Bush's Plan on Federal Power Price Killed [View All]

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON -- Northwest lawmakers said Wednesday they have blocked a Bush administration plan to force the Bonneville Power Administration and other federal power suppliers to sell electricity at market rates.

Lawmakers from both parties had complained that the plan could boost energy prices in the region by as much 20 percent and cost Pacific Northwest rate payers $1.3 billion.
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Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., a member of the Senate Energy Committee, hailed Gregg's announcement, which followed weeks of intense lobbying by Western lawmakers from both parties.

"The Bush rate hike would have a devastating impact on our economy and jobs," said Cantwell, who plans to question Bodman about the plan at an Energy Committee meeting Thursday.

"I will call on the Bush administration to accept the Senate's decision not to increase BPA's rates," Cantwell said in a statement. "I will not rest until the administration's plan is dead and gone."

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