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Please do not misunderstand. We support environmentally re- 

 sponsible fish and wildlife protection. In the past, we participated 

 in your salmon summit, enjoying your views. Senator Hatfield, and 

 other Northwest leaders in support of the plan developed by the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service's independent recovery team, led 

 by Dr. Donald Bevan. 



We ask you to urge the National Marine Fisheries Service to 

 adopt this plan as a formal plan for salmon recovery. The recovery 

 team's plan focuses on much more than just river passage. 



Their plan is comprehensive, and if implemented, will work as a 

 long-term solution for salmon over the entire Columbia River basin. 



With respect to the fish survival at the dams, the recovery team's 

 plan includes measures that provide for safe migration of both ju- 

 venile and adult salmon, without requiring the dismantling of the 

 hydropower system and the attendant rate impacts. 



We are calling on you to keep that from happening, because the 

 Federal hydropower system is clearly among our region's foremost 

 assets. 



Public power continues to support salmon recovery programs 

 that are based on good science, but salmon recovery must be both 

 balanced and effective. 



Current Federal mandates to drastically change river operations 

 are threatening Bonneville's competitive position and the decades- 

 long relationship the Government has with public power. 



Ultimately, Bonneville's ability to fund fish recovery will be con- 

 strained by the competitive market price of power, and to remain 

 competitive, Bonneville must control its costs. 



I cannot overemphasize this last point. My past experience in the 

 private sector and my more recent experience with my commercial 

 and industrial customers confirms that in the competitive market, 

 particularly a competitive commodity market, such as the whole- 

 sale power market, there is simply no substitute for controlling 

 costs. 



But Bonneville currently has no control over these fish measures 

 that affect hydrogeneration and drive up its costs. 



While public power has no desire to abandon Bonneville, some of 

 us are being driven away due to uncertainty about Bonneville's fu- 

 ture power rates. Moreover, we cannot commit to paying uncom- 

 petitive power rates, particularly when they are caused by these 

 fish measures. 



We are being forced by our own retail competitive pressures and 

 direct feedback from many of our customers to look to the market- 

 place for our power supply, because of both concern about Bonne- 

 ville's future and competitive offers from other suppliers. 



Consequently, we urge the Federal Government to continue its 

 commitment to public power and to the promise of an efficient, eco- 

 nomic, affordable, and reliable power supply, without abandoning 

 this commitment to the salmon. 



Once a sustainable cost-effective salmon solution is adopted, we 

 commit our support to its implementation and funding. However, 

 this support is dependent on the Government's commitment to good 

 science and a reasonable limit on fish recovery costs borne by the 

 operators of the coordinated hydropower system. 



