16 U.S.C. § 837a — Limitation of sale, delivery, and exchange

Page 1507 TITLE 16—CONSERVATION § 837a Sec. 837c. Contract limitations and conditions for use of electric energy and peaking capacity of plants in other marketing areas for use within Pacific Northwest. 837d. Exchange contracts. 837e. Transmission lines for other electric energy; rates. 837f. Purchaser priority on Pacific Northwest power; amendment of existing contracts and new contracts to include priority provi- sions. 837g. Transmission lines between Pacific North- west and Pacific Southwest; prohibition against construction of lines or related fa- cilities; exceptions of lines and facilities recommended by Secretary or authorized by Congress; authority of Secretary to con- struct other transmission lines unaffected. 837g–1. Construction of additional facilities by Sec- retary of Energy for mutually beneficial power sales between Pacific Northwest and California; contribution of funds by non- Federal entities. 837h. Provisions not applicable to Canyon Ferry project or benefits and exchanges under Treaty between Canada and United States; preference of power users in Montana not modified. § 837. Definitions As used in this chapter— (a) ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of En- ergy. (b) ‘‘Pacific Northwest’’ means (1) the region consisting of the States of Oregon and Wash- ington, the State of Montana west of the Conti- nental Divide, and such portions of the States of Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming within the Colum- bia drainage basin and of the State of Idaho as the Secretary may determine to be within the marketing area of the Federal Columbia River power system, and (2) any contiguous areas, not in excess of seventy-five airline miles from said region, which are a part of the service area of a rural electric cooperative served by the Admin- istrator on December 5, 1980, which has a dis- tribution system from which it serves both with- in and without said region. (c) ‘‘Surplus energy’’ means electric energy generated at Federal hydroelectric plants in the Pacific Northwest which would otherwise be wasted because of the lack of a market therefor in the Pacific Northwest at any established rate. (d) ‘‘Surplus peaking capacity’’ means electric peaking capacity at Federal hydroelectric plants in the Pacific Northwest for which there is no demand in the Pacific Northwest at any es- tablished rate. (e) ‘‘Non-Federal utility’’ means any utility not owned or controlled by the United States, including any entity (1) which such a utility owns or controls, in whole or in part, or is con- trolled by, (2) which is controlled by those con- trolling such utility, or (3) of which such utility is a member. (f) ‘‘Energy requirements of any Pacific North- west customer’’ means the full requirements for electric energy of (1) any purchaser from the United States for direct consumption in the Pa- cific Northwest, and (2) any non-Federal utility in that region in excess of (i) the hydroelectric energy available for its own use from its gener- ating plants in the Pacific Northwest, and (ii) any additional energy available for use in the Pacific Northwest which, under a then existing contract, the utility (A) can obtain at no higher incremental cost than the rate charged by the United States, or (B) is required to accept. (g) Terms not defined herein shall, unless the context requires otherwise, have the meaning given them in the March 1949 Glossary of Impor- tant Power and Rate Terms prepared under the supervision of the Federal Power Commission. (Pub. L. 88–552, § 1, Aug. 31, 1964, 78 Stat. 756; Pub. L. 95–91, title III, § 302(a), Aug. 4, 1977, 91 Stat. 578; Pub. L. 96–501, § 8(e), Dec. 5, 1980, 94 Stat. 2729.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1980—Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 96–501 substituted ‘‘(2) any contiguous areas, not in excess of seventy-five air- line miles from said region, which are a part of the service area of a rural electric cooperative served by the Administrator on December 5, 1980, which has a dis- tribution system from which it serves both within and without said region’’ for ‘‘(2) any contiguous areas, not in excess of seventy-five airline miles from said region, which are a part of the service area of a distribution co- operative which has (i) no generating facilities, and (ii) a distribution system from which it serves both within and without said region’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1980 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 96–501 effective Dec. 5, 1980, see section 11 of Pub. L. 96–501, set out as an Effective Date note under section 839 of this title. TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS ‘‘Secretary of Energy’’ substituted for ‘‘Secretary of the Interior’’ in subsec. (a) pursuant to Pub. L. 95–91, § 302(a), which is classified to section 7152(a) of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. The Federal Power Commission was terminated, and its functions, personnel, property, funds, etc., were transferred to the Secretary of Energy (except for cer- tain functions which were transferred to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) by sections 7151(b), 7171(a), 7172(a), 7291, and 7293 of Title 42. § 837a. Limitation of sale, delivery, and exchange of electric energy and electric peaking ca- pacity for use outside Pacific Northwest to surplus energy and surplus peaking capacity; notice to customers; inspection of contract drafts Subject to the provisions of this chapter, the sale, delivery, and exchange of electric energy generated at, and peaking capacity of, Federal hydroelectric plants in the Pacific Northwest for use outside the Pacific Northwest shall be limited to surplus energy and surplus peaking capacity. At least 30 days prior to the execution of any contract for the sale, delivery, or ex- change of surplus energy or surplus peaking ca- pacity for use outside the Pacific Northwest, the Secretary shall give the then customers of the Bonneville Power Administration written notice that negotiations for such a contract are pend- ing, and thereafter, at any customer’s request, make available for its inspection current drafts of the proposed contract. (Pub. L. 88–552, § 2, Aug. 31, 1964, 78 Stat. 756.) Page 1508 TITLE 16—CONSERVATION § 837b Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS Functions of Secretary of the Interior with respect to Bonneville Power Administration transferred to Sec- retary of Energy by section 7152(a)(1)(D), (2) of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, with Bonneville Power Administration to be preserved as a distinct organiza- tional entity within Department of Energy and headed by an Administrator. § 837b. Contract terms and conditions for use of electric energy outside Pacific Northwest (a) Surplus energy; discontinuance of deliveries to maintain ability to meet requirements of Pacific Northwest customers; purchaser’s re- sponsibility for hardships; deliveries by non- Federal utility for use on contiguous dis- tribution system not deemed deliveries for use outside Pacific Northwest Any contract for the sale or exchange of sur- plus energy for use outside the Pacific North- west, or as replacement, directly or indirectly, within the Pacific Northwest for hydroelectric energy delivered for use outside that region by a non-Federal utility, shall provide that the Secretary, after giving the purchaser notice not in excess of sixty days, will not deliver electric energy under such contract whenever it can rea- sonably be foreseen that such delivery would im- pair his ability to meet, either at or after the time of such delivery, the energy requirements of any Pacific Northwest customer. The pur- chaser shall obligate himself not to take deliv- ery of or use any such energy to supply any load under such conditions that discontinuance of de- liveries from the Pacific Northwest in sixty days would cause undue hardship to the purchaser or in his territory, and, further, the purchaser shall acknowledge full responsibility if any such hard- ship occurs. Deliveries by a non-Federal utility from its generating plants in the Pacific North- west for use on its own distribution system in an area outside but contiguous to the Pacific Northwest (not including any extension of its outside service area by merger or acquisition after August 31, 1964) shall not be deemed deliv- eries by such utility for use outside the Pacific Northwest. (b) Conservable electric energy; provisional basis for delivery; return of energy to meet re- quirements of Pacific Northwest customers; time and extent of return of energy Electric energy generated at Federal hydro- electric plants in the Pacific Northwest which can be conserved, for which there is no imme- diate demand in the Pacific Northwest at any established rate, but for which the Secretary de- termines there may be a demand in meeting the future requirements of the Pacific Northwest, may be delivered for use outside that region only on a provisional basis under contracts pro- viding that if the Secretary determines at a sub- sequent time that, by virtue of prior deliveries under such contract, the Secretary is or will be unable to meet the energy requirements of any Pacific Northwest customer, the purchaser will return the full amount of energy delivered to him, or such portion or portions thereof as may be required, at such time or times as may be specified by the Secretary, except that the Sec- retary shall not require return during the pur- chaser’s daily peak periods. The Secretary shall require the return of the energy provisionally delivered hereunder, to such extent and at such times, as may be necessary to meet demands at any established rate for use within the Pacific Northwest. (c) Surplus peaking capacity; termination clause; advance or return of energy; time of return of energy; sale under subsection (a) condi- tions Any contract for the disposition of surplus peaking capacity shall provide that (1) the Sec- retary may terminate the contract upon notice not in excess of sixty months, and (2) the pur- chaser shall advance or return the energy nec- essary to supply the peaking capacity, except that the Secretary shall not require such ad- vance or return during the purchaser’s daily peak periods. The Secretary may contract for the sale of such energy to the purchaser, in lieu of its return, under the conditions prescribed in subsection (a) of this section. (d) Determination of energy requirements of Pa- cific Northwest non-Federal utility customer; exclusion of conservable energy; sale of sur- plus energy to the utility The Secretary, in making any determination of the energy requirements of any Pacific North- west customer which is a non-Federal utility having hydroelectric generating facilities, shall exclude any amounts of hydroelectric energy generated in the Pacific Northwest and disposed of outside the Pacific Northwest by the utility which, through reasonable measures, could have been conserved or otherwise kept available for the utility’s own needs in the Pacific Northwest. The Secretary may sell the utility as a replace- ment therefor only what would otherwise be sur- plus energy. (Pub. L. 88–552, § 3, Aug. 31, 1964, 78 Stat. 756.) § 837c. Contract limitations and conditions for use of electric energy and peaking capacity of plants in other marketing areas for use within Pacific Northwest Any contract of the Secretary for the sale or exchange of electric energy generated at, or peaking capacity of, Federal hydroelectric plants in marketing areas outside the Pacific Northwest for use within the Pacific Northwest shall be subject to limitations and conditions corresponding to those provided in sections 837a and 837b of this title for any contract for the sale or exchange of hydroelectric energy or peaking capacity generated within the Pacific Northwest for use outside the Pacific Northwest. (Pub. L. 88–552, § 4, Aug. 31, 1964, 78 Stat. 757.) § 837d. Exchange contracts Without regard to the limitations specified in sections 837a and 837b of this title, the Secretary may enter into contracts for the exchange with areas other than the Pacific Northwest of (1) surplus energy during the Pacific Northwest storage refill period, (2) any hydroelectric en- ergy during the Pacific Northwest storage refill period which will be returned to the Pacific