Power Cooperative Looking For Supplier

Kootenai Electric Cooperative Inc. is looking for a supplier with as much as 10 megawatts of electricity to sell starting April 1, 1998.

The Bonneville Power Administration provides all of the Hayden-based utility’s power, but the 10 megawatts - representing 30 percent of the cooperative’s requirements - is covered by a separate contract that expires March 31.

That 18-month agreement saved Kootenai $1.4 million compared with Bonneville’s standard rates, said cooperative spokeswoman Catherine Parochetti.

But much of those savings was used to cover a $1 million fee that allowed Kootenai to terminate its exclusive supply agreement with Bonneville, she said.

Still, the cooperative instituted a rate cut Jan. 1 that trims about $10 from the monthly bills of residential customers.

Parochetti said the rollback assumed Kootenai would continue to find power on the open market cheaper than that it must purchase from Bonneville under long-term contracts that expire in 2001.

Parochetti said Kootenai could stay with Bonneville if the federal agency’s electricity is cheapest, or it could turn to the many other suppliers who have entered the market with the spread of deregulation. , DataTimes