Teddy Roosevelt was the first president to recognize our nation's rivers as a public resource. President Roosevelt and Congress said that the public should have the first right, or "preference," to purchase electricity from federal projects built on these waterways. This preference clause was first spelled out in the Reclamation Act of 1906.
Thirty years later, President Franklin D. Roosevelt made Teddy Roosevelt's vision of affordable federal hydropower a reality. The federal government built a system of multi-purpose dams on American rivers to generate power for the public benefit. The intent behind the Federal Power Program was that the electricity generated by the nation's rivers should benefit the public - not private individuals or for-profit corporations.
In the Pacific Northwest, the Federal Power Program paved the way for development of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS), 31 federal hydropower projects built on different rivers located throughout the Columbia Basin. In addition to generating electricity, these hydropower projects provide flood control, water for irrigation, recreation opportunities, and river navigation for various commodities important to our economy.
The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is the federal power marketing administration (PMA) for the Northwest. There are four PMAs in the United States that sell the power generated by federal projects. BPA sells power generated by the FCRPS to our cooperative and other consumer-owned utilities at "cost-based" rates.
A cost-based rate means that BPA charges its utility customers just what it costs to produce that power. Cost-based rates can be lower and more stable than market rates, which are affected by principles of supply and demand. To gain additional economies of scale, CCEC manages our BPA purchases along with 11 other cooperatives through PNGC Power.
The rich history and relationship among our nation's rivers, the BPA and non-profit, consumer-owned utilities is unique. This relationship gives non-profit utility consumers, like you, the first right, or "preference," to purchase cost-based power generated from rivers in the Columbia Basin. Non-profit, cost-based rates are one of the most significant benefits we receive from the FCRPS through BPA and your electric cooperative.
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