Wppss Settlement Costs Wwp $500,000

The last major piece of litigation generated by Washington Public Power Supply System plants Nos. 4 & 5 has been resolved.

The settlement, disclosed in a memorandum of understanding announced Wednesday, will cost Washington Water Power Co. $500,000.

Bonneville Power Administration will pay $53 million, Portland General Electric $1 million and Puget Sound Power & Light Co. $500,000.

WWP spokeswoman Dana Anderson said the settlement would have no effect on the Spokane utility’s rates. BPA rates would likewise be unaffected, Administrator Randy Hardy said.

Several public utilities also will contribute to the deal with Chemical Bank, which has represented WPPSS bondholders in litigation going back to 1992, when plant construction halted.

Chemical Bank had claimed some of the costs shared among plants Nos. 4 & 5 and another pair of discontinued plants, Nos. 1 & 3, were improperly allocated.

The suit was stayed pending the outcome of other WPPSS-related litigation, mainly a securities case resolved in 1989.

Settlement talks started in 1991 but broke down and retired U.S. District Court Judge J. Lawrence Irving was appointed settlement master last April.

His office released the settlement terms.