Bpa

BACKGROUND

BPA is a “self-financing power marketing agency,” which markets wholesale electricity from federal hydroelectric plants and several other power plants in the Pacific North- west. Aluminum Co. of Am. v. Bonneville Power Admin., 903 F.2d 585, 588 (9th Cir. 1990). “It owns and operates approxi- mately eighty percent of the Pacific Northwest’s high-voltage transmission system and markets approximately forty percent of the electric power consumed in the Pacific Northwest.” Indus. Customers of N.W. Utils. v. Bonneville Power Admin., 408 F.3d 638, 641 (9th Cir. 2005). “BPA’s customers include PUBLIC POWER COUNCIL v. BPA 3789 federal agencies, public bodies (including public utilities), pri- vate utilities,” and Direct Service Industrial customers. Kaiser Aluminum & Chem. Corp. v. Bonneville Power Admin., 261 F.3d 843, 845 (9th Cir. 2001).

Essentially, BPA is governed by four organic statutes: “the Bonneville Project Act of 1937, 16 U.S.C. §§ 832-832m (‘Project Act’); the Pacific Northwest Consumer Power Pref- erence Act of 1964, 16 U.S.C. §§ 837-837h (‘Preference Act’); the Pacific Northwest Federal Transmission System Act of 1974, 16 U.S.C. §§ 838-838l…