Bonneville expects wholesale rate cut

PORTLAND, Ore. — Citing strong cooperation among utilities, the Bonneville Power Administration announced Monday it expects to cut wholesale power rates for the fourth year in a row.

The BPA plans to reduce its 2007 rates by about 3 percent from current levels for its utility customers — a total of about 10 percent lower than the rates proposed eight months ago.

Final rates will be announced in September and go into effect Oct. 1, the beginning of the 2007 federal fiscal year.

The new rates will be adjustable to reflect such things as water conditions, Bonneville’s financial performance, and fish and wildlife conservation costs.

But the federal power marketing agency said its financial forecast for 2006 remains strong.

Bonneville supplies about 40 percent of the electricity in the Northwest from a system of 31 federal dams and one nuclear power plant in Washington state. It also operates a high-voltage transmission grid with more than 15,000 miles of lines in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.