Wwp Undertakes Power Marketing Experiment Odessa, Harrington Serve As Laboratory For Cheaper Rates

Residents of Odessa and Harrington will soon have an opportunity to save almost 10 percent on their monthly electricity bills.

The Grant County Public Utility District plans to begin selling power in the two communities within the next few weeks, said Dave Osborn, a power planner for the district.

PNM Energy Marketing, a subsidiary of Public Service Co. of New Mexico, also expects to enter the market, commercial marketer Al Anzures said.

Both utilities are taking advantage of a Washington Water Power Co. decision to make Odessa and Harrington laboratories for deregulation.

The experiment has been designated MOPS, for More Options for Power Service. WWP has long been the exclusive supplier in the Lincoln County farm towns.

Officials at the Spokane utility say they want to see what technical and service problems arise when competitors bid for customers.

Residents and businesses will be allowed to stick with WWP or chose either of the two newcomers, said project manager Catherine Bryan.

She mailed a letter to eligible customers this week alerting them to the program’s kickoff. Utility representatives had already held town meetings and met with officials to spread the word, she said.

Bryan said WWP wants its customers to feel comfortable in a deregulated environment.

Grant County’s Osborn said the PUD also does not want to upset residents.

The PUD will price its power, purchased from the Bonneville Power Administration, 20 percent below WWP’s rate. Distribution expenses and other costs will bring the savings to slightly less than 10 percent.

All customers will pay the same rate, he said.

“Nobody’s making any money off this,” Osborn said. “We just need the experience.”

If consumers are unhappy with their new supplier, they can switch back to WWP by giving the PUD five days notice, he said.

Osborn said the PUD’s commissioners, who approved participation in the program this week, enlisted because they believe the Washington Legislature will deregulate all electricity markets next year.

MOPS will give the utility a leg up in its understanding of the problems that must be overcome to make the transition successfully, he said.

Anzures said PNM will likely take a different approach than Grant County. Rather than selling to each customer individually, the company will try to “aggregate” groups of customers - if not whole communities - to minimize expenses.

He said he did not know if PNM will revert to a house-by-house approach if aggregation is not possible.

Anzures also said the utility has not decided how it will price its power.

, DataTimes