Rural Cooperatives Magazine - March/April 2001
A CLOSER LOOK AT . . .
Yakama Power Tribal Utility
CEO/President - Lonnie Salam, chairman of the Yakama Tribal Council
Board governance - The Tribal Council is in the process of selecting the utility board.
The Yakama Nation - The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Indian Nation are descendents of 14 tribes and bands that are federally recognized under the Treaty of 1855. The Nation's Cultural Heritage Center is located in Toppenish, Wash.
Geographic area served - The utility will serve approximately 15,000 people who reside on the 1.4-million-acre Yakama Reservation in central Washington along the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountain Range. The reservation is 1 1/2 times larger than the state of Rhode Island.
Background - The Energy Policy Act of 1992 deregulated the electricity industry. Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) -the federally sponsored power marketing agency - recognized the Yakama Nation and other Pacific Northwest tribes in late 1999 as ?public bodies? or ?cooperatives.? The ruling allowed the Yakama Nation to start forming its own tribal utility. Federal law then grants first priority to public bodies - municipalities, public utility districts and cooperatives - that want to purchase power from the Columbia River Power System.
Tribal and all other new utilities had to meet certain requirements to be eligible for service in the 2001-06 contract period. Among the qualifications, districts had to be established and well on their way to acquiring distribution systems.
As a rule, BPA requires utility customers to own an entire distribution system to be eligible for service. But some Northwest tribes may have unique circumstances, given their large, sparsely populated areas and fragmented distribution facilities with-in reservations. Therefore, it may not make sense for them to own all the distribution facilities they will need to serve consumers. On a case-by-case basis, the BPA is considering whether to waive full ownership requirements. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Energy also provided grants to tribes to identify and study participation in a deregulated electrical industry.
Why did the Nation decide to forma tribal utility? Through an extensive study and development of a business plan, it was determined that purchasing low-cost power from the BPA will reduce electricity costs for all the consumers on the Yakama Reservation. The new utility will provide jobs and promote economic development on the Reservation. It will expand access to energy efficiency and low-income weatherization programs available to residents on the Reservation.
At what point is the Nation in putting together the tribal utility? The Yakama Nation has negotiated a power sales contract with the BPA. Its next effort will be to begin discussions with PacifiCorp regarding the purchase of the distribution system. The Nation has also started to explore financing, training and a number of other issues as it establishes its own tribal utility. The anticipated timeline is for the Nation?s power to flow through its own system by late 2001. [end]
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