Washington, DC — NHA President and CEO, Malcolm Woolf, issued the following statement on the U.S. Senate’s introduction of the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026, which includes key provisions to help streamline hydropower licensing and support burgeoning marine energy technologies:
“America needs every megawatt it can get. Yet almost 350 hydropower facilities across the nation face relicensing under a federal process that often takes over a decade. Faced with that cost and uncertainty, 80+ hydropower owners in recent years have chosen to surrender their licenses for these “forever assets” and stop generating clean, dispatchable power altogether. Every facility we lose leaves families and businesses with one less reliable, low-cost power source just as electricity demand is surging.
“The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act is an important step forward. It brings greater accountability and predictability to hydropower licensing, unlocks investment in modernization and pumped storage, and creates a new licensing pathway for marine energy. The result is more affordable, reliable power for communities in the 48 states where hydropower operates.
“I commend Chairs Capito and Lee and Ranking Members Whitehouse and Heinrich for this bipartisan framework, and NHA urges Congress to pass it.”
