Is selling Avista wise?

The Great Blackout of 2003 began in Ohio, but it was the catastrophic failure of the Ontario power grid that literally pulled the plug and plunged millions of Americans and Canadians into the dark. Without notice and without apparent discussion Avista is now owned by a foreign entity with a recent history of a very large power failure that almost included multiple nuclear power plant emergencies

In business school we were taught that monopolies were looked upon as close to being evil, although in several areas they are considered to be necessary evils, i.e., power distribution. Just try to imagine multiple gas pipe lines, electric transmission lines, competing power pole lines, etc. So, power producing and distributing companies generally have special dispensation and protection to act as monopolies. Usually they operate under the various state and federal public utility commissions.

In general, most people would rather lose their first born than try to figure out the workings of the PUCs. Most folks’ total knowledge consists of the occasional short newspaper article tucked away in the back about the Idaho PUC approved an Avista request for an increase in electrical rates of .003 percent per therm, etc., etc.

If our governing bodies granted monopolistic privileges to certain companies and oversee them with public commissions, then how is it that the ownership can be transferred to a company in another nation?

Avista leadership states rates will not change and business will be as usual. Boy, do I hate to break the bad news. When you sell something, you no longer own it. When you no longer own it, you no longer have any say in its operations.

If it became necessary to take court action against Avista/Hydro 1 it will involve international laws, and could add a level of complexity undreamed of at this time. Do you really think a large power company on the opposite end of the continent will have our best interest at heart? If they screw the pooch again like they did in 2003 how much will our rates go up? If it comes to allotting resources by a Canadian company for its millions of customers back east and resources for its less than 400,000 in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho, where do you think those resources will be committed?

Last, but not least, if a Canadian company were to buy Taco Bell, you can bet the outcry would be loud and clear and all the ramifications would be considered much more in depth.

The items below came from a Star.com article on the internet. It is just a few highlights of the 2003 event and is typical of the reports of the great blackout.

"Fifty million people lost power across Ontario and eight U.S. states.

"A Canada-U.S. task force probing the blackout estimated Ontario workers lost 18.9 million hours of employment, while manufacturing shipments dropped $2.3 billion.

By 4:13 p.m., Ontario and most of the lower Great Lakes states were without power.

"The blackout was more than an inconvenience. It underscored some gaping holes in Ontario’s grid operations. The power system needs power to operate — and emergency back-up supplies turned out to be inadequate.

"At a Toronto area Hydro One control centre, a backup diesel generator failed to kick in, leaving staff in the dark initially as they tried to assess the problems and resurrect the transmission system. At the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission in Ottawa, the agency’s emergency operations centre couldn’t function because the building where it’s located had no power, and no back-up supply.

"At Ontario Power Generation’s Pickering B nuclear station, another problem surfaced. With the electrical grid down, there wasn’t enough auxiliary power to maintain the pumps in the emergency cooling system. The pumps were out for five and a half hours.

"Even where auxiliary power was not an issue, the nuclear plants were in trouble, because with the electricity grid in a state of collapse, there was no place for them to send their power.

"The obvious answer is to power them down – but that’s not something that nuclear reactors like to do.

"Bruce Power’s plants fared the best. Three of the four were able to throttle back their output without a complete shutdown, then reconnect to the grid within five hours. The fourth needed repairs, which took nine days.

"But many of the reactors operated by Ontario Power Generation had to shut down completely. That’s a serious process, and it takes days to get them back up to speed."

Why do we want to be owned by Hyrdo 1 in a land far away, saddled with nuclear power plants, millions of customers, a list of failures in a major emergency that should make us sit up and take serious notice? Who said they could sell Avista, a monopoly given by us to local company to provide us power at low cost without costly, confusing, unsightly, distribution networks? Why on earth do we want to be the poor relatives of a power company in another country that has a record that is shaky at best?

During the Cold War, we and the Soviets boycotted the Olympics, causing financial problems for the host cities and nations. Many countries have imposed sanctions on other countries. Do really want our basic, life sustaining, economic engine, our primary power source to be under the control of a foreign nation? Canada will not allow extradition of any accused criminal facing the death penalty. Canada has its share of idiots as do we. It could get its parliament to interfere with our power in some future disagreement over some foolish issue or even serious issues. Balance of trade in areas such as wheat, oil, trucks, and, cattle could be the catalyst that sets off a sanction.

Some things do not belong in the control of other nations. Control of our power belongs here and nowhere else.

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Bob Hunt is a resident of Post Falls.