Second Presentation

My paper will be about the Washington Public Power Supply System. Richard White mentions it in the latter stages of The Organic Machine. The WPPSS was part of a plan by the Bonneville Power Administration to construct 5 nuclear power plants in the Pacific Northwest. The project was believed to be necessary in the late 1960's because of the expected increase in demand and the fact that the Columbia had been used to its maximum potential. As the 70's passed however, it became clear that the power demands predicted would not come to pass but the project continued anyway. Costs spiralled out of control and the project defaulted on 2.2 billion dollars worth of bonds in 1983.



The lawsuits to settle the disputes between the investors and the WPPSS as well as the State of Washington lasted throughout the 80's and were only settled in 1995. The failure of the WPPSS which began with a voter referendum in 1981 that prohibited the WPPSS from seeking more bonds in the name of the people of the State of Washington. The story of the WPPSS is a good example of the conflict that can arise from public utilities operating in a market based industry. The public mission of the the BPA and the WPPSS required that it Continually develop both the capacity and use of electric power in the Pacific Northwest. The BPA's hydroelectric dams were funded by the Federal Government and thus the cost per kilowatt for electricty in the Northwest was the lowest in the country. As rates rose to fund the new WPPSS plants, demand dropped dramatically almost completely eliminating the need for the new capacity the WPPSS sought to build.

The early 1980's were the beginnings of the Deregulation movement and the WPPSS was an easy target for pundits and politicians as an example of big government intervening in an industry that it should have never taken part in.