Washington, D.C. – The General Accounting Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, has alerted the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) that the federal agency is being audited.

“There has been a growing chorus of lawmakers concerned with BPA’s financial situation. This audit is the responsible next step to ensuring the long-term financial viability of the agency,” said Autumn Hanna Senior Policy Analyst at Taxpayers for Common Sense. “The audit will help guarantee that Congress’s authorization of $700 million in borrowing authority is spent appropriately and reduce the likelihood that the BPA will miss its treasury payments in the next few years.”

The GAO will be conducting the audit at the request of Chairman Hobson and Ranking Member Visclosky of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development.

BPA’s announcement of the audit comes on the heels of their release What led to the Current BPA Financial Crisis, a financial self-assessment, in which BPA acknowledges they are in dire financial straits.

“For far too long, Congress has let the fox guard the henhouse. Proper oversight will hold this agency to real standards of fiscal accountability,” stated Hanna.

The GAO detailed seven different areas of focus for the audit including: (1) the causes of BPA's recent rate increases, (2) Bonneville's specific plans for using the increased borrowing authority granted to it in 2003, (3) the potential risks and benefits of these plans to the Treasury, (4) how electricity restructuring has affected BPA's role as a key provider of electricity to the Northwest and its influence on power markets in the West, (5) the risk of missed Treasury payments in the next several years, (6) what options exist to minimize this risk and (7) how the practices compare to those of other Power Marketing Administrations.

“The wide-ranging questions that this audit is addressing will allow for a vigorous but fair evaluation of the finances of this embattled agency,” concluded Hanna.