Pge Offers Bid To Big Bpa Customer

Portland General Electric has made a bid to capture one of the Bonneville Power Administration’s biggest industrial customers.

Elf Atochem N.A. Inc., a Portland manufacturer of bleaching chemicals, expects to decide this week whether to accept PGE’s offer to replace the BPA as the company’s primary energy supplier, The Oregonian newspaper reported Thursday.

Elf Atochem currently buys 84 megawatts of electricity from the BPA, which is enough to meet all its basic needs, said manager Gene Spina. PGE has a contract to supply whatever might be needed beyond that.

The BPA has faced increasing competition for power customers as it struggles to pay its bills and protect dwindling salmon runs.

PGE’s bid comes while the utility is publicly criticizing the BPA for a proposed rate change that would give low-price electricity contracts to aluminum smelters and other direct customers.