On the other hand, it has no goal of buying back all 1,000 megawatts from the direct service industries at a mark-up, bumping them off the system. That may end up happening, but it's not a policy. Though most buyback deals are temporary, two have been arranged with companies that could permanently reduce some of their BPA take. An agreement with Columbia Falls Aluminum of Montana calls for the company to relinquish 165 megawatts beginning in October. Another deal with Golden Northwest, which operates smelters in The Dalles, Ore., and Goldendale forces the company to acknowledge it has no legal right to any BPA power after new contracts expire in 2006.
Pickings only get slimmer after that.
The agency also has proposed buyback plans for irrigators, but there's not nearly as much electricity to be gained. The agency might not get any nibbles anyway, considering its offer has proved to be less than popular with growers. BPA also has proposed new incentives for consumer conservation. On the generation side, it is hoping to add to its resource base by soliciting requests for proposals for new wind farms. Let's rebuild this Mother Earth.