60,000 jobs could be lost to rate increases, analyst says
By Lukas Velush
Herald writer
Washington and Oregon could lose 40,000 to 60,000 jobs if a proposal by President Bush increases the region's electricity prices, a Portland energy economist said.
Job losses would rival the 70,000 jobs lost in the two states during the record electricity price run-ups during the 2000-2001 West Coast energy crisis, said economist Robert McCullough, managing partner of Portland-based McCullough Research.
McCullough used federal data on electricity rates, economic activity and jobs to estimate the region's potential job losses.
Bush's 2006 budget proposes to as much as double the electricity rates the Bonneville Power Administration charges to utilities, including the Snohomish County PUD. The change is intended to help pay down the national debt.
http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/05/02/24/100loc_bpa001.cfm