The US Senate has unanimously passed bipartisan legislation intended to improve transparency around the federal hydropower relicensing process.
The Hydropower Licensing Transparency Act will now be sent to President Donald Trump to be signed into law, having previously passed unanimously in the House of Representatives.
Under the legislation, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) would be required to submit an annual report to Congress detailing the relicensing status of every hydropower facility undergoing the process.
The National Hydropower Association (NHA), which welcomed the Senate vote, said relicensing can take more than a decade and cost millions of dollars. It argued that greater reporting would improve accountability and provide lawmakers with more information about delays.
According to the association, 348 hydropower licences representing more than 12GW of capacity are due for relicensing over the next decade. NHA said lengthy procedures and mandatory licensing conditions can have a disproportionate effect on smaller facilities.
The legislation was led in the House by Representatives Kim Schrier, a Democrat from Washington, and Russ Fulcher, a Republican from Idaho. Its Senate sponsors were Republican Senator Steve Daines of Montana and Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada.
“Hydropower is key to meeting growing demand and ensuring affordable, reliable power, and its recent momentum in Congress proves lawmakers are taking notice,” said NHA president and chief executive Malcolm Woolf.
“This legislation is a great step toward fixing our broken permitting process by guaranteeing more accountability between Congress and FERC and compelling greater action to fix this problem. Hydropower generates more than 100 GW of clean, reliable power; it provides the flexibility that other sources of energy need when grids are stressed; and it also offers other services like flood control, irrigation, and recreation. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle should be doing all they can to support this resource, and I commend these lawmakers for leading the charge.”
