The Bonneville Power Administration’s mission as a public service organization is to create and deliver the best value for our customers and constituents as we act in concert with others to assure the Pacific Northwest: An adequate, efficient, economical and reliable power supply; A transmission system hat is adequate to the task of integrating and transmitting power from federal and non-federal generating units, providing service to Pa’s customers, providing interregional interconnections, and maintaining electrical reliability and stability; and Mitigation of the Federal Columbia River Power System’s impacts on fish and wildlife.
Bonneville Administrator Jim Jury and Edison Chairman and Chief Executive John E. Bryon reached a creative solution that benefited each of them. Bonneville would raise the water level of the Columbia River,in Oregon and Washington State, during the spring and summer months. The increased water levels allowed Edison downstream to produce more of their own hydroelectric power during this time period reducing their dependence on coal or oil fired plants when energy demands are high for cooling. Emissions naturally went down without investing in expensive new technologies.
They were meeting their need to reduce emission and be in compliance. During the winter months, Edison returned the borrowed power to Bonneville when heir demand is higher for heating in the Pacific Northwest. Bonneville also had less need to run 011 Ana coal plants aurally ten summer Decease ten Minus AT power Tanat was coming back from Edison later in the year. The raised water levels have the benefit of flushing baby salmon downstream to Pacific increasing their survival rate. Moving quickly downstream on the higher water levels makes them less vulnerable to predators or becoming lost on the Journey to the Pacific.
The estimates are the smog reduction between the two companies in that year was he equivalent of taking 5,000 cars off the road. An additional benefit is higher survival rates for the salmon. In looking at John Baryon’s background, he helped form the National Resources Defense Counsel in 1970, a non profit environmental advocacy group. He was predisposed to look for solutions that would help the environment. Bonneville is meeting their mission with the agreement. You can see how each side was able to make the decision to reach this agreement easy for the other.
The benefits flowed both ways. Nothing was left on the table and neither party walked away feeling that a better agreement could have been reached. This is the definition of a win win negotiation. In fact the decision was so easy in the next year Bonneville reached agreements with three Southern California utilities increasing the exchange to 725 megawatts reducing pollutants by 258 tons. Negotiations do not need to be one sided. Being creative in the negotiation process allows both parties to gain by the negotiation creating a win win and a more viable solution.
