Sponsors (3)
The bill improves coordinated planning for reduced hydropower, Fund obligations, and species impacts, but that planning could raise costs for taxpayers/ratepayers and impose regulatory restrictions or delays affecting water users and governments.
Utilities and grid operators will receive a coordinated plan to address reduced Glen Canyon hydropower and associated electricity reliability risks, improving planning for supply and operations.
State and local governments will have Upper Colorado River Basin Fund obligations (operations, maintenance, replacement) evaluated and planned for using existing contract data, improving fiscal and project planning.
Conservation stakeholders and public lands managers will get clearer identification of impacts on threatened and endangered species, supporting conservation actions and Endangered Species Act compliance.
Taxpayers and utility ratepayers may face higher costs if lost Glen Canyon hydropower must be replaced with more expensive resources or contracts.
Identifying Endangered Species Act impacts could trigger additional regulatory obligations or mitigation that restricts water operations for some users, especially in rural areas.
Negotiations around a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between agencies could delay decisions and postpone actions on Fund obligations or infrastructure maintenance.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires Interior and Energy to promptly enter an MOU to assess how the July 2024 Glen Canyon Dam decision affects the Upper Colorado River Basin Fund, hydropower, grid reliability, and listed species.
Requires the Department of the Interior (through the Bureau of Reclamation) and the Department of Energy (through the Western Area Power Administration) to promptly enter into a memorandum of understanding, in consultation with the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Work Group, to assess how the July 2024 Record of Decision for Glen Canyon Dam affects the Upper Colorado River Basin Fund. The MOU must include a plan, using existing hydropower contract data, to address Fund obligations (operations, maintenance, replacement of critical infrastructure), impacts on hydropower production and grid reliability (including costs to replace lost hydropower), and effects on species listed under the Endangered Species Act, while preserving existing Administrative Procedure Act rights. The measure does not appropriate money or change statutory species protections; it directs federal agencies to study, coordinate, and produce an action plan to identify and address financial, operational, and ecological consequences of the July 2024 decision for the Upper Colorado River Basin Fund and related hydropower operations.
Introduced February 5, 2025 by Harriet Hageman · Last progress May 14, 2025