On March 11, 1997, a public meeting was held to kickoff the Federal Power Marketing Subscription development process. The following topics were discussed at this meeting: the role of the Regional Review Transition Board in the Subscription process; the Draft Work Plan that was developed to guide the development process; the issues that relate to the subscription process that need to be addressed; and finally the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) strategy for this effort. The Work Plan identified a "self-selected" workgroup to lead this effort (anyone eligible to participate). The workgroup was intially scheduled to meet twice a month through at least December 1997 (see 1997 Schedule and 1998 Schedule).

On March 18, 1997, the "Federal Power Marketing Subscription" web site was established at BPA to help disseminate information about the Subscription Process. The initial postings to this site included a March 18 letter from Sydney D. Berwager (BPA) and Richard Adams(PNUCC) (PDF, 1 page, 111 kb), the Public Involvement/Communication Plan, the official notes from the March 11 meeting, and other materials provided at the March 11 meeting.

On March 19, 1997, the Federal Power Subscription Work Group held its first meeting in Portland, OR. The Work Group held a total of 33 meetings (approximately 2 per month), ending on September 22, 1998. Click here for Summaries of Work Group meetings.

On September 9, 1997, a Progress Report was presented to the Transition Board.

On November 25, 1997, an update meeting for stakeholders was held to discuss progress to date and next steps. A summary of the meeting, along with the meeting handout/slide presentation (PDF, 42 pages, 231 kb) and concerns/issues raised, were posted to this web site on December 8, 1997.

An article entitled "Subscription process underway" was published in the January 1998 issue of the BPA Journal (PDF, 7 pages, 172 kb).

On April 30, 1998, BPA's Power Business Line established a web site to disseminate information about the Slice of the System Proposal from a group of NW public utilities that own and operate generating resources.

In June, 1998, BPA published Issues '98 Fact Sheet #3: Power Markets, Revenues, and Subscription (PDF, 7 pages, 248 kb).

On June 8, 1998, BPA's Power Business Line established a web site to disseminate information regarding the WP-02 Rate Case.

On June 18, 1998, the third public meeting was held in Spokane to present, discuss and collect comments on the various components related to Subscription (see agenda and handout PDF, 8 pages, 60 kb). The meeting slide presentation (PDF, 18 pages, 94 kb) was posted to this web site on June 30th. A summary of the meeting was posted on July 6, 1998.

On September 18, 1998, BPA released it's "Power Subscription Strategy Proposal" (PDF, 27 pages, 94 kb) for public comment. Accompanying the proposal was a press release entitled "Spreading federal power benefits" (PDF, 2 pages, 120 kb) and a Keeping Current publication entitled "Getting Power to the People of the Northwest, BPA's Power Subscription Proposal for the 21st Century" (PDF, 8 pages, 475 kb). On September 25th, an electronic version of the BPA Power Product Catalog (PDF, 32 pages, 529 kb) - - referenced in Keeping Current - - was posted to this web site. [See BPA's Power Products Catalog web page for the latest version of the Catalog.]

On September 22, 1998, the Federal Power Subscription Work Group held its final meeting in Portland, OR. Click here for Summaries of Work Group meetings.

Subscription issues were discussed at the "Columbia River Power and Benefits" conference on September 29, 1998, in Portland, OR. The conference featured a speech by Judi Johansen and a speech by Rep. Al Swift. Conference notes (PDF, 14 pages, 102 kb) were posted to BPA's web site on October 22nd.

On September 30, 1998, BPA's Energy Efficiency organization established a web site to help disseminate information on the proposal for a Conservation and Renewables Discount.

On October 23, 1998, the public comment period closed for the "Power Subscription Strategy Proposal" (released on September 18).

On December 21, 1998 BPA unveiled its "Power Subscription Strategy" for selling wholesale electricity in the 21st century (along with other Subscription-related publications).

In a December 2, 1999 letter (PDF, 5 pages, 14 kb), BPA requested public comments on new issues raised after the release of the December 1998 Subscription Strategy. On April 26, 2000, BPA issued a Supplemental Record of Decision (ROD) (PDF, 39 pages, 100 kb) that addressed these issues and refined the Power Subscription Strategy.

In an April 16, 2004 letter (PDF, 7 pages, 54 kb), BPA requested public comments on proposed agreements with the region's investor-owned utilities that deal with the current and future benefits for their residential and small farm customers and an associated modification to the Power Subscription Strategy. On May 25, 2004, BPA issued a Record of Decision (ROD) (PDF, 31 pages, 153 kb) that responded to the comments received and further clarified/modified the Power Subscription Strategy.

On June 15, 2004, a one-page note (PDF, 15 kb) was added to the December 1998 Power Subscription Strategy document (PDF, 32 pages, 115 kb) to call attention to the subsequent RODs issued on April 26, 2000, and May 25, 2004 (see above).

Note:  All Subscription-related announcements posted on the PBL web site since September 1998 are available on the Subscription "Recent Announcements" and "Previous Announcements" pages.