Take Care, Too, With Acronym

It might happen to anyone.

Early in life a person makes a few bad choices, has financial problems, lets some people down.

Later, older and wiser and with great resolve to do better, this same person wants to start out fresh with a new name.

Only in this case it’s not a person who’s searching for a fresh identity, it’s the Washington Public Power Supply System.

That’s right, WPPSS, the public utilities consortium that tried to build five nuclear power plants in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Two of the plants were mothballed after $4.5 billion was spent. Construction of two more plants was terminated and WPPSS defaulted on $2.25 billion in bonds - the largest default in the history of the municipal bond market. Only one of the plants was completed.

Those spendthrift days are over, says the administration at WPPSS. It’s time for a new name that doesn’t sound like “whoops.”

In its annual report, WPPSS points out that its performance recently has been much better. It’s cut the cost of operating the remaining reactor. And WPPSS took advantage of low interest rates to refinance bonds that will amount to $1.83 billion in savings.

It appears WPPSS has really turned over a new leaf - until you look at how much will be spent to change its name.

A consultant has been hired for $75,000 to recommend how to select a new name. Over several years, total cost of the name change could rise to $300,000, according to Rod Webring, a WPPSS vice president.

Before this moniker madness commands a price tag of truly WPPSSian proportions, here’s some free advice:

If a name change is imminent, check those initials. Acronyms are the shorthand of American language. From CIA to FYI, we use them every day. Perhaps there is a reason it’s called the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) instead of the Federal Investigation Bureau (FIB). Checking acronyms shouldn’t cost very much.

If WPPSS believes its name played an important role in its troubled past, maybe it really does need a consultant. Because ultimately, reputation is what gives meaning to a name.

WPPSS has been in existence since the ‘50s; it was only after the nuclear projects of the ‘70s began their financial meltdown that people started saying WPPSS with a telling chuckle.

As Shakespeare wrote, “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Certainly, the same logic applies to WPPSS.