Fight the Rate Hike Petition

[AmyDeLune]

The revised cost per household estimate hit the news today-- if passed, this legislation would increase electricity cost per household about $288 per year and cripple the NW aluminum industry.

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...The proposal, included in the Administration's Fiscal Year 2006 budget, would increase the rates of the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) until they are roughly the same as rates being charged elsewhere in national power markets. According to the very conservative estimates of the White House's own Office of Management and Budget (OMB), this plan would cost each Northwest ratepayer an additional $100 per year.

The budget proposal itself is sparse on details, suggesting the Administration will “propose legislation to very gradually bring electricity rates closer to average market rates throughout the country.” However, internal talking points from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), designed to promote the plan, concede that wholesale electricity rates could double over the next four years, at a rate of 20 percent per year. This could raise BPA rates by over $1 billion in the next two years alone. About 70 percent of the electricity consumed in the state of Washington is BPA power, which today is sold at cost—rather than market-based—rates.
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http://cantwell.senate.gov/contact/stoptheratehikenow.html