Reliability for Ratepayers Act

This bill lets the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) set its own pay and benefits plan so it can hire and keep skilled workers. BPA sells hydropower in the Northwest, and the new plan must be based on pay in the electric industry, consider experience and location, fit within BPA’s approved budget, and be competitive with similar public power utilities in the Western Interconnection. The plan is meant to support reliable service and keep costs low for customers by aligning pay with the market while staying within budget limits .

BPA must create the first plan within one year of the bill becoming law, get approval from the Department of Energy, and then put it in place within the next year. BPA must review and update the plan every year and publish it. The agency gets some flexibility from certain federal hiring rules to speed up hiring, but employees still follow federal merit system principles. BPA will also share information publicly about the plan and note any very high salaries in its regular public business reviews .

Key points

• Who is affected: BPA employees and people in the Northwest who rely on BPA’s power services.
• What changes: BPA sets its own compensation plan based on annual pay surveys, stays within its approved budget, publishes updates each year, and has limited exemptions from some hiring rules while keeping merit protections in place .
• When: Initial plan developed within 1 year of enactment, implemented within 1 year after that, and reviewed and published every year.