"Stop the Rate Hike Now" Petition Drive Kicks Off

"Stop the Rate Hike Now" Petition Drive Kicks Off

Cantwell Launches Online Petition Drive to Stop Bush's Northwest Power Rate Hike

NW Senators, public power reps rally against Administration plan to hike rates by a billion dollars

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) today launched an online petition drive against the Bush Administration's plan to double North west power rates. The "Stop the Rate Hike Now" online petition can be accessed at http://cantwell.senate.gov. You can add your name to her petition by clicking here.

Cantwell will deliver the petition to the Department of Energy on March 3, when Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman is expected to testify before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, of which Cantwell is a member.

"A billion dollar rate hike is a one, two punch on our consumers and our region's economy," said Cantwell. "Hiking power rates by 20 percent a year is exactly opposite of what our region needs. The Bush administration needs to hear our voices in the Northwest and know that we won't sit in silence. "

"We'll make our voices heard loud and clear on the importance of cost-based power," Cantwell added.

Cantwell was joined today by Patty Murray (D-WA), as well as dozens of public power officials who oppose the Northwest rate hike plan.

Murray stated, "The President's proposal to balance the budget on the backs of Northwest ratepayers is anti-family and anti-business. A twenty percent increase in the cost of heating our homes and powering our businesses would cripple our region's economy. I will continue to stand up for our ratepayers and make sure that the financial mistakes of this Administration are not paid for at the expense of Northwest residents."

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) also opposes the plan, stating, "There's only one way to look at a forced BPA rate increase, and that's as nothing more, and nothing less, than a $2.5 billion energy tax on the North west. The Administration needs to get the message that it can't impose these devastating electricity rate increases on our region without changing the law, and we're going to do everything we can to stop it from ever passing the U.S. Senate."

The Bush Administration's 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.

Bonneville provides about 70 percent of the power consumed in the State of Washington . Since its creation in the 1930s, BPA's rates have been based on costs—rather than market prices, which are typically about double. According to the White House ' s own Office of Management and Budget (OMB), this plan would cost North west ratepayers an additional $100 per year.

Organizations that have already come out in opposition to the North west rate hike plan include: the Public Power Council; North west Public Power Association; Washington PUD Association; Oregon PUD Association; Oregon Municipal Electric Utilities; the American Public Power Association; the National Rural Electric Co-op Association; and the Washington State Labor Council.

Text of the petition:

Secretary Samuel Bodman
U.S. Department of Energy

Dear Secretary Bodman:

We write to oppose the Bush Administration's plan to double the electric power rates charged by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). By changing BPA's traditional cost-based rates to a new system based on power market prices, this proposal would levy a new, billion dollar tax on the economy and consumers of the Pacific North west.

Our region has already suffered staggering power rate hikes in recent years--a result of the Western energy crisis and the market manipulation of Enron and others. We have lost thousands of jobs, and our region continues to struggle with some of the highest unemployment rates in the nation. The Pacific North west economy and its residents simply cannot withstand the damage inflicted by your new plan to double our power rates.

Your proposal would also throw out more than 70 years of law, policy and valued tradition that has made reliable, cost-based power the backbone of our regional economy, manufacturing base and rural communities.

For these reasons, we ask you to immediately abandon the Bush Administration's plan to double our Pacific Northwest power rates.

http://cantwell.senate.gov/news/releases/2005_02_10_petition.html