Committed to Northwest Values

he Columbia River has been called the 

“crown jewel” of the Pacific Northwest. 

There is no question it is among the region’s 

greatest assets — supplying low-cost clean 

hydropower, making deserts bloom thanks to 

irrigation and providing navigation, recreation and 

a home for many species of fish and wildlife.

The Bonneville Power Administration is proud to 

be a steward of this great resource. Our mission is 

to serve the people and environment of the Pacific 

Northwest. We sell wholesale power from Grand 

Coulee Dam and 30 other Northwest federal dams 

to Northwest utilities, including public utility districts, 

rural electric cooperatives and municipal utility 

departments, as well as investor-owned utilities. 

We operate three-fourths of the region’s highvoltage transmission system that delivers that power.

But, as a federal agency, we are not just a power 

marketer. We have public responsibilities that 

include, among many, promoting energy efficiency, 

facilitating development of renewable power, 

protecting fish and wildlife affected by hydro 

development, honoring treaty obligations to tribes 

and promoting a reliable energy future through 

collaboration and partnerships. This document 

describes our responsibilities to citizens in the 

Pacific Northwest.

WHO WE ARE

Fulfilling a unique mission

We are the U.S. Department of Energy’s power 

administration for the Northwest, responsible for

bringing the benefits of the Columbia River power 

system to the region’s consumers, taxpayers and 

the environment. We are a self-financed agency 

and a not-for-profit utility. Ratepayers, not 

taxpayers, cover our costs through revenues from 

our power sales and transmission services. The 

people of the Northwest pay for their Columbia 

River power system in their electric bills.

We are committed to serving you well. Our job is to:

■ provide an adequate, efficient, economical and 

reliable power supply,

■ build and maintain a reliable transmission 

system,

■ mitigate the impacts of the Northwest’s federal 

power system, including those on fish and 

wildlife.

BRA programs bring value to the Pacific 

Northwest, value that is determined with input 

from Northwest citizens.

LOW RATES

Providing low-cost power

We sell power to Northwest utilities at the cost 

of generating and transmitting that power. There 

are no shareholders and no profit motive. Power 

at cost stimulates the region’s economy. BPA’s 

cost-based hydropower ensures that the 

Northwest has among the lowest electricity rates 

in the nation.
Co-managing the nation’s largest

renewable resource

Federal hydropower from the dams of the Columbia 

River System is the nation’s largest renewable energy 

resource. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and 

the Bureau of Reclamation own and operate the 

federal dams; BRA sells the wholesale electricity 

they generate.

These three agencies coordinate with other public 

and private utilities that own dams and power plants 

in the Northwest, operating the entire system as 

if it had a single owner. This makes optimum use 

of Columbia River water and storage capacity, 

producing additional generation worth millions of 

dollars annually.

RELIABILITY

Providing a dependable

transmission highway

BPA’s huge transmission network gives the region 

tremendous flexibility to deliver electricity to 

where it’s needed. Other utilities often rely on 

BPA’s system rather than building their own lines.

BRA is working with other Northwest utilities 

to develop the same one-utility approach to 

transmission planning and operation that has 

worked so well for the region’s hydropower supply.

BRA operates the Northwest portions of large 

“intertie” transmission lines to other regions. The 

interties allow utilities to buy power from outside 

the region or sell any surplus power. Surplus 

power sales help offset costs and keep Northwest 

rates lower.

Taking the long view

As a federal enterprise, BRA takes a long-term 

perspective to ensure adequate infrastructure for 

the future. Working with regional utilities, BRA and 

the Northwest Power and Conservation Council have

developed a standard measure to signal when the 

region needs to acquire new power sources.

BRA also has underwritten large-scale, long-term 

projects that will provide lasting benefits to future 

generations. These investments, such as 

transmission lines that connect regions and energy 

efficient building codes, are critical to assuring the 

healthy reliability of the Northwest power system.

Building Northwest infrastructure

BRA invests in needed Northwest infrastructure, 

including new transmission lines, energy efficiency 

programs and fish and wildlife projects.

BRA primarily uses its borrowing authority with the 

U.S. Treasury to finance needed new investments. 

All costs are repaid with revenues from BRA power 

sales and transmission services. BRA directly funds 

capital projects to maintain and enhance U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation
dams in the Columbia River system, including 

major investments in improved fish passage.

Today, BRA is making the most extensive 

improvements in the Northwest transmission 

system in decades and is planning or building 

major additions that, together, would add more 

than 200 miles of lines to the Northwest 

transmission grid. These projects will improve 

reliability and deliver thousands of megawatts 

of additional renewable energy in the Northwest. 

BRA regularly holds an open season for new 

transmission requests then develops the most 

efficient plan of service to meet all needs and 

proposes plans to finance cost-effective projects.

Protecting the region’s

investments

Northwest federal hydropower dams and 

transmission lines were built primarily between 

the 1930s and 1970s. The technology and assets 

are extremely valuable, but they are aging.

BRA engineers, hydrologists and technicians 

care for the region’s substantial investment in the 

federal hydropower system. Working with the 

Corps, Reclamation, utilities and the public,

BRA works to maintain reliability and increase 

the value of the assets for Northwest citizens.

For example, we are replacing rotting wood 

transmission poles with steel poles. The Corps, 

Reclamation and BRA are replacing worn hydro 

turbines with more efficient models that are safer 

for migrating fish.

Responding in emergencies

Keeping the lights on is vital for public health and 

safety. BRA crews traverse rugged terrain and 

brave inclement weather to repair transmission 

lines damaged by ice, wind, lightning and fire. 

During Arctic cold fronts, BRA works with other 

agencies to pull down reservoirs quickly to produce 

more hydropower to keep the lights and heat on.

During floods, BRA foregoes generating hydropower 

to hold back water behind dams and buys 

replacement electricity to meet power needs.

ENVIRONMENTAL 

STEWARDSHIP

Considering environmental

consequences

As a federal agency, BRA is subject to stronger 

environmental review requirements than a private 

entity. Under the National Environmental Policy 

Act, BPA must evaluate the potential 

environmental consequences of all its prospective 

decisions and provide opportunities for the public 

to influence decisions that could have significant 

impacts. Prospective decisions are evaluated for 

effects on endangered and threatened species, 

water quality, cultural resources and other factors.
Building smart

BPA has used energy efficiency and high-tech 

investments to avoid building hundreds of miles of 

transmission lines across the Northwest and delay 

the need for others. BPA routinely considers these 

non-wires alternatives in addressing transmission 

problems because it’s cheaper and more 

environmentally friendly.

Where new lines must be built, BPA keeps impacts 

as low as possible. For example, to avoid 

disturbing delicate terrain, we fly transmission 

towers over sensitive areas. We emphasize 

non-chemical right-of-way maintenance tools to 

maintain safe clearance for power wires. We work 

with local communities to provide compatible 

activities on rights-of-way such as dog parks and 

wildlife grazing areas.

Protecting fish

BPA manages the nation’s largest fish and wildlife 

program, investing more than $700 million every 

year to protect fish and wildlife affected by the 

federal power system.

In the last 15 years, the federal dams have been 

overhauled to make passage safer for fish, 

particularly migrating salmon. Today, juvenile fish 

arriving at each dam successfully pass downstream

at survival rates as good as or better than before 

the four lower Snake River dams were built. Adult 

fish swimming upstream through Columbia system 

fish ladders survive at rates as good as or better 

than a free-flowing river.

BPA has invested more than $11 billion in the last 

30 years to protect fish in the Columbia River 

system. This figure includes costs of buying power 

to replace hydro production, and funding for fish 

hatcheries, habitat improvement projects, and 

research and monitoring. It also includes foregone 

revenues that occur when water is passed over

dams’ spillways to help young fish migrate rather 

than through generators to produce electricity.

BPA fish projects meet Endangered Species Act 

requirements and measures called for in the 

Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s 

Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program 

and under Columbia Basin Fish Accords.

Protecting wildlife

BPA also compensates for wildlife habitat lost or 

disturbed as a result of hydropower development. 

To date, we have funded protection of hundreds of 

thousands of acres of habitat for wildlife. We turn 

over ownership and management of the protected 

habitat to tribes, state and federal agencies and 

non-governmental conservation organizations. In 

some cases, we purchase conservation easements 

and grazing leases, which give wildlife managers 

control of the habitat. BPA has also set up state 

wildlife trusts.

Promoting energy efficiency

Energy efficiency is the cleanest and cheapest 

new energy source available in the Northwest. 

Investing in energy efficiency helps preserve and 

stretch the value of Columbia River hydropower. 

Following targets set by the Northwest Power 

and Conservation Council, BPA has funded more 

than 1,000 average megawatts of conservation

A
since 1980 — enough power to serve a city the 

size of Seattle — at an investment of more than 

$2.3 billion. The Council’s latest targets call for 

achieving at least another 1,200 megawatts of 

conservation savings by 2015. BPA is working with 

its utility customers to achieve public power’s portion 

of this regional target, 40 percent of the total.

BPA encourages regional conservation through 

discounts on its power rates, technical and 

marketing assistance to utilities and support for 

the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, a 

nonprofit that brings energy efficient products 

and services into the marketplace. BPA also 

funds low-income weatherization programs in 

Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and with 

Northwest tribes.

Facilitating new renewable energy

Wind power has come of age in the Pacific 

Northwest. BPA now has several thousand 

megawatts of wind power flowing through its 

transmission system and expects to have up to 

6,000 megawatts in its grid by 2013. Major 

transmission line projects enable this expansion.

Bringing wind, a variable energy resource, into the 

power grid in large amounts is a great engineering 

and economic challenge. Intermittent wind energy 

must be coupled with other resources that can 

provide power when the wind is not blowing. BPA 

has provided this service from the hydro system 

so far and is working with regional partners to 

develop new tools to manage large-scale wind 

power reliably and cost-effectively.

BPA also has added about 250 megawatts of 

wind energy to its own power supply, plus almost 

100 megawatts of new hydropower and a small 

amount of photovoltaic solar. BPA further supports 

renewable resources through the independent, 

nonprofit Bonneville Environmental Foundation. 

(See www.b-e-f.org.)

Enhancing our green advantage

Concerns about climate change are placing a new 

premium on clean energy sources. Because it’s 

fueled by water, the Northwest’s hydro base does 

not produce air pollution, avoiding the equivalent 

greenhouse gas emissions of more than 10 million 

cars on the road. The region’s commitment to 

energy efficiency has bolstered this advantage, 

helping to maintain high air quality and low 

emissions. BPA also markets power from one 

nuclear plant owned by Energy Northwest, which 

is also emission-free.

We are further reducing our own carbon footprint 

and identifying cost-effective ways we can help 

meet regional climate change goals in our 

Sustainability Action Plan.
Pioneering research

and development

BPA funds research, development and 

demonstration in technologies that can increase 

the value of the federal power system and 

improve its efficiency.

For example, BPA has long promoted smart grid 

technologies to improve energy efficiency by 

letting consumers participate interactively in 

the power system. BPA is part of a Northwest 

smart grid demonstration project that will link 

participating consumers served by 12 utilities in 

five states to the latest smart grid technologies.

The agency is also participating in a test to apply 

BPA-invented smart grid technology to improve 

transmission monitoring and controls across the 

Western states.

A number of BPA developments that improve 

system performance or reduce system costs have 

been adopted by other utility systems nationally 

and internationally.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Involving the public in decisions

Decisions made by BPA affect the economy and 

the ecosystem of the entire region. Important 

trade-offs are constantly being made. River 

operations affect fish, electricity rates, the regional 

economy, other river users and the operation of 

other resources that affect air quality.

BPA provides extensive opportunities for public 

participation on its proposed programs, policies 

and projects such as new transmission lines, 

power sales contracts and fish passage projects. 

We are committed to transparency in our decision 

making and performance and to working 

collaboratively with others in relationships based 

on mutual respect.

Practicing fiscal prudence

BPA sets its rates to recoup all costs, including its 

direct costs and more than 80 percent of the costs 

of Reclamation and Corps hydro facilities in the 

Northwest.

Because Northwest electric ratepayers pay all the 

agency’s costs, the region’s utilities, congressional 

delegation and citizenry keep close watch on 

BPA’s spending and financing. The agency’s 

budget is approved through the administration and 

submitted to Congress. Our rates are reviewed for 

adequacy by the Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission.
BPA repays the U.S. Treasury with interest for 

earlier taxpayer investments in Northwest federal 

hydropower and transmission projects and for 

appropriated investments to other agencies related 

to the federal hydropower system. We have 

maintained excellent credit ratings on our 

obligations to private bondholders for projects 

financed through sources other than the Treasury.

Providing regional and

public preference

BPA is required by law to give preference in its 

power sales to utilities that are owned and 

operated by the people they serve - public utility 

districts, municipal electricity departments, rural 

electric cooperatives and other public bodies.

We sell power outside the Northwest only after 

the power has been offered within the region 

and is surplus to regional needs. Surplus power 

sales benefit the Northwest because they bring in 

revenues that help keep Northwest rates down.

Sharing benefits

among consumers

All Northwest residents share in the benefits of the 

region’s federal hydropower system, whether they 

are served by public or private power. Through a 

program called the residential exchange, BPA 

spreads the benefits of its low-cost hydropower 

to consumers and small-farm owners served by 

Northwest electric utilities that have higher power 

costs. In addition, BPA provides discounts for rural 

customers who are widely dispersed and have 

higher costs of service.

Working with Northwest states

BPA funds operation of and works closely with the 

Northwest Power and Conservation Council, an 

interstate compact whose members are appointed 

by the governors of the four Northwest states. The 

Council develops and maintains a regional power 

plan and fish and wildlife program. BPA takes the

Council’s regional power plan and fish and wildlife 

program into careful account so that our actions 

are consistent with the Council’s measures. BPA 

also works closely with the region’s congressional 

offices, state public utility commissions, governors’ 

offices and other state agencies on issues ranging 

from energy efficiency programs to emergency 

planning.

Working with the federal

government

Together, BPA, the Corps and Reclamation 

continually balance competing river uses for 

protection of fish and wildlife, flood control, power 

production, navigation to inland ports, irrigation 

and recreation. The Corps and Reclamation 

generate power within constraints for other river 

uses; BPA buys power from other producers to 

cover any deficits.

BPA also works closely with NOAA Fisheries, the 

U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Forest 

Service and other federal partners in protecting 

natural resources. BPA activities fall under the 

jurisdiction of the Senate Committee on Energy 

and Natural Resources, House committees on 

Energy and Conservation and Natural Resources 

and other committees of Congress.

~ 7
Working with tribal governments

BPA recognizes its federal trust responsibility and 

government-to-government relationship with 

federally recognized Northwest tribes as sovereign 

entities. BPA was the first federal agency in the 

Northwest to consult with tribes to formulate its 

Tribal Policy. BPA works collaboratively with the 

tribes on energy, environmental and cultural issues 

in business and resource management relationships 

and government-to-government consultations.

BPA funds numerous fish and wildlife projects 

managed by tribes. In 2008, BPA, five Northwest 

tribes and two Northwest states signed Columbia 

Basin Fish Accords to fund projects such as habitat 

restoration and hatchery improvements to benefit 

both ESA-listed and non-listed species. Federal 

agencies guaranteed more than $900 million in 

funding over 10 years. Most of the money will 

come from BPA. The accords reflect the region’s 

move away from litigation to collaboration to recover 

the Columbia River system’s treasured fish and 

wildlife resources.

BPA is working with Northwest tribes interested in 

developing their own utility districts. Two tribes have 

established tribal utilities. BPA works with tribes to 

protect tribal cultural resources at the major federal 

reservoirs and on transmission rights-of-way.

Bonneville Power Adm inistration 

P.O. Box 3621 

Portland, OR 97208-3621

DO E/BP-4128 • SEPTEMBER 2010 • 2M

Working with Canada

A third of the Columbia River’s length and half its 

reservoir storage lie in British Columbia. The 

United States and Canada jointly developed the 

upper reaches of the river for flood control and 

power production under the 1964 Columbia River 

Treaty. BPA and the Corps administer this Treaty 

for the United States. This and other agreements 

with B.C. Hydro provide additional water storage, 

enhanced flood control, greater operational 

flexibility and access to additional water for fish 

and other needs.

For more information

For more information about BPA, go to www.bpa.gov.

To request additional copies of this publication, call 

503-230-INFO (4636) or toll free 1 -800-622-4520.