< back		 Brett Wilcox, Northwest Aluminum Company

Wilcox is president and owner of Northwest Aluminum Company in The Dalles, Oregon and Goldendale Aluminum Company in Washington. He is also active in numerous public and civic activities.

Wilcox previously was the executive director of Direct Services Industries and an attorney in Seattle, concentrating on energy and general business matters. He graduated from Princeton University, with a degree in public affairs in 1975 and received his law degree from Stanford Law School in 1978.
1. What is the best thing about the recommendations? The draft report recognizes that the electric power industry is being deregulated, that kilowatthours are basically a commodity, and that a competitive market for electric power as a commodity -- wholesale and retail -- is not only inevitable but beneficial, because it will result in lower prices.
2. What is the most challenging thing about the recommendations? The fact that market prices for electricity have now fallen below average costs is something the draft report treats more as a threat than as a beneficial opportunity. The draft report spends too much time devising schemes to keep prices and revenues high (and even to increase them), rather than dealing with the imperative that existing costs must be cut if the Northwest power system -- and particularly BPA -- is to remain competitive and retain financial health.
3. Why should people care about the recommendations? The draft report matters because Congress will take up legislation to restructure the electric power industry nationwide, just as Congress restructured the telecommunications industry. If there is consensus within the Northwest on a workable new structure for the Northwest power system (including BPA), then we can act together to achieve enactment of Northwest power system provisions. If we in the region can not reach consensus, or if the “solutions” proposed are unworkable, then we will have squandered any opportunity to reshape the Northwest power system to fit our unique Northwest needs and to maximize benefit to Northwest consumers and workers.