order so that we can move on to those important issues. 



Regarding the debt buyout, we want to applaud the hard work 

 of the Chair, the committee, and the Speaker in developing this 

 package. We want to commend them for stretching out the addi- 

 tional costs into the future. 



The utility I manage, Blachly-Lane, is currently proposing a 10 

 percent rate increase for its customers just to recover the latest 

 BPA rate increase. Whether you support them or not, there are ad- 

 ditional administrative policy decisions that have impacted the 

 West. Grazing fees, public timber harvest reductions, mining law 

 revisions, all are having an impact economically on the vitality of 

 the rural area's economy. 



We don't need an electric rate increase piled on top of an already 

 staggering list of threats to our rural economic viability. BPA and 

 the federal-based system constitutes the economic engine that 

 drives the Northwest economy. They support critical national in- 

 dustries, aluminum, pulp and paper, and others, as well as farms 

 and small businesses that make up the rural, small-town way of 

 life. Both are key to the fabric of the Northwest. 



Relating congressional oversight, PNGC believes that the con- 

 gressional oversight role serves BPA and the region well, and ac- 

 cordingly opposes any move to allow Bonneville independent access 

 to private market for new debt. 



Regarding government corporation status, first of all, I would 

 like to commend BPA Administrator Randy Hardy for his hard 

 work and his efforts to make BPA a more competitive power re- 

 source provider in the Northwest. PNGC and most customer groups 

 are supportive of these changes but have reserved the right to con- 

 dition that support on the details of any final proposal. It is clear 

 that release from the constraints of civil service and government 

 procurement rules, BPA would have far more flexibility to provide 

 better service at a lower cost. 



