Future of proposed Grid West RTO at issue in regional discussions

Seattle (Platts)--9Dec2004

With Northwest stakeholders preparing to vote later Thursday on whether RTO
West should evolve into Grid West, a regional transmission operator that would
control the Bonneville Power Administration's vast transmission system, a
lawsuit by RTO opponents may delay or bring approval for the entity to a halt.
Stakeholders will Thursday recommend whether to approve bylaws that will allow
Grid West to move forward. Immediately after that vote, nine
utilities--including BPA, BC Hydro, PacifiCorp, Idaho Power, Avista--will
decide whether they have enough support to launch Grid West. The stakeholder
vote is likely to come less than 24 hours after the US Court of Appeals for
the Ninth Circuit Wednesday denied an 11th-hour request by the Snohomish
County Public Utility District for an emergency injunction to halt BPA's
further participation in Grid West. The Court, however, said the PUD raised
substantive issues and ordered BPA to file a response by Dec 17. Michael
Gianunzio, Snohomish's general counsel, on Thursday said that although it did
not receive the injunction, the utility is pleased with the order and will be
able to reopen the matter later. BPA, he said, will have to explain why it
believes it has legal authority to put control of its transmission assets in
the hands of an RTO and why it has refused to issue an environmental report on
the matter. BPA owns and operates three quarters of the region's transmission.
A source at an investor-owned utility that is pushing for Grid West's
formation said the Dec 17 deadline puts BPA in a difficult position. Other
sources said municipal utilities appear to be lining up behind Snohomish and
may join its lawsuit. Snohomish is concerned that Grid West bylaws would
enable it to operate independently of BPA. The RTO will negotiate new
transmission agreements with the utilities and the munis say they will have
little input in shaping the new contracts. They say BPA is required to conduct
an open meeting process, while the proposed RTO can operate behind closed
doors.

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