Council adopts resolution to continue Hermiston Energy Services' BPA relationship

Hermiston City Council unanimously adopted Resolution 23-95, which the city described as the next iteration of Hermiston Energy Services' (HES) wholesale agreement with the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA).

Rivera presented the resolution and explained that HES has been a BPA customer since 2001. He described HES as a community-owned, cost-based public power utility that receives a large portion of its wholesale supply from BPA and said the new provider-of-choice framework is the result of several years of regional collaboration. "We appreciate the relationship with BPA," Rivera said, adding that the contract structure provides flexibility to respond to changing technologies and load patterns.

Councilors asked whether HES serves large data-center loads. Councilor Broom asked for clarification; Rivera said HES does not serve data centers and cited Federal Power Act provisions and BPA contract limits that typically prevent using BPA allocation for very large (10+ MW average) data-center loads. Councilors also pressed about forecasting and future growth; Rivera said forecasts rely on historic load, expected development and coordination with BPA, and acknowledged regional risks such as litigation over the Lower Snake River dams and changing resource mixes.

The council moved to adopt Resolution 23-95 and the motion passed on a unanimous roll call. The transcript contained conflicting or unclear printed dates for the contract term; the council discussion referenced long-term planning (councilors noted population growth projections for 2040) but did not establish a single unambiguous effective date in the public record during the meeting.

The council's action lays the contractual groundwork for HES to continue buying wholesale power through BPA with ongoing staff and regional coordination on load forecasting and resource acquisition.