The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officially released $52 million in funding for Hoover Dam on Thursday, May 21. This was done in accordance with the Help Hoover Dam Act which was passed by Congress in January.
The funds can now be used for Hoover Dam operations, maintenance and improvement projects. This includes installing low head turbines needed to generate power at the lower lake levels caused by ongoing drought conditions on the Colorado River system.
The $52 million has been inaccessible for decades because federal agencies lacked clear legal authority to use it. The money sat unused in a special federal account, buried in overlapping rules, bureaucracy, and outdated funding policies until Congress passed the Help Hoover Dam Act earlier this year.
The Act was sponsored and championed by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Rep. Suzie Lee (D-Nev.-03).
Freeing up this funding was of particular importance to OPD5 as well as other rural power utilities in Nevada that depend on relatively affordable hydropower resources. About 23 percent of the OPD5 power portfolio comes from Colorado River hydropower.
“I don’t think I can overstate just how important the Help Hoover Dam act is to us and to our rural communities,” said OPD5 CEO/General Manager MeLisa Garcia.
Garcia explained that any reduction in power that occurs due to low water conditions at the dam, must be made up by OPD5 going out on the open market to purchase power at a premium. This can sharply drive up the cost of power for the district and its rural customers, she said.
“That is why we are so appreciative of Sen. Cortez Masto and Rep. Lee for their leadership on this vital issue,” Garcia added. “They have listened to our plight on this and have really understood how high the stakes were for rural utilities like ours. They have been wonderful advocates for us in Congress on this, and we are truly grateful for that.”
Both Cortez Masto and Lee were both pleased that the funds had been released so that they could finally be put to good use.
“For decades, millions of federal dollars have been sitting unused while the Hoover Dam is in need of upgrades and repairs,” Cortez Masto said in a statement this week. “My new law has solved that bureaucratic dead-end. Now we can put those dollars to work improving the Hoover Dam, protecting the water and energy supply for over a million Americans.”
“I’m proud to have worked alongside Senator Cortez Masto to lead and pass common-sense legislation to cut through federal red tape and free tens of millions of dollars in long-stranded funding for Hoover Dam,” said Lee in a statement. “This is government efficiency — keeping energy prices from going up, protecting our natural resources, and saving taxpayers money. I’m thrilled that, at long last, this funding was released today.”