Republicans and Democrats are joining to increase the pressure on the White House to revoke its plan to sell off federal public utilities’ assets.
Sens. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the chairman of the Environmental and Public Works Committee, and Maria Cantwell of Washington, the top Democrat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, are leading the effort against the White House plan, which was included in President Trump’s fiscal 2019 budget request. Nearly two dozen senators joined them in a campaign to stop the plan.
The senators, both from Northwest states with federally owned utilities, sent a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney late last week opposing a provision in the budget proposal that seeks to auction off the transmission assets of the Department of Energy’s Power Marketing Administration and abandon cost-based rates.
“There is a long, bipartisan tradition of opposing similar past proposals, including last year’s proposal that recommended selling off federal PMA transmission assets,” the letter read. “Unfortunately, this year’s budget is broader in scope, potentially undermining reliable and affordable electric service in our states.”
The White House seeks to divest power marketing utilities of more than 33,000 circuit-miles of transmission lines, which were built to connect much of the nation’s population centers in the West to power plants. Selling those assets to private companies will hurt the federal utilities economically, raise prices for families and businesses, and “will not improve our nation’s infrastructure,” the letter stated.
The plan would have the effect of destabilizing the economic viability of the Bonneville Power Administration in the Northwest, the Western Area Power Administration that serves the Rocky Mountain states and Wyoming, and the Southwestern Power Administration that serves many of the Gulf Coast states, Oklahoma and others with low-priced 24-hour hydroelectric power from 24 Army Corps of Engineers dams, the letter stated.
Any privatization plan to sell off the assets would “likely not result in incentivizing new transmission infrastructure that many of us support,” it said.
The senators point out a study by credit-rating agency Moody’s that said selling off the federal utilities’ assets would harm an otherwise superb credit rating, while simultaneously driving up electric rates for consumers.
The American Public Power Association, the lead utility trade group for nonprofit electric companies, made the issue a top priority at its recent legislative meeting, issuing a board-approved resolution to make lobbying against the administration’s divestment plan a top part of its advocacy this year.
