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NOTICE: NOTICES

DOCUMENT ACTION: Notice of Proposed 2015 Resource Pool Size and Revised Eligibility Criteria.

SUBJECT CATEGORY: 2015 Resource Pool

DATES: Entities interested in submitting comments on Western's Proposed 2015 Resource Pool size and revised Eligibility Criteria must submit comments to the SNR office at the address below. To ensure consideration, comments must be received by the end of the comment period which closes at 4 p.m. PST on July 7, 2008. The public comment forum date is: May 21, 2008, 1 p.m. PST, Folsom, CA. Please refer to Western's Web page http://www.wapa.gov/sn/marketing/ 2015ResourcePool.asp for additional information including updates to the date, time, and location of the forum.

DOCUMENT SUMMARY: The Western Area Power Administration (Western), a Federal power marketing administration of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), published its 2004 Power Marketing Plan (Marketing Plan) for Western's Sierra Nevada Customer Service Region (SNR) in the Federal Register on June 25, 1999 (64 FR 34417). The Marketing Plan specifies the terms and conditions under which Western will market power from the Central Valley Project (CVP) and the Washoe Project beginning January 1, 2005, and continuing through December 31, 2024. The Marketing Plan provides for a 2015 Resource Pool of up to 2 percent of SNR's marketable power resources. The 2015 Resource Pool will be available for power allocations to preference entities that meet the Eligibility Criteria. This notice begins the public process to establish the resources available and to revise the Eligibility Criteria provided in the Marketing Plan for the 2015 Resource Pool. Once Western establishes the final amount of power to be made available under the 2015 Resource Pool and the associated Eligibility Criteria, preference entities who wish to apply for an allocation of power from SNR must submit formal applications in response to Western's Call for 2015 Resource Pool Applications to be published under a separate notice.

SUMMARY: REGULATORY AGENDA; 2015 Resource Pool,

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

The Marketing Plan provides that, effective January 1, 2015, Western will reduce all Customers' allocations by up to 2 percent to establish a 2015 Resource Pool. In addition, the Marketing Plan explains that as a result of a settlement, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) did not contribute to the 2005 Resource Pool. Beginning in 2015, SMUD's percentage will be adjusted pursuant to the Marketing Plan to be consistent with all other Existing Customers, and the percentage it did not provide to the 2005 Resource Pool will be included in the 2015 Resource Pool. Western is starting the public process for the allocation of the 2015 Resource Pool now to ensure that Customers have adequate time to secure power and delivery arrangements to start on January 1, 2015.

CVP power facilities include 11 powerplants with a maximum operating capability of about 2,044 megawatts (MW) and an estimated average annual generation of 4.6 million megawatthours (MWh). Western markets and transmits the power available from the CVP.

The Washoe Project's Stampede Powerplant has a maximum operating capability of 3.65 MW with an estimated annual generation of 10,000 MWh. The Sierra Pacific Power Company owns and operates the only transmission system available for access to the Stampede Powerplant.

Western owns the 94 circuitmile MalinRound Mountain, 500kilovolt (kV) Transmission Line (an integral section of the Pacific Northwest Pacific Southwest Alternating Current Intertie), 803 circuit miles of 230kV transmission line, 7 circuit miles of 115kV transmission line, and 44 circuit miles of 69kV and below transmission line. Western also has part ownership in the 342mile CaliforniaOregon Transmission Project and owns the 84mile Path 15 Upgrade Project. Many of Western's Customers have no direct
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access to Western's transmission lines and receive service over transmission lines owned by other utilities.

The Marketing Plan describes how SNR will market its power resources beginning January 1, 2005, through December 31, 2024. The Marketing Plan requires Western to establish a Resource Pool and to reallocate an amount of power for the period of January 1, 2015, through December 31, 2024. This public process will determine the exact amount of power Western will reallocate and revises the Eligibility Criteria the entities must meet to qualify for an allocation of power from Western during this period. After or simultaneous to publishing its final decision on the 2015 Resource Pool size and revised Eligibility Criteria, Western will publish a Call for 2015 Resource Pool Applications in this Federal Register notice which will begin the formal allocation process. The Marketing Plan will continue in full force and effect and will govern the formal allocation process. However, Western will apply the revised Eligibility Criteria developed through this process for the 2015 Resource Pool. Entities interested in an allocation of power from SNR must apply pursuant to the Call for 2015 Resource Pool Applications.
Acronyms and Definitions

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT Ms. Jeanne Haas, Power Contracts and Energy Services Manager, Sierra Nevada Customer Service Region, Western Area Power Administration, 114 Parkshore Drive, Folsom, CA 956304710, telephone (916) 3534438, email haas@wapa.gov.