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Grid West
Review of Governance Structure
Bonneville Power (posted 8/3/04)
Grid West is a Washington non-profit membership corporation
created for the purpose of improving the efficiency and reliability
of the Northwest high voltage transmission system and associated
bulk transfer wholesale power markets by forming a independent
regional transmission entity to centralize procedures decision-making
on a number of transmission-related issues. The entity would
capture efficiencies through a variety of methods, all in
a manner that reduces the cost of delivered power to Northwest
consumers. Among the utilities considering joining Grid West
are British Columbia Transmission Company, Bonneville Power
Administration, PacifiCorp, Idaho Power Company, Avista, amongst
others, including possibly publicly-owned utilities. Thus,
the entity may include Federal agencies, Canadian crown corporations,
publicly-owned utilities, and investor-owned utilities.
For a variety of reasons, Grid West
is an "independent" entity, meaning that its trustees
are expected to act on behalf of the interests of the corporation
and the region, not on behalf of individual transmission owners
or market participants. As a result, there is concern that
an independent entity will be less accountable to the region
than the utilities currently operating transmission systems
and some regional stakeholders believe existing political
and other mechanisms for ensuring regional accountability
may be lost, and that Grid West will not act in the best interests
of regional stakeholders. Furthermore, because Grid West will
engage in business activities regulated by the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC), there is concern that FERC will
drive Grid West policy according to FERC-driven national goals,
rather than addressing regional transmission problems.
Because of the above issues and concerns,
Grid West has contracted with the National Academy of Public
Administration (Academy) to conduct a study, which will address
the following questions:
- Has Grid West created a governance
structure that is likely to achieve its desired objective
of regional accountability? How well have the bylaws balanced
board independence from market participants, regional accountability,
and FERC jurisdiction?
- Has Grid West created an organization
that is workable?
- Has Grid West included sufficient
safeguards and incentives to ensure that it will perform
its functions efficiently by keeping its cost reasonably
low in light of its mission?
Academy Studies
Tom Stanton
Ongoing
The Academy has appointed the following individuals to
a Panel to oversee and direct the study. The public may
send comments on the composition of the panel for a period
of seven (7) days after the posted date to mditmeyer@napawash.org.
Thomas
H. Stanton - Attorney at Law.
Fellow, Center for the Study of American Government, The Johns
Hopkins University; Chair, Standing Panel on Executive Organization
and Management, NAPA. Former Partner, Wellford, Wegman, and
Hoff; Associate General Counsel, Federal National Mortgage
Association; Acting Director and Deputy Director, Office of
Policy and Planning, U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
Alan L. Dean
-Consultant. Former Vice President for Administration, U.S.
Railway Association; Deputy Assistant Director, U.S. Office
of Management and Budget; Assistant Secretary for Administration,
U.S. Department of Transportation; Associate Administrator
for Administration, Federal Aviation Agency.
Matthew Holden
- Henry L. and Grace M. Doherty Emeritus Professor, Department
of Politics, University of Virginia. Former Commissioner,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; Professor, Political
Science/Public Policy and Administration, University of Wisconsin.
Daniel Guttman
- Fellow, Johns Hopkins University Center for Study of American
Government; Attorney. Former Commissioner, U.S. Occupational
Safety and Health Review Commission; Executive Director, Presidential
Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments; Special
Counsel to Senator David Pryor/Senate Subcommittee on Federal
Services; Attorney and Partner, Spiegel & McDiarmid.
Disclosure:
This letter is to supplement my response
to the conflict of interest/bias disclosure provision for
the "Grid West" study.
I do not believe my work on the panel would
present a conflict of interest. However, I will be participating
on the panel in light of my past experiences with the utility
industry, and in the recent past I have done further work
in connection with it. Particularly since conflict of interest
issues are often best dealt with by disclosure, with opportunity
for independent review and followup inquiry as appropriate,
I note:
In the period from 1974 to 1994 I was an
attorney with Spiegel & McDiarmid, a law firm that specializes
in advising publically owned electric utility systems (particularly
municipally owned systems) in matters related to utility regulation.
With perhaps one or two relatively small assignments, I do
not recall that I worked on Pacific Northwest matters during
this period. (I did work for municipalities in California,
to whom northwest power was, of course, relevant). In 1994
I left the firm for government service.
On leaving government service in 1997
1 began to practice law as a solo practitioner, in which
capacity I have not done work on electric utility matters.
I have done work on an of counsel basis for the law firm
of Scott Hempling. That firm does substantial work in the
electric area, primarily as adviser to state utility commissions
and other state agencies and legislatures. To my knowledge
the firm has not done substantial work in regard to Pacific
Northwest matters. The firm's website is http://www.hemplinglaw.com/about.htm.
Whitfield A. Russell*
- Electrical Engineer and President of Whitfield A. Russell
and Associates, P.C. Former Chief Engineer, Division of Corporate
Regulation, Securities and Exchange Commission; Consultant,
Federal Power Commission; Associate Engineer, System Planning
Division, Potomac Electric Power Company.
Disclosure:
In my Conflict
of Interest Form, I stated that I have no conflicts and
no bias with respect to the Academy’s review of the
Grid West governance structure I offer the following in
the interest of full disclosure.
In my public utility consulting practice,
I have worked since 1976 for investor owned utilities (including
some work in support of new transmission lines), non-utility
generators, public power entities, federal agencies, land
owners (opposed to transmission lines), Indian tribes, state
regulators and their staffs and large industrial buyers
and generators of bulk power.
I presently represent no entities doing
business in the Pacific Northwest bulk power markets but
have in the past represented BPA, wind energy developers,
geothermal developers, public power entities and Indian
tribes. In addition, I have recently been contacted by a
group interested in municipalizing the Portland General
Electric properties, but I have not been retained by that
group or by anyone else in connection with that task.
My IRA pension plan owns the following
stocks that may have an interest in bulk power matters in
the Pacific Northwest (although I have no personal knowledge
of those activities and have no managerial responsibility
for those companies or their activities): Duke Energy Corp.,
Dynegy, Inc., PG&E Corp.,Reliant Resources, Inc., Alcoa,
Conoco/Philljps, Enron, and Southern Union Co. New. I also
control a marital trust holding: Unocal and Xcel Energy,
Inc.
I know that Alcoa has an interest in some
Pacific Northwest aluminum smelters — Wenatchee, Troutdale,
Mead, Ferndale — most of which are not operating.
* Not an Academy Fellow
Meeting 1:
August 5, 2004 (posted 8/3/04)
September
9, 2004 (posted 9/7/04)
Meeting 3: October 4, 2004 (posted 9/28/04)
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