An important bill was introduced to the U.S. Congress last week that would preserve an important source of electricity for OPD5 and 1.3 million other power customers across the southwestern United States.
On Thursday, May 1, Nevada Congresswoman Susie Lee and U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto introduced the Help Hoover Dam Act in the U.S. House and Senate. The bill would allow federal agencies to access about $50 million in unused, long-stranded funds for Hoover Dam operations, maintenance and improvements. The bill has bipartisan support with Rep. Mark Amodei (NV-CD2) joining as a co-sponsor and other members of the Nevada delegation behind it.
Beginning in 2000, the Department of Energy’s Western Area Power Administration began collecting about $2 million per year from Hoover Dam’s hydropower user entities. The funds were put into an account for dam employee retirement benefits. But those benefits eventually found other funding sources, and the money has since been left unused.
“The power resources at Hoover Dam are tremendously important to OPD5 and our customers,” said OPD5 General Manager/CEO MeLisa Garcia. “After all, we receive about 23 percent of our total power load from hydro sources.”
Garcia explained that any reduction in power that occurs due to maintenance or operations problems at the dam, must be made up by OPD5 going out on the open market to purchase power at a premium. This sharply drives up the cost of power for the district and its customers, she said.
“So it is tremendously important to us and our customers that these facilities operate in their best condition,” Garcia added. “We have participated financially in the maintenance and upkeep of those facilities since the 1930s when they were built. So we are excited to see this money being put to good use for needed improvements.”
“This is government efficiency,” said Rep. Lee in a statement last week. “Our bill is about keeping energy prices from going up, protecting our natural resources, and saving taxpayers money.”
“The Hoover Dam is a monument to the idea that America can and will invest in infrastructure that improves the lives of its people,” said Sen. Cortez Masto in a statement. “It is past time we cut the red tape, unlock the $50 million in unused funds to improve and maintain the dam, and save taxpayer dollars.”
Garcia thanked members of the Nevada Congressional delegation for supporting the Help Hoover Dam effort. “We appreciate Senator Cortez Masto and Rep. Lee for bringing this important bill forward,” she said. “And we are grateful to the other members of our delegation who have joined in the effort and gotten behind it.”