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November 12, 2009

Grant PUD Conducts Fifth Successful Power Auction

EPHRATA, WA – Grant PUD’s fifth annual power auction concluded on November 5, yielding a total of $64,017,499.00.

This year’s auction offered two blocks of renewable hydropower from the Priest Rapids Project on the Columbia River for bid.  Powerex Corporation submitted the highest offer for the 12.43 percent slice, at $43,684,755. PacifiCorp received the six percent block for a bid of $20,332,744. 

The winners of the auction will receive allocation from the Priest Rapids Project from January through December of 2010. The actual amount of power the two companies will receive during the 12-month contract will depend primarily on Columbia River flows and seasonal constraints for natural resources.

Powerex Corporation is a second time winner of Grant PUD’s power auction.  A wholly-owned subsidiary of BC Hydro, Powerex won an 8.86 percent slice of the Priest Rapids Development output in 2007.

PacifiCorp is an existing, long-term Priest Rapids Project power purchaser.  This successful bid makes them the first utility to win an auction slice in the Grant PUD’s auction history.

“Grant PUD is pleased to have the opportunity to work with two companies so well known to the utility,” said Grant PUD General Manager, Tim Culbertson.

This is the fifth year for the Grant PUD power auction, the first of its kind in the nation. It is also the only block of power offered at auction by the utility.

The auction was developed in response to a 1998 order from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that required Grant PUD to sell a reasonable portion of its firm and non-firm power generation according to market-based principles.

“Powerex is pleased to be a winner of the 2010 Power Auction, and looks forward to a continued strong relationship with Grant PUD as both organizations work to optimize such a valuable hydroelectric resource and build upon the provision of reliable, physical energy and capacity products in the Pacific Northwest,” said a Powerex trading representative.

“We are pleased to have been awarded this one-year contract. This contract adds competitively priced, flexible resources to our energy portfolio and will benefit our customers throughout the Northwest,” said Stefan Bird, senior vice president, commercial and trading for PacifiCorp. “We continuously look for the best values in available energy resources and actively manage our power costs to continue to provide our customers with some of the lowest-cost electrical service in the region and the nation.” 

Grant PUD owns and operates Priest Rapids and Wanapum dams on the Columbia River in Washington state. The two hydroelectric facilities, licensed together as the Priest Rapids Project, make up one of the nation’s largest non-federal hydropower projects with the capacity to produce nearly 2,000 megawatts of clean, renewable electricity.

About Powerex
Powerex, the wholly-owned power marketing subsidiary of the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (BC Hydro), is a leading marketer of wholesale energy products and services in western Canada and the western United States, and a growing niche player in other markets across North America. Powerex has access to BC Hydro’s 11,000 MW of generating capacity, the Canadian Entitlement portion of the Columbia River Treaty (over 1,100 MW of capacity) and its own portfolio of supply contracts from suppliers throughout the Western United States and Canada. This supply portfolio, combined with Powerex’s extensive portfolio of transmission contracts and transactional capability allows Powerex to be one of the most active participants in the WECC region, with annual electricity purchases and sales in excess of 30,000 GWh, and daily gas trading volumes of greater than 210,000 MMBtu/day. This allows Powerex to provide its customers with the energy and capacity products and services they need, when and where they are needed. From energy and capacity sales to natural gas trading and renewable energy products and services, Powerex has come to be known as a power marketing and trading company with reliable supply, business flexibility and customer commitment. Supply. Flexibility. Commitment. We stake our reputation on it. For more information on Powerex, please visit our website at www.powerex.com.

About PacifiCorp
PacifiCorp is one of the lowest-cost electricity producers in the United States, providing more than 1.7 million customers in the West with reliable, efficient energy. PacifiCorp operates as Pacific Power in Oregon, Washington and California, and as Rocky Mountain Power in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho. The company has a total generating capability of more than 10,400 megawatts from thermal resources, hydro, wind and geothermal power. PacifiCorp works to meet growing energy demand while protecting and enhancing the environment and was recently recognized as the second largest utility owner of wind power capacity in the nation.

About Grant County PUD
Grant County Public Utility District is a Washington state municipal corporation that began electric service in 1942.  Owned by the people it serves, Grant PUD generates and sells electricity to Grant County residents and millions of customers throughout Central Washington and the Pacific Northwest.  The Priest Rapids Project, comprised of Priest Rapids and Wanapum Dams, produces nearly 2,000 megawatts of clean, renewable and reliable electricity – enough to supply a city the size of Seattle.  A leader in science based technology; Grant PUD is committed to finding effective measures for the protection, mitigation and enhancement of salmon, steelhead and other natural and cultural resources.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Sarah Morford
(509) 754-6633 / smorfor@gcpud.org