< back		 Jim Davis, Douglas County (Washington) Public Utility District

Davis is a commissioner on the board of the Douglas County Public Utility District in East Wenatchee, Washington. He also is a fourth-generation wheat farmer. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in education from Eastern Washington University.
1. What is the best thing about the recommendations? The recommendations seem to respect the existing utility regulatory framework of local boards for public agencies and Public Utility Commissions for investor-owned utilities. From this vantage point it seems that the recommendations have a better chance of succeeding with regulators.

Another best thing is that the recommendations attempt to balance the interests of the US Treasury, the Washington Public Power Supply System bondholders and the utility customers, thereby, recognizing that it is not in the best interests of the Northwest to force the utility customers away from BPA by imposing too many onerous requirements.
2. What is the most challenging thing about the recommendations? The most challenging thing about the recommendations is that they are way too complicated to work as they are intended to work. This makes them hard to understand and most likely to implement effectively. This implementation difficulty will make it difficult for public utilities to understand and to monitor with respect to protecting preference and other legal mandates.
3. Why should people care about the recommendations? People should care about the recommendations because the impact of the decisions made by the Steering Committee and recommended to the governors will affect most aspects of life in the Northwest.

The Columbia River and its operations and role in the region will be affected. The shape and responsibilities of the electric utilities will be affected. Customers will, according to the report, have the opportunity, maybe even the responsibility to designate a power supplier.

Investments in energy efficiency and renewable resources will happen according to the mechanisms outlined in the draft. It is difficult to imagine an aspect of life that will not be affected by these recommendations.