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Oral history interview with Peter T. Johnson [Transcript]

• 2002-03-01 – 2002-09-09 (Creation)

Transcript; 165 pages

Transcript. This oral history interview with Peter Johnson was conducted by Michael O’Rourke at the Bonneville Power Administration’s offices, and at the Oregon Historical Society, in Portland, Oregon, and at Johnson's home in McCall, Idaho, from March 1 to September 9, 2002. The interview was conducted as part of the Northwest Power Planning Council Oral History Project, which documented the history and purpose of the Northwest Power Planning Council, now known as the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. The interview was conducted in three sessions; Tape 2 is missing, but its content is available in a transcript.

Originally recorded on Tapes 1 and 2; tape 2 is missing. In the first interview session, conducted at the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) offices in Portland on March 1, 2002, Johnson discusses his family background and early life in Boise, Idaho, including his education and his recreational activities. He briefly talks about his experiences at Dartmouth College, about his marriage to Carolyn Ann Carley, and about his service in the U.S. Air Force. He speaks about his career in construction, first with the MacGregor Triangle Company from 1957 to 1968, and with the Trus Joist Company from 1968 to 1979. He describes some of the construction jobs he worked on, including for the Bonneville Power Administration and for the University of Idaho. He shares his reasons for seeking a job in government. He also discusses his involvement in the Republican Party and serving on the transition team for President Ronald Reagan.

In the second interview session, conducted at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland on May 6, 2002, Johnson discusses his service as administrator of the BPA. He talks about the people he worked with at the BPA, and speaks at length about his handling of the failure of the Washington Public Power Supply System’s plan to build nuclear power plants. He talks about his early days as BPA administrator, particularly about developing a mission statement and a strategic plan, and about stabilizing BPA’s finances. He then discusses working with the Northwest Power Planning Council and focuses on his working relationship with NWPPC chair Dan Evans.

In the third and final interview session, conducted at Johnson’s home in McCall, Idaho, on September 9, 2002, Johnson speaks further about the failure of the WPPSS nuclear power plants. He then speaks further about working with the NWPPC; discusses working with individual council members, particularly Dan Evans, Kai Lee, and Bob Saxvik; and talks about BPA lawyer Mike Katz. He talks about his relationship with members of Congress from the Pacific Northwest, particularly Mark Hatfield and James McClure. He also talks about his successor at BPA, Randy Hardy, as well as his predecessor, Sterling Monroe; about members of his staff; and about his relationship with the CEOs of other electric utilities, particularly Don Frisbee of PacifiCorp. He also talks about the construction of additional power houses at the Bonneville Dam. He shares his reasons for leaving the BPA in 1986, talks about his retirement activities, and discusses his service on various governmental committees regarding nuclear power. He closes the interview by talking about the work of the NWPPC after his retirement, particularly the political conflicts that arose around the council in the 1990s, and about deregulation of electric utilities.

Copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

• English

• Columbia River--Power utilization
• Construction industry--Northwest, Pacific
• Electric utilities--Deregulation--United States
• Electric utilities--Northwest, Pacific
• Energy policy--Northwest, Pacific
• United States. Bonneville Power Administration
• Northwest Power Planning Council (U.S.)
• Washington Public Power Supply System

• O'Rourke, Michael (Filmmaker) (Contributor)