Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representatvies from the Pacific Northwest are urging the Trump administration to keep the Bonneville Power Administration in federal hands.
The administration’s proposed budget for 2018 includes a provision that would sell off transmission assets for federal power marketing agencies, including the Bonneville Power Administration.
According to the office of Congressman Greg Walden, the BPA was tasked with managing and selling power generated by the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.
Eighty years after its inception, BPA now owns 75% of the power systems in the Northwest that provide electricity to over 12 million people and businesses.
Numerous politicians are joining together to oppose the proposal to privatize BPA’s assets.
The bi-partisan group wrote in a joint statement they’re concerned the privatization would put rural communities at risk and lead to division in the regional grid.
They added, “Selling off BPA’s transmission assets is bad public policy that undermines the President’s economic objectives and betrays a lack of understanding of the Northwest.”
The group points out the BPA is self-funding and is of no cost to the taxpayer. “In fact, it has benefited U.S. taxpayers by providing more than $32.5 billion in payments to the U.S Treasury,” they wrote.
Congressman Walden is joined in his opposition by U.S. Representatives Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Denny Heck (D-WA), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Derek Kilmer (D-WA), Rick Larsen (D-WA), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Dave Reichert (R-WA), Kurt Schrader (D-OR), Adam Smith (D-WA).
A PDF of the original letter is available HERE.
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