BPA to adopt three-year rate period for FY 2026-2028

The Bonneville Power Administration will adopt a three-year rate period to establish wholesale power and transmission rates for fiscal years 2026-2028. Rates will be established in the BP-26 Rate Case proceeding expected to begin in late 2024.

This decision accommodates the Sept. 30, 2028, expiration of BPA’s long-term power sale Regional Dialogue contracts. Choosing a three-year rate period for FY 2026-2028 allows BPA and its customers to allocate resources for other high priority initiatives in the region such as Provider of Choice and Evolving Grid, instead of running two resource-intensive rate case processes in a three-year period.

While transmission rates do not need to be set at the same time as power rates, BPA recognizes the benefits of setting rates concurrently to reduce process costs and more efficiently use BPA and stakeholder staff resources. This alignment also helps with the development of forecast costs during BPA’s Integrated Program Review process for the rate period.

BPA’s decision was shared externally in a letter to the region on Dec. 5, 2023, signed by Kim Thompson, vice president of Power Services Northwest Requirements Marketing, and Michelle Manary, vice president of Transmission Services Marketing and Sales.

For more information, see BPA’s letter to the region.