In a May 9 letter to the chairman and ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the American Public Power Association detailed its support of four provisions that have been submitted by committee members for consideration for inclusion in the Water Resources Development Act currently under development.
APPA noted in the letter that policy provisions included in WRDA bills often affect the value of power resources produced at Army Corps of Engineers-operated dams and sold by Power Marketing Administrations to not-for-profit public power utilities and rural electric cooperatives.
APPA highlighted its support for the following provisions that have been submitted for the committee’s consideration:
- Preservation of PMA ratemaking authority;
- Applying the Dam Safety Assurance Authority to state-of-the-art modifications and reducing the cost share appropriately;
- Codifying a compromise at the Stockton Lake hydropower facility that balances the needs of water supply and hydropower generation; and
- Directing the Army Corps to complete the WRDA 2022 congressionally directed timeline for the disposition of the power authorization at the Willamette Valley Project, and to consider a no-power alternative.
The letter was sent to Rep. Sam Graves, R-Kansas, Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., Ranking Member for the Committee.
