Federal Electric Power: Bonneville's Residential Exchange Program.

The Bonneville Power Administration, one of five Department of Energy DOE power-marketing administrations, wholesales nearly half of the electric power used in the Pacific Northwest. Since 1981, Bonneville has also participated in a power exchange with certain Northwest utilities, as authorized by the Northwest Power Act. The purpose of this exchange is to reduce the disparity in electric rates paid by residential and small farm customers of the regions utilities by having Bonneville exchange its relatively low-cost power with Northwest utilities that have higher-cost power. As requested by the Chairman, Subcommittee on Water, Power, and Off-shore Energy Resources, House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, GAO assessed the significance of the residential exchange program and Bonnevilles efforts to ensure that program benefits are being received by the utilities residential and small farm customers.