PR 45 03 BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: THURSDAY, Aug. 28, 2003 Contact: Ed Mosey | Mike Hansen | , BPA (503)-230-5131     BPA rate increase scheduled for fall shrinks to 2.2 percent Substantial rate reduction possible if utilities settle lawsuit PORTLAND, Ore. - The Bonneville Power Administration today announced a 2.2 percent wholesale rate increase, in effect for one year beginning Oct. 1. However, a rate reduction of 6.4 percent remains possible if the region’s utilities settle legal differences by mid-September, BPA officials said. “This wholesale rate increase is less than the 5 percent increase we projected two months ago,” BPA Administrator Steve Wright noted. “Additional cost reductions and bond refinancings have helped reduce the adjustment further.” Future rate levels depend on highly uncertain market variables, including availability of hydropower in the Columbia River Basin and market prices for energy. If average conditions prevail, rates could average about 3.5 percent higher than 2003 rates through the remainder of the rate period ending Sept. 30, 2006. This could change, however, with settlement of a lawsuit over how federal hydropower benefits are currently divided between public agency utilities and investor-owned utilities. Settlement would eliminate the need for a rate increase and reduce rates 6.4 percent in 2004. Negotiations among the utilities and BPA continue. BPA sells wholesale power at cost to 135 retail utilities and several industries in the Pacific Northwest. Each one has unique operating costs and rates, so the effect of the wholesale increase will vary by utility. Submitted for distribution on 08-28-2003 at 4:26 PM

Bonneville Power Administration, 905 N.E. 11th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97232 Mailing Address: Media Relations - DM7, P.O. Box 3621, Portland, OR 97208-3621 Phone: (503)230-5131 FAX: (503) 230-5884 Web Site: http://www.bpa.gov