FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: LaVerne Kyriss
303-275-1236, kyriss@wapa.gov
April 6, 1999
Golden, Colo.—On April 1, Western Area Power Administration got the green light on its new procedures for operating under open transmission access rules.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission found that "Western's standards of conduct and the organizational charts and job descriptions it posted on the OASIS are acceptable." Western filed a petition with FERC in December requesting approval of its procedures for ensuring transmission pricing and availability information are equally available to all transmission customers, including Western staff who work in power marketing jobs.
"The approval by FERC puts our operations on a firm, equal footing with utilities required to comply with the Commission's Order No. 889 on open access," said Western's Administrator, Mike Hacskaylo. "This ruling positions Western to operate as a full-fledged member of the ever-changing electric utility industry."
The Commission's Order for investor-owned utilities to separate transmission reliability functions from those of marketing power was developed in response to the Energy Policy Act of 1992. Western, a Federal power marketing administration, is not required to comply with this FERC Order. However, the Department of Energy pledged that the PMAs would comply to the extent permissible by law.
Western's Standards of Conduct, while based on templates developed by Commission, contain a couple of deviations because of Western's unique nature as a Federal power marketing administration.
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FERC APPROVES WESTERN'S STANDARDS OF CONDUCT 2-2-2
"By finding our standards of conduct acceptable, FERC is agreeing that we have met the Commission's requirements to separate our transmission and power sales functions and to restrict communications about transmission prices and availability from its transmission function to its power sales function," explained Susan Earley, the Western legal advisor to the teams that developed Western's Standards of Conduct.
"Western has historically offered available transmission at cost on our nearly 17,000-mile system but we've had difficulty obtaining transmission arrangements over certain utility systems due to industry changes arising from the FERC open access orders," said Liova Juarez, Western's General Counsel. "Western's voluntary compliance with FERC's open access orders makes it easier to obtain those transmission services and clarifies our position on open access."
Western's standards of conduct and transmission tariff are posted on Western's web site at www.wapa.gov.
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Western markets and transmits Federal hydropower in 15 central and western states to municipalities, rural electric cooperatives, Federal and state agencies, tribal organizations, and irrigation and public utility districts. In FY 1998, Western sold 45 billion kwh of energy and earned $720 million in revenues.
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