Wwp Gets Stellar Marks For Efficiency Ranked Second In Nation

A new study prepared by a Portland consulting firm rates Washington Water Power Co. the second most efficient utility in the United States.

Of the 94 electric companies included in the survey and analysis by Barakat & Chamberlain Inc., only American Electric Power Co. outperformed WWP.

The ratings were based on a six-year period that ended in 1995. Among the six yardsticks used were total electricity sales, sales per employee, rates, and the amount of power purchased from other sources.

The results were relative, with American Electric, which serves seven million customers from its Columbus, Ohio, headquarters, receiving a 100 percent rating. WWP barely trailed with 99.99 percent.

Several other Northwest utilities were also among the top 10 performers. Northeast utilities were bunched at the other end of the spectrum.

The study attributed the gap to a number of factors, including rates, labor productivity, and size. Utilities with significant hydroelectric resources did well, those dependent upon nuclear power did not.

WWP Chairman Paul Redmond said the ranking reflects ongoing efforts throughout the company to increase efficiency as a way to prepare for a deregulated electricity market.

Those efforts will continue as WWP works to cut generating costs by 10 percent by the year 2000, he said.

“It’s not just a fluke of location,” added Senior Rate Analyst Bruce Folsom. “We do look at every expense.”

Although some slippage in efficiency was detected at WWP during the six-year study period, Folsom said the erosion was mostly due to steps the company took that will increase future performance.

The study, written by economists Hossein Maeri, M. Sami Khawaja and Matei Perussi, was published in the June 15 issue of “Public Utilities Fortnightly.”

, DataTimes