Template revised January 10, 2019.
COMMISSION
AGENDA MEMORANDUM
Item No.
10a
ACTION ITEM
Date of Meeting
September 23, 2025
DATE: September 23, 2025
TO: Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director
FROM: Dan Liska, Aviation Utility Program Manager
Keith Warner, Aviation Utilities Manager
Keri Stephens, Director, Aviation Facilities and Capital Programs
SUBJECT: Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) Power Contract Renewal (2028-2044)
Amount of this request:
$0
Total estimated contract
cost:
$150,000,000
(over 16 years of
power deliveries)
ACTION REQUESTED
Requesting Commission authorization for the Executive Director to execute the renewal of the
Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) contract serving the airport for electrical power deliveries
beginning October 1, 2028 and ending September 30, 2044.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The airport has received electrical power from BPA since 2001. Renewal of existing contract, for
power deliveries through the 2028-2044 period, is necessary by December 4, 2025 to maintain
access to this reliable, clean, and low-priced source of power. The value of this agreement is
estimated at $150,000,000 over the 16-year contract period.
JUSTIFICATION
The airport and its tenants depend on electrical power to continue operation and as a public
utility, the airport has an obligation to serve such needs. This contract supports many Century
Agenda goals including being a highly effective public agency as well as the greenest and most
energy efficient port in North America. BPA offers the lowest cost, lowest risk, and most reliable
power in the region.
The electric utility landscape in the Pacific Northwest is undergoing significant changes as AI data
centers plus the transition towards electrified transportation and heating are increasing demand
for both electricity and associated transmission resources. The long-range regional planning for
COMMISSION AGENDA – Action Item No. 10a Page 2 of 5
Meeting Date: September 23, 2025
Template revised June 27, 2019 (Diversity in Contracting).
these electrical resources is the responsibility of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council
and its key partner, BPA. The Northwest Power Act requires the Council to develop a plan to
ensure an adequate, efficient, economical, and reliable power supply for the region. Working
with regional partners and the public, the Council evaluates energy resources and their costs,
electricity demand projections, and new technologies to determine a resource strategy for the
region. The Council publishes a power plan every five years, with interim updates as needed.
Increasing intra-regional efforts are also an important part of the solution. New electricity
markets along the West Coast will facilitate easier and more frequent energy exchanges from
regions that have an abundance to those that have deficits. While it is common today for power
to be exchanged between the Pacific Northwest and California, these new market mechanisms
expedite and increase those exchanges and extend them across the West.
Diversity in Contracting
Utility contracts are excluded from these requirements due to a lack of alternative options
available.
DETAILS
BPA is a nonprofit federal power marketing administration and the largest supplier of electrical
power and transmission in the Pacific Northwest, providing cost-based wholesale power from 31
federal hydroelectric dams and the nuclear Columbia Generating Station across 15,000 miles of
high-voltage transmission. On an annual basis, BPA power is currently 90-95% carbon-free, with
new resources expected to be 100% carbon-free.
A signed contract for power deliveries between October 1, 2028 and September 30, 2044 is due
to BPA by December 4, 2025 to maintain our existing priority customer relationship with BPA.
This relationship provides the airport with access to cost-based electricity to serve its current
needs and access to collective regional purchasing for future load growth. BPA also provides its
customers significant power management resources including load forecasting, regulatory
compliance support, and a comprehensive energy efficiency incentive program.
The estimated cost of this electricity during the contract period is $150M. This cost estimate is
based on anticipated BPA rate changes during the contract period as well as higher electrical
consumption at the airport. BPA rates are adjusted every two years based on the costs of the
system and is governed through a public process with customers and stakeholders. The higher
electrical consumption anticipated at the airport is based on studies and capital projects that may
include new and refurbished buildings, an all-electric central mechanical plant, and fleet vehicle
electrification, partially mitigated through advanced conservation measures.
Scope of Work
Obtain electrical power supplies for transmission to SEA substations between 2028 and 2044.
COMMISSION AGENDA – Action Item No. 10a Page 3 of 5
Meeting Date: September 23, 2025
Template revised June 27, 2019 (Diversity in Contracting).
Schedule
Contract must be signed and returned to BPA by December 4, 2025.
Activity
Commission authorization
Signed contract due to BPA
Power deliveries start
Power deliveries end
Cost Breakdown
This Request
Total Contract
Total estimated costs (2028-2044)
$0
$150,000,000
ALTERNATIVES AND IMPLICATIONS CONSIDERED
Alternative 1 – Obtain an alternative provider from the wholesale market
Cost Implications: market prices expected to be at least double ($300,000,000+ for 16 years)
Pros:
(1) Ability to select specific sources of power (wind, solar, hydroelectric, etc.).
Cons:
(1) Greater price and supply risk exists with market participants and smaller providers.
(2) Would require the airport to obtain a new transmission contract.
(3) A 16-year contract term would likely not be available at the lowest prices.
This is not the recommended alternative.
Alternative 2 – Sign a contract renewal for power from the Bonneville Power Administration
Cost Implications: $150,000,000 rate cost estimated over 16 years
Pros:
(1) Maintain access to low-priced power for existing load and access to collective regional
purchasing for load growth needs.
(2) Minimize risk by maintaining priority customer relationship with BPA, the largest and
most reliable regional provider of power and transmission services.
(3) BPA power is currently 90%-95% carbon-free, and future resource acquisitions are
expected to be 100% carbon-free.
(4) BPA provides its customers with significant power management services including load
forecasting and regulatory compliance support as well as a comprehensive energy
efficiency incentive program.
COMMISSION AGENDA – Action Item No. 10a Page 4 of 5
Meeting Date: September 23, 2025
Template revised June 27, 2019 (Diversity in Contracting).
Cons:
(1) Due to annual variability in electricity supplies (water availability, Columbia Generating
Station refueling outages, etc.) and current regional data limitations on specification of
origin for incidental market power purchases, BPA is not currently able to offer a 100%
carbon-free product.
This is the recommended alternative.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
Costs are estimated over the 16-year term of the contract, but actual charges are due monthly
as power is delivered. Electricity costs are included in existing Aviation budget and projections.
Cost Estimate/Authorization Summary
Capital
Expense
Total
COST ESTIMATE
Original estimate
$0
$150,000,000
$150,000,000
AUTHORIZATION
Previous authorizations
0
0
0
Current request for authorization
0
0
0
Total authorizations, including this request
0
0
0
Remaining amount to be authorized
$0
$150,000,000
$150,000,000
Annual Budget Status and Source of Funds
Electricity operating expenses will be incorporated into the Aviation Utilities operating budget. It
is estimated that approximately 25% of these costs will be recovered directly from tenants with
individual meters. The remaining 75% will be recovered through established rates and charges
mechanisms applied to the airlines.
Future Revenues and Expenses (Total cost of ownership)
Not applicable.
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND
The Port of Seattle invested substantial effort into qualifying the airport as a public utility and
obtaining access to BPA priority power in 2001. A lapse in purchasing would relinquish the
airport’s current allocation of cost-based power and re-establishing that allocation, if possible,
would only happen gradually over multiple future years after the airport restarted its BPA priority
customer relationship.
COMMISSION AGENDA – Action Item No. 10a Page 5 of 5
Meeting Date: September 23, 2025
Template revised June 27, 2019 (Diversity in Contracting).
BPA currently serves 142 public power customers in the Pacific Northwest. The Northwest Power
Act gives BPA a legal mandate to provide for its public power customers such as the Port of
Seattle, its only port district customer. BPA power currently serves the SEA passenger terminal
and cargo areas and some associated facilities. The airport’s current contract, expiring in 2028,
was signed in 2008 for deliveries beginning in 2011.
BPA is self-funded through rates yet backed by US Treasury borrowing authority. BPA contracts,
rates, and business practices are established via public processes with substantial customer input
and involvement. The Port of Seattle participates individually in these processes and as a
member of the Public Power Council, a regional trade association. The airport has been
participating in the regional development of this renewal contract since 2022.
ATTACHMENTS TO THIS REQUEST
(1) Presentation slides
PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS
November 11, 2008 – The Commission authorized the execution of a Power Sales Agreement
contract between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and the Bonneville Power
Administration
May 8, 2001 – The Commission authorized the execution of a Power Sales Agreement
contract between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and the Bonneville Power
Administration