Northwest Power Planning Council

The Pacific Northwest Electric Power and Conservation Planning Council, a four-state body mandated by law, oversees regional energy and fish and wildlife policies. The eight-member Council, which is appointed by the governors of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington, has a central staff of about 40. In response to congressional concerns about a controversial severance package offered to the Council's former executive director, this report addresses the following questions: Are the Council's program activities consistent with congressional direction? Is the Council following sound business practices and exercising adequate oversight of its business operations?

GAO found that: (1) the Council's energy planning and wildlife efforts are consistent with the goals of the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act; (2) the Council has prepared four long-range regional conservation and electric power plans to meet its conservation and electricity needs; (3) the Council has distributed various other publications on electricity, fish and wildlife, and related topics for public comment; (4) it is difficult to make long-range plans for the Northwest region's electricity market due to significantly lower electricity costs, and increasing deregulation and competition within the market; (5) the governors of four Northwest states have convened a comprehensive review of the Northwest energy system to determine how changing conditions within the electricity industry are affecting the Council's role in fish and wildlife conservation; (6) the Council has proposed improving the evaluation of its fish and wildlife mitigation efforts by requiring unproven mitigation measures to have a monitoring and evaluation component, making more frequent and formal reviews of its conservation and electric power plan, and tying funding for program measures to participation in monitoring and evaluation efforts; (7) oversight of the Council's business operations have shifted to the Council chairman and executive director and as a result Council members receive limited information concerning the Council's operating policies and procedures; and (8) the Council could improve its credibility by making its policies and decisions a matter of public record.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Team: Phone: