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Economic and dam related articles

Bonneville Power Administration Makes Annual
U.S. Treasury Payment Of $991 Million

by Staff
Columbia Basin Bulletin, October 10, 2014

The Bonneville Power Administration this week announced that it made its 31st consecutive annual payment, on time and in full, to the U.S. Treasury. The total payment for fiscal year 2014, which ended Sept. 30, was $991 million.

"We are proud to uphold our commitment to U.S. taxpayers by once again making our Treasury payment on time and in full," said Elliot Mainzer, BPA administrator. "This longstanding and consistent record of payments reflects our sound fiscal management and value to the region, while clearly demonstrating an enduring commitment to our financial obligations."

BPA's cumulative payments to the U.S. Treasury during these 31 consecutive years amount to over $24.8 billion.

This year's payment includes: $567 million in principal; $333 million in interest; $53 million in irrigation assistance payments; and $38 million in other payments. Of the $991 million total payment, $147 million was paid by applying Treasury credits for non-power-related fish mitigation efforts and other credits, including interest earnings.

This year, Energy Northwest and BPA began using a collaborative, integrated approach to optimize the unified debt portfolio of all debt obligations borne by BPA ratepayers.

Energy Northwest develops, owns and operates a diverse mix of electricity generating resources, including the Northwest's only nuclear generating facility.

BPA backs $5.36 billion of Energy Northwest debt. In this year's regional cooperation debt transaction, Energy Northwest issued BPA-supported bonds to refinance approximately $321 million of outstanding regional cooperation debt previously issued by Energy Northwest. This refinancing freed up BPA resources that are now being used instead to make an additional payment to the U.S. Treasury to extinguish $321 million of federal debt with a higher interest rate, thereby obtaining about $130 million of net present value savings.

During fiscal year 2014, BPA repaid $567 million of federal debt principal including the additional early repayment of $321 million associated with the regional cooperation debt transaction, described above. BPA also repaid $214 million of nonfederal debt principal, of which $205 million was related to Energy Northwest projects.

In addition to the U.S. Treasury payment, BPA paid operations and maintenance expenses for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service projects directly funded by BPA. This direct funding amounted to $358 million in fiscal year 2014.

BPA is a self-financed federal power marketing administration. BPA primarily recovers its costs through revenues from the sale of electric power and transmission services. BPA receives no annual appropriations from the U.S. Congress. BPA establishes its rates prospectively, looking forward over two years. To assure full and timely payments to the Treasury for the benefit of American taxpayers, BPA requires that its rates be established to provide at least a 95 percent certainty of making annual scheduled Treasury payments over two consecutive years. This equates to a 97.5 percent certainty of making annual scheduled payments in a single year of the rate period. BPA has not missed making a Treasury payment since 1984.

BPA markets more than one-third of the electricity consumed in the Pacific Northwest. The power produced at 31 federal dams and one nuclear plant in the Northwest is sold to more than 140 Northwest utilities, among other entities. BPA operates a high-voltage transmission grid consisting of more than 15,000 miles of lines and associated substations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana serving more than 480 customers.

Related Pages:
BPA Makes Annual Payment To Treasury: $224 Million Principal, $367 Million Interest by Staff, Columbia Basin Bulletin, 10/11/13
BPA Makes Annual Treasury Payment by Staff, BPA Journal, 11/30/11
BPA Makes Annual Treasury Payment by Staff, BPA Journal, 11/10
BPA Makes Payment to U.S. Treasury by David Haviland, KBKW, 10/19/9
Treasury Payment Reflects Stability by Staff, BPA Journal, 11/8
BPA Makes 25th Annual Payment $963 Million for 2008 by Staff, Columbia Basin Bulletin, 10/17/8
BPA Pays $1B to Government by Staff, Portland Business Journal, 10/12/7
BPA Makes $1 Billion Treasury Payment in Full by Staff, Columbia Basin Bulletin, 10/12/7
BPA Pays U.S. Treasury by Staff, BPA Journal, 11/6
BPA pays $1.1 Billion to U.S. Treasury by Staff, Tri-City Herald, 10/11/6
Treasury Payment - On Time and In Full by Staff, BPA Journal, 11/5
BPA Pays Treasury in Full and On Time by Staff, BPA Journal, 11/4
BPA Makes $1 Billion Annual Payment to Treasury by Staff, Columbia Basin Bulletin,10/15/4
BPA Ends Fiscal Year in Black, Pays Treasury by Staff, BPA Journal, 12/3
BPA Pays Treasury $1 Billion by Staff, Portland Bus. Journal, 11/17/3
BPA Pays U.S. Treasury by Staff, BPA's Journal, 11/2
BPA Pays Treasury $1 Billion in Year 2002 by Staff, Columbia Basin Bulletin, 10/7/2


Staff
Bonneville Power Administration Makes Annual U.S. Treasury Payment Of $991 Million
Columbia Basin Bulletin, October 10, 2014

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