Common use of Summary Narrative Clause in Contracts

Summary Narrative. ‌ “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times ….” See Residential Exchange Program Settlement Agreement Evaluation and Analysis Study, REP-12-E-BPA-01, at 1 (Evaluation Study), quoting in part ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, A TALE OF TWO CITIES, at 13 (Signet Classic 1997) (1859). The past decade has not been, in many respects, the best of times for the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) with regard to its implementation of the statutory exchange program established by section 5(c) of the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act (Northwest Power Act), known as the Residential Exchange Program (REP). 16 U.S.C. § 839c(c)(1). For the better part of the last decade, BPA, six regional investor-owned utilities (IOUs), over a hundred consumer-owned utilities (COUs), and many other regional parties have been locked in continuous litigation over BPA’s implementation of the REP. During this period, BPA has issued 15 records of decision (RODs) relating to the REP, many of which were challenged by parties in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Ninth Circuit or Court). The legacy of these contentious legal battles is three published court decisions, five unpublished opinions, two remands, and 56 newly filed petitions with the Court. With the closing of the litigious 2000–2010 period, BPA and the region are now facing yet another decade of contentious litigation and uncertainty over the REP. Better times, however, may yet lie ahead. In December of 2010, a number of regional parties presented BPA with a proposed settlement of the existing REP-related disputes that would replace BPA’s disputed implementation of the REP with a negotiated compromise. This settlement, the 2012 Residential Exchange Program Settlement (“2012 REP Settlement” or “Settlement”),1 reflects the efforts of a broad coalition of regional parties to replace the cycle of instability and litigation over the REP with stability and certainty for the benefit of all regional ratepayers. These parties, which include six IOUs, three state utility commissions, a number of COU representative groups, a retail ratepayer advocacy group, and COUs representing 88.1 percent of BPA’s load, have asked BPA to join their efforts in ending the litigation and controversy over the REP by adopting the Settlement. In response to these parties’ request for BPA to accept the Settlement, BPA has conducted this proceeding.