Washington, D.C. — Hydropower advocates in the House and Senate have been hard at work introducing several new bipartisan bills ahead of the summer district work period. As electricity costs rise and global conflict threatens America’s energy supply, these pieces of legislation help protect American-made hydropower by streamlining the relicensing process, lowering energy costs, upgrading the existing fleet, and more.
The FLOWS Act: Nick Langworthy (NY-23) and Reps Kim Schrier (WA-08) have introduced the House companion version of the FLOWS Act, which streamlines the licensing process for routine maintenance and supports faster deployment of marine energy devices. The legislation is led in the U.S. Senate by Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Angus King (I-ME)
The Hydropower Licensing Affordability Act: Sens. Daines (R-MT), Risch (R-ID) and Murkowski (R-AK) unveiled the Hydropower Licensing Affordability Act, which is the Senate companion to a bill introduced recently by Rep. Cliff Bentz (OR-02). The bill focuses on limiting the scope of mandatory conditions imposed by resource agencies solely to project effects.
Section 408 Reform: Members of the U.S. House and Senate joined together to standardize the process for hydropower licenses at US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) dams under the Section 408 program. This program allows USACE to alter public works projects, like dams, but the standards are not consistent across districts. This legislation, introduced by Sens. Daines (MT) and Hassan (NH) in the Senate and Reps. Goodlander (NH-02) and Miller (WV-02) in the House, seeks to reform this by applying consistent guidelines and removing duplicative reviews.
The CURRENT Act: Reps Adam Gray (CA-13) and David Rouzer (NC-07) have introduced the CURRENT Act, a bipartisan bill in the House that provides greater clarity and certainty in the water quality certification process under the Clean Water Act.
“It’s rare to see so many lawmakers from different parties and regions united on behalf of a common cause, but that’s what makes hydropower so unique,” said NHA’s Senior Director of Legislative Affairs, Matthew Allen. “Hydropower is clean, reliable, and American made; it’s the solution to our ongoing, nationwide effort to make electricity more affordable; and it continues innovating to meet changing energy needs.
“Hydro’s dependable power and critical infrastructure can help lower Americans’ bills and provide good jobs for generations of families. But the current, outdated licensing process is slowing down new construction and threatens around 16GW of hydropower going through relicensing in the next decade. That’s why I’m thrilled to see these hydropower champions in Congress work to provide common-sense solutions. Each piece of legislation thoughtfully addresses ongoing challenges and helps to fully unleash hydropower’s full value on the grid. NHA will work hard to make each of them law.”
