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BPA tightens reporting windows, renames COTR role and sets IM update during three‑year rate period
Summary
Bonneville Power Administration announced multiple IM changes: COTR will be renamed contract administration specialist, projects must be submitted within 180 days of completion, invoices within 60 days of BPA approval, and an updated IM will be published Oct. 1, 2027 to reflect a new power plan.
The Bonneville Power Administration said it will shorten several reporting and billing windows and adjust its implementation manual schedule ahead of a forthcoming three‑year rate period. Dave Moody, the presentation's first presenter, told attendees the contracting officers technical representative (COTR) job title will be replaced by "contract administration specialist" effective Oct. 1, 2025; the change is nominal and will not alter duties or staff assignments.
Moody said the final regional dialogue contract rate period will run three years and that BPA intends to publish an updated implementation manual (IM) on Oct. 1, 2027 to align measures and baselines with a power plan the council expects to publish in late 2026. "Over a long enough time horizon, we're paying for savings that then aren't frankly quite as valid or reliable as they should be," he said, arguing the mid‑period IM update will keep measures current.
To improve near‑term forecasting and program visibility, BPA will require customers to submit measures and projects within 180 days of the project's completion date and to file invoices for payment within 60 days of BPA approval (the office previously sought a 30‑day window). BPA will also request—though not require—customers to report at least once every six months. Moody said the changes respond to observed "stacking" of savings reported late in prior rate periods and aim to protect acquisition forecasts and program targets.
The IM will also remove the remaining measures offered through the "by request" channel (nominal items such as door sweeps and small fixtures) to simplify administration. Moody said some custom nonresidential lighting payment rates will be adjusted and several measures will be aligned with other BPA and power sales agreement definitions, including a technical adjustment to the Small Rural Residential threshold from 10 to 12 customers per line mile.
BPA asked utilities to review the published measure list for full details and offered staff as a point of contact for questions; attendees were told the IM changes include both the April 1 effective edits and additional, broader changes scheduled for Oct. 1, 2025.
