8 



crease in costs to Bonneville, whether it is reflected in this year's 

 rate increase or not, causes them to have less confidence as far as 

 the future is concerned, and perhaps to look elsewhere for their 

 power. 



A number of utilities have already signed contracts to have their 

 power needs served from other sources, and obviously this has an 

 adverse impact on BPA's fmancial condition. 



Has the administration, have you, projected what kind of income 

 the Federal Government is likely to get out of Bonneville in the fu- 

 ture. Have you taken this competitiveness factor over the next sev- 

 eral years into account and the policies that you are advocating for 

 us here today? 



Ms. RiVLlN. Yes; I think the estimates of Bonneville's situation 

 take the likely revenue stream into account. But the problem we 

 are addressing today is not of the Pacific Northwest economy or of 

 the long-term viability and financial health of Bonneville. 



The problem we are addressing today is that of additional costs 

 for the fish management plan, and deciding what the Federal Gov- 

 ernment's obligations are to share these costs so they will not be- 

 come an undue burden on Bonneville's customers. 



Senator GORTON. So it would be fair to say that you do not have 

 any independent opinion on whether or not Bonneville's future 

 competitiveness is going to be harmed either by this addition or by 

 its present burdens. 



Ms. RiVLlN. What we are saying, and I believe that Bonneville 

 agrees with this, is that we have a plan for sharing these costs, 

 which will not lead to additional rate increases beyond what Bon- 

 neville has already announced. The plan does not, in our view, put 

 Bonneville in a less competitive position than it was in before. 



Senator GORTON. Thanks. 



Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



Senator HATFIELD. Thank you. I have been notified that Senator 

 Murkowski would like to make a brief statement, enter matters 

 into the record, and depart. So in order to accommodate Senator 

 Murkowski, I would ask him 



STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK MURKOWSKI 



Senator Murkowski. Senator Hatfield, I very much appreciate 

 that, and I appreciate the opportunity here. I will be very brief. 



First, I would like to note that I share the legal and fiscal con- 

 cerns that have been expressed here, and as chairman of the En- 

 ergy Committee, which you serve on, I want to assure you of my 

 interest in working with you. As you know, we have set a meeting 

 on Bonneville Power Administration refinancing for March 21. 



Let me just mention one thing about the fisheries, from our point 

 of view in Alaska. 



The National Marine Fisheries Service is proposing to perma- 

 nently reclassify, as you know, the Snake River fall chinook salmon 

 from threatened to endangered. We believe the reclassification is 

 driven by environmental politics, not science, and we believe sci- 

 ,entific evidence simply does not support it. 



Submitted with my formal statement is a complete explanation 

 prepared by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. We in Alas- 

 ka think we know something about raising salmon. We have had 



