Public Law 75–720

The electric energy generated in the operation of the said Bonneville project shall be disposed of by the said administrator

Administrator; appointment, salary, office.

as hereinafter provided. The administrator shall be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior; shall be responsible to said Secretary of the Interior; shall receive a salary at the rate of $10,000 per year; and shall maintain his principal office at a place selected by

Sale, etc., of surplus energy.

him in the vicinity of the Bonneville project. The administrator shall, as hereinafter provided, make all arrangements for the sale and disposition of electric energy generated at Bonneville project not required for the operation of the dam and locks at such project and the navigation facilities employed in connection therewith.

Consultation with an advisory board.

He shall act in consultation with an advisory board composed of a representative designated by the Secretary of War, a representative designated by the Secretary of the Interior, a representative designated by the Federal Power Commission, and a representative

Form of administration provisional.

designated by the Secretary of Agriculture. The form of administration herein established for the Bonneville project is intended to be provisional pending the establishment of a permanent administration for Bonneville and other projects in the Columbia River Basin.

Additional facilities authorized.

The Secretary of War shall install and maintain additional machinery, equipment, and facilities for the generation of electric energy at the Bonneville project when in the judgment of the administrator such additional generating facilities are desirable to meet actual or potential market requirements for such electric energy. The Secretary of War shall schedule the operations of the several electrical generating units and appurtenant equipment of the Bonneville project in accordance with the requirements of the administrator.

Station space and equipment.

The Secretary of War shall provide and maintain for the use of the administrator at said Bonneville project adequate station space and equipment, including such switches, switchboards, instruments, and dispatching facilities as may be required by the administrator for proper reception, handling, and dispatching of the electric energy produced at the said project, together with transformers and other equipment required by the administrator for the transmission of such energy from that place at suitable voltage to the markets which the administrator desires to serve.

In order to encourage the widest possible use of all electric energy that can be generated and marketed and to provide reasonable outlets therefor, and to prevent the monopolization thereof by limited groups, the administrator is authorized and directed to provide, construct, operate, maintain, and improve such electric transmission lines and substations, and facilities and structures appurtenant thereto, as he finds necessary, desirable, or appropriate for the purpose of transmitting electric energy, available for sale, from the Bonneville project to existing and potential markets, and, for the purpose of interchange of electric energy, to interconnect the Bonneville project with other Federal projects and publicly owned power systems now or hereafter constructed.

The administrator is authorized, in the name of the United States, to acquire, by purchase, lease, condemnation, or donation, such real and personal property, or any interest therein, including lands, easements, rights-of-way, franchises, electric transmission lines, sub-stations, and facilities and structures appurtenant thereto, as the administrator finds necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this Act. Title to all property and property rights acquired

Title.

by the administrator shall be taken in the name of the United States.

The administrator shall have power to acquire any property or

Eminent domain.

property rights, including patent rights, which in his opinion are necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act, by the exercise of the right of eminent domain and to institute condemnation proceedings therefor in the same manner as is provided by law for the condemnation of real estate.

The administrator is authorized, in the name of the United

Disposal of personal property.

States, to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of such personal property as in his judgment is not required for the purposes of this Act and such real property and interests in land acquired in connection with

Real property, etc.

construction or operation of electric transmission lines or substations as in his judgment are not required for the purposes of this Act: Provided, however, That before the sale, lease, or disposition of real

Proviso.

Approval.

property or transmission lines, as herein provided, the administrator shall secure the approval of the President of the United States.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, the administrator is

Contracts, etc., authorized.

authorized, in the name of the United States, to negotiate and enter into such contracts, agreements, and arrangements as he shall find necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this Act.

In order to insure that the facilities for the generation

Disposal of power; preferences, etc.

of electric energy at the Bonneville project shall be operated for the benefit of the general public, and particularly of domestic and rural consumers, the administrator shall at all times, in disposing of electric energy generated at said project, give preference and priority to public bodies and cooperatives.

To preserve and protect the preferential rights and priorities

Sale to public bodies and cooperatives; amount available.

of public bodies and cooperatives as provided in section (a) and to effectuate the intent and purpose of this Act that at all times up to January 1, 1941, there shall be available for sale to public bodies and cooperatives not less than 50 per centum of the electric energy produced at the Bonneville project, it shall be the duty of the administrator in making contracts for the sale of such energy to so arrange such contracts as to make such 50 per centum of such energy available to said public bodies and cooperatives until January 1, 1941: Provided, That the electric energy so reserved for but not actually

Provisos.

Disposal of unused reserve.

purchased by and delivered to such public bodies and cooperatives prior to January 1, 1941, may be disposed of temporarily so long as such temporary disposition will not interfere with the purchase by and delivery to such public bodies and cooperatives at any time prior to January 1, 1941: Provided further, That nothing herein

Preferential rights after January 1, 1941.

contained shall be construed to limit or impair the preferential and priority rights of such public bodies or cooperatives after January 1, 1941; and in the event that after such date there shall be conflicting or competing applications for an allocation of electric energy between any public body or cooperative on the one hand and a private agency of any character on the other, the application of such public body or cooperative shall be granted.

An application by any public body or cooperative for an allocation of electric energy shall not be denied, or another application

Private corporations.

competing or in conflict therewith be granted, to any private corporation, company, agency, or person, on the ground that any proposed bond or other security issue of any such public body or cooperative, the sale of which is necessary to enable such prospective purchaser to enter into the public business of selling and distributing the electric energy proposed to be purchased, has not been authorized or marketed, until after a reasonable time, to be determined by the administrator, has been afforded such public body or cooperative to have such bond or other security issue authorized or marketed.

It is declared to be the policy of the Congress, as expressed in this Act, to preserve the said preferential status of the public

Opportunity to perfect organization, financing, etc.

bodies and cooperatives herein referred to, and to give to the people of the States within economic transmission distance of the Bonneville project reasonable opportunity and time to hold any election or elections or take any action necessary to create such public bodies and cooperatives as the laws of such States authorize and permit, and to afford such public bodies or cooperatives reasonable time and opportunity to take any action necessary to authorize the issuance of bonds or to arrange other financing necessary to construct or acquire necessary and desirable electric distribution facilities, and in all other respects legally to become qualified purchasers and distributors of electric energy available under this Act.

Subject to the provisions of this Act and to such rate schedules as the Federal Power Commission may approve, as hereinafter provided, the administrator shall negotiate and enter into contracts for the sale at wholesale of electric energy, either for resale or direct consumption, to public bodies and cooperatives and to private

Resale to privately owned public utility, restriction.

agencies and persons. Contracts for the sale of electric energy to any private person or agency other than a privately owned public utility engaged in selling electric energy to the general public, shall contain a provision forbidding such private purchaser to resell any of such electric energy so purchased to any private utility or agency engaged in the sale of electric energy to the general public, and requiring the immediate canceling of such contract of sale in the

Terms, etc.

event of violation of such provision. Contracts entered into under this subsection shall be binding in accordance with the terms thereof

Renewals.

and shall be effective for such period or periods, including renewals or extensions, as may be provided therein, not exceeding in the aggregate twenty years from the respective dates of the making of such

Adjustment of rates.

contracts. Contracts entered into under this subsection shall contain (1) such provisions as the administrator and purchaser agree upon for the equitable adjustment of rates at appropriate intervals, not less frequently than once in every five years, and (2) in the case of a contract with any purchaser engaged in the business of selling electric

Cancelation provision.

energy to the general public, the contract shall provide that the administrator may cancel such contract upon five years’ notice in writing if in the judgment of the administrator any part of the electric energy purchased under such contract is likely to be needed to satisfy the requirements of the said public bodies or cooperatives referred to in this Act, and that such cancelation may be with respect to all or any part of the electric energy so purchased under said contract to the end that the preferential rights and priorities accorded public bodies and cooperatives under this Act shall at all times be

Terms and conditions of contracts.

preserved. Contracts entered into with any utility engaged in the sale of electric energy to the general public shall contain such terms and conditions, including among other things stipulations concerning resale and resale rates by any such utility, as the administrator may deem necessary, desirable or appropriate to effectuate the purposes of this Act and to insure that resale by such utility to the ultimate consumer shall be at rates which are reasonable and nondiscriminatory. Such contract shall also require such utility to keep

Records required.

on file in the office of the administrator a schedule of all its rates and charges to the public for electric energy and such alterations and changes therein as may be put into effect by such utility.

The administrator is authorized to enter into contracts with

Contracts for mutual exchange of excess power; terms, etc.

public or private power systems for the mutual exchange of unused excess power upon suitable exchange terms for the purpose of economical operation or of providing emergency or break-down relief.

The administrator, subject to the requirements of the Federal Water Power Act, shall keep complete and accurate accounts of operations, including all funds expended and received in connection with transmission and sale of electric energy generated at the Bonneville project.

The administrator may make such expenditures for offices, vehicles, furnishings, equipment, supplies, and books; for attendance at meetings; and for such other facilities and services as he may find necessary for the proper administration of this Act.

In December of each year, the administrator shall file with the Congress, through the Secretary of the Interior, a financial statement and a complete report as to the transmission and sale of electric energy generated at the Bonneville project during the preceding governmental fiscal year.