About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

RCED-92-282R 1 (1992-09-18)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaclcm0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 


United States
General Accounting Office
Washington, D.C. 20548

Resources, Community, and
Economic Development Division


B-249056


September 18, 1992


The Honorable Ron Marlenee
House of Representatives

Dear Mr. Marlenee:

You requested that we provide information on the contracts
between the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the
Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
for the operation and management of Mission Valley Power.
This utility provides electricity to the residents of the
Flathead Reservation in Montana. As agreed with your
office, we obtained descriptive information responding to
eight questions regarding such things as the contracts'
terms and differences, the role of the consumer council
during the 1991 rate-setting process, and the events leading
up to the resignation of the former chairman of the
utility's board of directors. We agreed not to provide you
with conclusions and recommendations.

BACKGROUND

In 1986, under provisions of the Indian Self-Determination
and Education Assistance Act of 1975, as amended (25 U.S.C.
450 et seq.), the Tribes contracted with BIA to operate and
manage Mission Valley Power for 3 years. However, a legal
challenge precluded the implementation of the contract. It
was updated with a contract modification and became
effective on October 8, 1988. The 1988 contract was
subsequently modified nine times. The contract was to
expire on October 8, 1991. On October 1, 1991, however, a
new contract became effective for an indefinite period of
time. According to the terms of the preliminary 1986
contract, the 1988 contract, and the 1991 contract, BIA and
the Tribes can modify the contracts at any time.

Mission Valley Power was formerly known as the Flathead
Indian Irrigation Project power division, operated and
managed by BIA. The utility provides service to the entire
1.25-million-acre reservation. About 88 percent of the


           GAO/RCED-92-282R, Tribal Management of Mission Valley Power

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most