Opinion ID: 1292232
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Litigation Over the 2000 REP Settlement Agreements

Text: In 2001, several preference customers challenged the 2000 REP Settlement Agreements. In PGE, we held that BPA's broad settlement authority under § 2(f) of the NWPA, 16 U.S.C. § 832a(f), did not give it license to create an exchange program divorced from the stringent requirements imposed by Congress in § 5(c) and 7(b) of the NWPA, 16 U.S.C. §§ 839c(c) & 839e(b). The agreements BPA entered into conflicted with its governing statutes and, consequently, were not in accordance with law. 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A). We held that the 2000 REP Settlement Agreements which created this new benefit system were inconsistent with the NWPA and exceeded the authority delegated to BPA by Congress. Accordingly, we granted the petitions for review. See PGE, 501 F.3d at 1037. In a companion case dealing with the 2002-2006 wholesale power rates set by BPA, we held, among other things, that BPA violated the NWPA when it allocated to its preference customers part of the cost of the REP Settlement. See Golden Nw., 501 F.3d at 1040-41.