BPA's 2002-2006 power rate schedule and General Rate Schedule Provisions (GRSPs) took effect on October 1, 2001. During this five-year rate period BPA will periodically examine forecast and actual loads, market prices, and expenses. One of the major risk management mechanisms defined in the general rate schedule provisions (GRSPs) that BPA adopted for the 2002-2006 power rates are Cost Recovery Adjustment Clauses (CRACs). These mechanisms are designed to assure that BPA is maintaining full cost recovery.

The three CRACs are the: 1) Load-Based (LB) CRAC, which is designed to capture the costs of purchasing sufficient power to serve the loads that are placed on BPA; 2) Financial-Based (FB) CRAC, which triggers if PBL's forecast accumulated net revenues fall below a preset threshold; and 3) Safety Net (SN) CRAC, which triggers if BPA has missed a payment to Treasury or other creditor, or if BPA forecasts a 50 percent probability that it will miss such a payment during the current fiscal year.

If BPA determines that it has collected excess revenues, determined by year-end accumulated net revenues reaching a pre-set threshold, it will refund those amounts via the Dividend Distribution Clause (DDC). This rate provision can only be triggered in FYs 2003-2006.