Seattle utility"s March power tab $92 million

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Seattle utility's March power tab $92 million Seattle City Light spent only $90 million in 1999

Associated Press

SEATTLE _ Seattle City Light spent a record $92 million buying power in March.

The tab is the utility's all-time high for one month and marks a steady increase this year, following $84 million spent in February and nearly $80 million in January.

To put the power crunch into perspective, the utility's power bill for the entire year of 1999 was $90 million.

"We're spending that every month now," said Paula Green, deputy superintendent.

The region's drought means less water in the city's hydropower system, which forces City Light into a power market dominated by frantic demand after years of population growth without increased generating capacity.

Most of the money is flowing to out-of-state utilities and power brokers.

The city's March bill from Houston-based Enron was $25.5 million, more than triple the $7.4 million bill from its second-biggest source, California's Sempra Energy.

But the highest rates were charged by local utilities, which City Light turns to when it needs power delivered immediately.

City Light still gets most of the 1,200 megawatts it needs from city-owned dams and the federal Bonneville Power Administration, which markets power from the Columbia-Snake river dams.

But the 15 percent it buys on the open market now accounts for more than 90 percent of costs.

Part of the reason for the March tab was the utility's recent decision to store extra water behind Ross Dam on the Skagit River.

In a normal water year, City Light officials would be using the water to generate power, expecting it to be replenished by spring runoff. This year, they're saving water to help salmon later and to generate power this summer, when energy prices are expected to top $400 per megawatt hour.

"By putting out one eye now, we're avoiding cutting off our head later," said Bob Royer, City Light spokesman.

City Light has increased its rates 28 percent so far this year. More increases are likely -- here and elsewhere.

Citing a Seattle Times' report Friday that found Washington state is paying the highest next-day wholesale power rates in the nation, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., again called on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for price caps.

-- Anonymous, April 17, 2001


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