Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) recently introduced the Help Hoover Dam Act. The bill would make available roughly $45 million in stranded funds for operations, maintenance, and improvement projects at Hoover Dam.
APPA supports the legislation and included a statement of support in Sen. Cortez Masto’s press release.
Each year, the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA), collects funds through power rates charged to hydropower project contractors, including the Boulder Canyon Project (Hoover Dam) power contractors.
For Hoover Dam only, revenues are deposited into the Colorado River Dam Fund, a revolving fund controlled by the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) under the Boulder Canyon Project Act. The funds are used to pay for the cost of operation, maintenance, and replacements at Hoover Dam.
In addition to the fees collected through power rates, the Department of Energy (DOE) directed WAPA to collect around $2 million annually from Hoover contractors to fund Post Retirement Benefits (PRBs) for WAPA and Reclamation federal employees to cover any gap in benefits from Department of Labor allocations. This change by DOE started in 2000 and was based on a policy decision, not a law change.
However, Congress already provides appropriations to the Office of Personnel Management to cover any PRB funding gap and ensures all PRB costs are covered under the federal Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund. Today, there are $45 million dollars sitting stranded in this account.
The Help Hoover Dam Act would give Reclamation the congressional authority necessary to make beneficial use of these stranded PRB funds to pay for operation, maintenance, and replacement projects at Hoover Dam.
These funds are especially vital given the decrease in hydropower generation at Hoover Dam due to persistent drought in the region -- generation has decreased by roughly 40 percent compared to pre-drought generation levels.
