He said that 60 percent of consumers in the region do not receive benefits from the Columbia River system because they are served by investor-owned utilities that do not have preference for that power. About 75 percent of Oregon electric customers receive power from these private utilities, while much of Washington gets BPA power because more customers in that state are served by public power companies. Kitzhaber's proposal would ask that a more equal share of BPA power be spread across all states so everyone would have a stake in how BPA is governed. They will be decided by a Congress that is more interested in the value of our power than in the health of our environment. He set aside the idea that either the Northwest Power Planning Council or the Columbia River Basin Forum could fulfill his vision.
Reactions are mixed.
Gov. Kempthorne will be in Taiwan and China until early Oct., so was not available to comment on Kitzhaber's proposal. However, his office said he and Kitzhaber touched base only the day before the speech. I know the Governor and Gov. Kitzhaber had spoken briefly about the proposal. It was more of a courtesy call before the speech. He said Kempthorne will wait to return from his trade mission to look more closely at the proposal.