U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Hood River) yesterday received the Public Service Award from the American Public Power Association (APPA) for his efforts to protect the Bonneville Power Association (BPA) and to promote hydropower production.
The APPA Public Service Award recognizes a publicly elected or appointed official at the national or state level whose activities have furthered the objectives of public power.
Last year, following a proposal from the Trump Administration to privatize BPA, Walden raised his concerns in a letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney in which expressed strong opposition to this proposal. Walden also secured a commitment from Secretary Perry to not privatize BPA during a hearing before the Energy and Commerce Committee. During the hearing, Walden said, “this idea of selling off electric transmission assets and abandoning cost-based rates has been roundly rejected by virtually every member of the Pacific Northwest Congressional delegation. It is the one idea – bad idea – that unites all of us in the Northwest. I’m afraid this move could do nothing but harm my constituents, drive up electricity costs, and hurt consumers across the region.”
Walden has also secured important reforms into law to streamline hydropower permitting to help get projects completed to generate clean, baseload hydropower. These reforms include streamlining permits for hydropower projects on existing irrigation canals to encourage further development of these hydropower systems.
Hydropower plays an important role in the Pacific Northwest’s energy mix, generating 40 percent of the electricity in Oregon.
