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<br />4. ~ '.- <br />. ~ . <br /> <br />002282 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />c.ommercial n~' ,,'ill amount to 51 bi].. <br />lion between 1980 and 1997 .Iont, ny' <br />auoroey Graff. But aD auction is unlik~ <br />ly to oa::ur beaus!! Hoover', power iI <br />.imply far too valuable to lu present <br />COOS\lmel"&. SaY' l.nur Ormsby, admin- <br />istrator of the A.ri:..ona pO"'itr Authority: <br />"Dependenet' 00 this tntrg)' has beeD <br />esublished over the yeat'6. To u'kr it <br />away from ont' tustomer and give it to <br />another-that would be . ",,'\li deal" <br />Since it ..;as compleu-d in 193'7. the <br />dam has pnwldf'<l the el('CUicity for <br />much of tile Southwest'.. grc""1.h. And <br />Hoover customen., whose &O-yur COD- <br />tra.cts ron out in 1981. art v.-illing to <br />fight for mort' of the cheap r;upplies. <br />Open warlan llCtually broke out when <br />the Ener&)' DepL iuggested in 1979 tMl <br />Hoover power be allocated iD the future <br />as it alway' had been--tWo-Ulirds to Cal- <br />ifornia and the rest tD the other st.a~. <br />The battle ended up in federal district <br />court in Las Veps in 19tC.. I'e.ada. and <br />Arizona 6ued 'Yo'APA and "cH'ral other <br />agencies. tach df'manding one third of <br />Hoover'. capacity. SlTIct' then: tempers. <br />have cooled An out~f<:ourt de.al was <br />5tnld; last May fono....ing "monW of <br />no-nonsense negotiation." s.aid SenalDr <br />Chic Hecht (RNev.) 5hort.ly &fLer the <br />pact WM made. Six months prior, he <br />added. '1 would not have bt>lieoved that <br />.thl' IiLale$ of Nevada, A.riz.ona., and Ca& <br />fomia could .~ on whAt direction ll1e <br />IUD sets over Hoover Dam." <br />m~ The a~ment gives Cali- <br />fornia its original allQC3,tion of electrie- <br />ity, with other customel"f, getting just <br />over half of the 728 M w (If extra pewer <br />lha.t will resuh from a $105 million mod- <br />uni:.ation prognm due to ~ rompleted <br />in 1987. Now, the agreemt'Dt has become <br />part of a bill before Congress that will <br />rewrite the original 1937 power ron- <br />1;r'aC'l&. The bill, .'hich is being pushed by <br />the six senato~ from Califomi1. :f',;eva. <br />dB.. and ArUona, is llkely to pa..<;s shortly. <br />There is a.n unlihly hitrh, ho....e\.er. The <br />power settlement hini;:es on ti1f' legisla. <br />tion being passt'd U:Ktly as it is now <br />.....Titt.en. 1f tht' measure is changed, the <br />out~f<ourt deal could faU apart., setting <br />d a hydroelectric frft"for-aU. <br />Under t.errM of the agreement., the <br />alIerage base pritt of F100ver po....er .-ilI <br />remain at O.Sc per )cv,'h, although roW"- <br />charges le\Wd to pay for se,;enl .....atn" <br />projecU ..m raise the avera}!"t' for some <br />custcmel"f, to close to C.Se. Still, Hnova , <br /> <br />"""'" <br /> <br />foo....er .....i.. an \Jndrniablf' barr-a'1n. <br />Tilt' Los. A~Jr!- Watt'r l po....er Df'pL <br />'" hich UI~CU. to o1>:.a;n 81. of its nf'('~ <br />from Hoover this year at . C'Ost of 0.21 <br />per k....h. estim.at.eS that it ....ould cost 1-40 <br />million to replaCf' that po...er \...i\.h elf"C- <br />tricit)' gt'nerat.e-d from oil, natural gas, <br />or other fuels. <br />Small public po....'er agencies in ~lj.. <br />fomia that have never received Hoover <br />power ....111 rooon be IS fortunate IS their <br />Los Angeles count.erpart. Accordmg to <br />th~ recent settlement., they will be ablt' <br />w dIvide up lZ7 Mv. of the additional <br />po""er resulting from the Hoover reno- <br />nlion. All told. says the Environmental <br />Defense Fund's Graff, Con~ss ir. prt'- <br />panng to go along ....ith ". bureaucratic <br /> <br />--.' -.---,. <br /> <br />From 1980 10 1997, <br />the gap between public <br />ratcs and commerdal <br />ratcs "iIllotal $7 billion <br /> <br />EI'4~R:>Y <br />