New Snag Delays Closure Of Wwp-Sierra Pacific Merger

The slipping timetable for closure of the merger between Washington Water Power Co. and Sierra Pacific Resources could skid into next year, officials with the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission said Tuesday.

Alan Buckley, a program manager for the commission, said a second regulatory review of the merger could even lead to rejection of the deal if additional consumer safeguards are not included.

Washington commission staff and the assistant attorney general representing ratepayers asked the commissioners Tuesday to clarify language in last month’s order approving the merger or to reopen the record in the case.

The commission already had shelved the order to give the staff time to review action taken on the merger by regulators in Nevada.

The problem, Buckley said, is a Nevada Public Service Commission order that, while approving the merger, includes provisions that could penalize Washington ratepayers.

One condition insists the companies provide information on the potential price of their power if they operate as a single system.

Now, the two companies plan to operate separate divisions based in Spokane and Reno, with the stipulation that WWP’s cheap hydropower remain dedicated to its Washington and Idaho customers.

Buckley said information about a one-system rate could prejudice future Nevada rate proceedings, even though the commission there denied that would be the case.

If the result were a decision that would reduce revenues there, company bonds might be downgraded, and higher interest costs would be passed on to all ratepayers in the company’s six-state service area, Buckley said.

Washington officials also are concerned over a provision in the Nevada order that could give ratepayers there a share of profits on WWP electricity sales delivered to buyers over Sierra Pacific transmission lines.

Sierra Pacific ratepayers should be entitled only to revenues from use of the line itself, Buckley said.

Tuesday’s petition notes the companies took the same positions in their meetings with the Nevada commission, but they have not asked that body to reconsider its order despite the conflicts.

The petition includes suggested language that would protect Washington ratepayers if the Nevada order is not changed.

WWP spokeswoman Dana Anderson said company officials are withholding comment on the Washington petition until they have time for a full review.

, DataTimes