Bpa’s Bid To Build Cheney Power Project Angers Private Contractors

Bonneville Power Administration is bidding on a new substation for the city of Cheney, and the region’s electrical contractors charge that’s unfair competition.

The federally chartered marketer of electricity from government-subsidized power projects is vying with half a dozen private bidders to build the Cheney project.

“BPA doesn’t pay the federal taxes that we must pay,” complains contractor Mark Walter of Spokane. “I don’t want my company’s taxes to subsidize BPA’s bid against me on this or any other projects that follow.

“That’s unfair competition right up front,” says the operations manager for Power City Electric Inc., which builds power substations. “What’s more, if they bid too low and they can’t make a profit, I would hate to have to come along as a tax-paying competitor and make good their losses so they can continue to outbid private enterprise.”

BPA maintains nothing of the sort is occurring.

Gary Thompson, the Cheney City Light account executive from BPA, said the agency has built substations for customers in the past. In those cases, utilities asked how much it would cost if BPA built them a substation, and then the utilities decided whether to do it themselves or contract with BPA.

However, Thompson conceded BPA’s action in this instance “may be unique” in this way: “Instead of BPA being asked for a price outside of the bid process, this time BPA’s price is part of an open bid process.”

Ken Gardner of James A. Sewell & Associates, consulting engineer for Cheney, said, “I don’t see why BPA can’t bid the job. They (BPA) wanted a bid package. And they got it. I couldn’t say no.”

Does BPA plan to bid more such projects? “If we are asked, we probably will,” said Thompson. “I don’t see where this is any different from what we’ve been doing.”

But Mark Walter sure does. “We bid on at least 90 percent of these projects in the Northwest,” says the Power City executive, “and I’ve never before seen BPA compete against private enterprise in the open market.”

Power City is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. But Walter worries, “If BPA gets into low-balling substation work, you’ll see a lot of us private contractors heading south.”

Abodio abandons NorthTown

Abodio furniture has cleared out of NorthTown in a “surprise” move, according to the mall management, and the Seattle-based chain is liquidating five Seattle-area stores.

But this will not be a repeat of the Smith’s Home Furnishings debacle, Abodio’s ownership has assured me.

Abodio is not filing for bankruptcy, is not leaving its customers scrambling, and is not going completely out of business, says company president and principal owner Anthony McClure.

Although six stores are going dark, a recently opened downtown Seattle outlet will remain open and become the hub of an effort to franchise the Abodio concept, says McClure.

Meantime, current Abodio customers “should have no cause for alarm,” McClure says. “Letters have been sent to all of (our) customers who have back orders or special orders, and the merchandise will be delivered as it arrives.”

Cost of living spurt slows

The cost of living in Spokane may finally be headed in the right direction again.

Latest available figures on Spokane indicate overall costs eased in 1995 from 6 percent above the national average at mid-year to 4.5 percent above average in the third quarter.

The data is from the American Chamber of Commerce Researcher Association’s Cost of Living Index for 322 urban areas.

Despite the overall decline, costs of Spokane housing and health care remain fully one-fourth higher than the average across the country. Electricity and transportation continue to be the city’s best bargains.

Pullman is even more expensive. There, total costs exceed the national average by 9 percent (the same as Portland, Ore.), and housing is 28 percent higher.

Elsewhere in Washington, the costs of living in both Tacoma and the Tri-Cities is less than 1 percent above the national average. Seattle doesn’t participate in the cost of living report.

In Idaho, the only two cities in the survey bracket the national average. It costs 1 percent more to live in Boise and 1 percent less in Twin Falls.

Three Montana cities participated in the report, and all three register on the high side of the national average. Missoula comes within 1 point; Billings, within 3 points. Bozeman is the most expensive - 4 points above average and just half a point below Spokane.

Local cost-of-living data is compiled for the index by the Spokane Area Economic Development Council. The council did not participate in the fourth-quarter survey due to reorganization of its research functions. However, Spokane will be represented in the first-quarter report due out in May.

, DataTimes MEMO: Associate Editor Frank Bartel writes a notes column each Wednesday. If you have business items of regional interest for future columns, call 459-5467 or fax 459-5482.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Frank Bartel The Spokesman-Review