Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) and Representative Dan Newhouse (R-WA) recently sent a letter to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) urging House leaders and the House Energy & Commerce Committee to allow the Senate-passed S. 1020 to proceed on the House suspension calendar as soon as possible.
S. 1020 would allow hydropower owners to petition the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to extend a hydropower license for an additional six years if that license was issued before March 13, 2020.
The letter notes that, without legislative action, 37 unconstructed and FERC-licensed hydropower projects are at risk of termination.
These projects represent more than 2.6 gigawatts of baseload power. It also notes that an additional 100 megawatts of hydropower generation have been put on hold since this legislation was introduced in March.
S. 1020 passed the Senate by unanimous consent on July 29 and was referred to the House. The legislation is bipartisan and is cosponsored by Senators John Fetterman (D-PA), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), John Kennedy (R-LA), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Tim Sheehy (R-MT), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and David McCormick (R-PA). Its House companion, H.R. 2072, was introduced by Rep. Newhouse on March 11.
