Wwp Sets Goal To Trim Power Costs Utility Wants To Lower Costs By 10 Percent Over Two Years

Washington Water Power Co. has not changed residential electricity rates in 10 years, and will try to extend that stretch by lowering its power costs by 10 percent over the next two years, President Les Bryan said.

WWP, with its hydropower resources, already has the lowest generating costs of any private utility in the country, he told company shareholders Tuesday.

But deregulation has made still cheaper power available, and WWP must bring its costs into line with those resources, Bryan said.

He said the company has already renegotiated a power contract with one of its suppliers. Its 15 percent share of the Centralia coal plant is for sale, he said, and the companies that own the Colstrip plants are working to cut the costs of coal there.

WWP, which owns 15 percent of plants No. 3 and No. 4 at that southeast Montana complex, could trim more than 5 percent from the cost of that power if the discussions are successful, Bryan said.

He said the company also stretched its hydropower base by keeping those turbines available more than 97 percent of the time, which could be an industry best.

Bryan said savings, if they are achieved, could be passed on to WWP customers, who already pay the lowest rates in the country.

Whether that will happen depends on the direction deregulation takes in the next few years, he said.

Bryan, Chairman Paul Redmond and Senior Vice President Gary Ely said WWP is preparing to take its expertise in energy marketing nationwide, on its own and in alliance with others.

“We have to do that in order to create shareholder value,” Redmond said.

Corporations like Enron and Southern Co. are spending millions on advertising to create brand recognition among utility customers, he said.

Ely said WWP and its new subsidiary, Avista, cannot match the advertising budgets, but unique products are opening doors that the bigger competitors have not been able to get through.

In Portland, he noted, where Avista is developing energy management plans for the U.S. Postal Service, officials are so enthusiastic about the potential they expanded the number of participating offices from 15 to 23.

And the company just landed a contract with a sports complex in Springfield, Ill., Ely said.

He said WWP and Avista intend to extend their success in West Coast wholesale markets to the Midwest and East.

, DataTimes