A proposal to privatize the Bonneville Power Administration is an absurd idea that should draw sharp rebuke in Congress.
The future of the BPA is of utmost interest to Clark County residents, with about two-thirds of the power delivered by Clark Public Utilities being purchased from the publicly owned utility. For decades, the Bonneville Power Administration has provided inexpensive, reliable, renewable energy to the Northwest, contributing to a robust economy while adhering to the environmentally friendly ethos of the region.
In short, hydroelectric power helps to define us and how we live in Clark County.
In spite of that, the Trump administration is renewing pursuit of plans to sell the BPA to private investors. In a 128-page document titled “Delivering Government Solutions in the 21st Century,” officials recommend selling several publicly owned power producers, claiming privatization would “encourage a more efficient allocation of economic resources and mitigate unnecessary risk to taxpayers.”
The document reads: “The Federal Government’s role in owning and operating transmission assets creates unnecessary risk for taxpayers and distorts private markets that are better equipped to carry out this function. Ownership of transmission assets is best carried out by the private sector, where there are appropriate market and regulatory incentives.”
This adheres to conservative dogma that privatization is inherently more efficient — a trope that is fundamentally flawed when it comes to the BPA or other large enterprises.
Privatization and competition do, indeed, create a more efficient market in many situations. If a company is manufacturing widgets — to borrow from traditional economic theory — having additional businesses in the market will cause that company to lower costs and improve production in order to remain profitable. That competition benefits consumers as companies lower the cost of their product and benefits workers as companies provide wages and benefits that can attract the best employees.
Suggesting that privatization will have the same impact upon power production is a ridiculous assumption. Selling the Bonneville Power Administration will not attract competitors to the marketplace; it will create a privately owned monopoly that is beholden to stockholders rather than taxpayers. It is silly to think an upstart company will build a dam across the Columbia River in order to compete with the existing utility. It is folly to think the people of Washington would welcome coal-fired electrical plants under the guise of lowering energy costs.
As Fred Heulte of the NW Energy Coalition said: “It just looks like some people in D.C. who’ve long decided privatization is the solution to everything. What is the problem this proposal is trying to solve? It would be very bad for our regional economy.”
Equally important is the fact the Trump administration has backtracked on earlier promises regarding the BPA. Rather than heed the desires of Northwest residents and representatives, officials are clinging to ideology that has no foundation in reality. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, said: “Any divestiture of BPA assets would have to be approved by Congress, and I will continue working with a united Northwest congressional delegation to ensure it doesn’t happen.”
That presages a needless congressional fight born of flawed economic theory. Selling the Bonneville Power Administration is an absurd idea that should be quickly rejected.
