Provider of Choice        (Post-2028)

BPA has supplied reliable, affordable and low-carbon wholesale electric power to customers serving retail consumers to the Pacific Northwest region for over 85 years. This tradition is rooted in the agency’s enabling legislation, and BPA looks forward to building on this legacy and affirming its status as the customers’ “Provider of Choice” for years to come.

Background


As directed by Section 5(b) of the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act, BPA is statutorily obligated to offer contracts to sell firm power to meet regional public power utilities and IOU customers’ power requirements in excess of their resources. Provider of Choice is BPA's regional effort to engage these customers and interested parties in a policy and contract-development process to gain an understanding of electric power needs and perspectives. This process establishes the long-term power sales policy and contracts that will follow the current Regional Dialogue contracts that expire in September 2028. 

Early Customer Engagement
In 2016, BPA launched the Focus 2028 effort, which led to the first Provider of Choice discussions around the Pacific Northwest region. BPA held additional discussions with customers in 2019 and memorialized these findings in the Provider of Choice 2020 Engagement Summary. Then, in 2021, BPA and public power began exploring policy concepts in a series of educational sessions that covered the foundational issues that underpin BPA's Provider of Choice Concept Paper. 

Provider of Choice Concept Paper
The Provider of Choice Concept Paper, published on July 14, 2022, set forth BPA's initial positions and considerations for Provider of Choice contract policies, products and services. The concept paper release was followed by a series of policy development workshops that provided grounding in the policy topics, discussed the intent and design of policy elements, and invited deliberation and policy proposals. Throughout the process, participants shared informal comments that helped shape policy development discussions. These 2022-2023 policy development materials can be found on the Resources webpage. The draft Provider of Choice Policy is the culmination of this multi-year effort. View the Provider of Choice Timeline.

Policy 

The draft Provider of Choice Policy was published on July 20, 2023. BPA has opened a public comment period, which ends on Oct. 13, 2023. Following review and consideration of these comments, BPA will release the final policy with an accompanying record of decision in early calendar year 2024.

Policy Implementation and Contract Development

With a final policy and decision in hand in early 2024, BPA will engage the region in a public process to determine how to implement the policy through Provider of Choice contracts and other associated policy and rate methodology processes. BPA and its power customers will draft contracts and accompanying documentation and release the contract templates for public comment.  A schedule of policy implementation and contract template development workshops will be published in late 2023.

Meeting Materials

Dec. 12, 2023

Nov. 14, 2023

Sept. 19, 2023

Aug. 1, 2023 - Draft Provider of Choice Questions and Answers

July 26, 2023 - Provider of Choice Policy Overview Presentation

Upcoming Meetings

Upcoming meetings, if scheduled, are linked below. 

Resources

Visit the Resources page to learn more about the foundational content and grounding for Provider of Choice policy and contract development activities. Materials include policy development materials, presentations and fact sheets on topics such as BPA’s governing statutes, the current long-term power sales contracts (Regional Dialogue), the tiered rate construct and more.

Questions/comments? Contact us at post2028@bpa.gov.