Kent Conrad: “I believe sale of the Power Marketing Administrations represents a very bad idea. It is bad for rural America. It…”

“I believe sale of the Power Marketing Administrations represents a very bad idea. It is bad for rural America. It represents bad faith. It is bad economics and it is bad policy. This would have a very serious impact on rural America. In my State we would see an increase in rates of up to 60 percent; 240,000 customers in North Dakota would be adversely affected. Those rural customers are already paying rates that are 15 to 40 percent higher than city customers. The reason for that, of course, is very obvious. There is much less of a load per mile in rural areas than in city areas, so the costs are higher. Mr. President, this would be a very serious matter for rural America. It also represents bad faith. The Government made a deal. The deal was this power was going to go to help rural America. That is precisely why the Federal Government entered into this enterprise. Preference power, it should be emphasized, is not a subsidy. These facilities are being repaid with interest. I believe the sale also represents bad economics.”