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Economic and dam related articles

Wind Power Developers Disappointed
With BPA's Cost-Sharing Proposal

by Staff
North American Windpower, February 14, 2012

(Steven Lane) Hundreds of wind turbines rise from the dryland wheat country of eastern Klickitat County, where wind farms are permitted outright under county zoning. The county has seen 624 of the 41-story turbines rise in the past four years. A group of energy companies has sent a letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu in response to the Bonneville Power Administration's (BPA) proposal to address oversupply and wind power curtailment.

The companies include Iberdrola Renewables, Pacific Power, EDF Renewables North America, Invenergy Wind North America and NextEra Energy Resources.

"In spite of best efforts to negotiate, this case is far from settled," Iberdrola spokesperson Jan Johnson told NAW.

According to Johnson, BPA's cost-sharing proposal is a "clear circumvention of the [Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's] order to file an open-access transmission tariff (OATT)."

In December, FERC ruled that BPA's actions were discriminatory and violated federal energy policy. The companies contend that BPA's recently announced proposal does not bring BPA into compliance with the Federal Power Act, which was designed to prevent discrimination and ensure fair market operations for the protection of all customers.

According to the companies, BPA's proposal would also be unfair to consumers. They say that although BPA is positioning this cost-sharing proposal as "fair," if BPA discriminates against any one energy resource, it is not letting the market set energy prices.

"BPA's policy of permitting discriminatory behavior will continue to artificially increase the value of its power resources, which hurts consumers," Johnson said.

In their letter, the companies said they will continue to insist that BPA comply with the FERC order and file a binding OATT.

"It is essential that BPA comply with FERC's Dec. 7 order by filing with the commission an OATT that may only be modified in the future with FERC approval," they wrote. "Significantly, the complainants acknowledge that BPA's OATT can include variances from the commission's pro forma OATT that address unique regional situations, but an independent regulator - not Bonneville itself - needs to be the final arbiter of such BPA variance proposals."


Staff
Wind Power Developers Disappointed With BPA's Cost-Sharing Proposal
North American Windpower, February 14, 2012

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