Northwest Energy Security Act

Summary

Northwest Energy Security Act This bill requires Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) operations to be consistent with the preferred alternative in a 2020 environmental impact statement (EIS) decision that focuses on the operations, maintenance, and configuration of dams in the system rather than wild fish restoration. The system includes dams in the Columbia and Snake rivers in Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Idaho. Specifically, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Bonneville Power Administration, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must operate the FCRPS consistent with the Columbia River System Operations Environmental Impact Statement Record of Decision dated September 2020. Thus, Reclamation, the Bonneville Power Administration, and the Army Corps must follow the EIS rather than the 2023 Resilient Columbia Basin Initiative—and a supplemental EIS proposed in 2024—that focus on wild fish restoration in the Columbia Basin. The EIS decision may be amended if each agency determines that (1) changes are necessary for public safety or electrical grid reliability, or (2) certain requirements in the decision are no longer necessary. Further, the bill requires statutory authorization for any structural modification, action, study, or engineering plan that (1) restricts FCRPS hydroelectric dam generation; or (2) limits navigation on the Snake River in Washington, Oregon, or Idaho.

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Timeline

1. 22 January 2025

   Introduced

   Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

   Source: IntroReferral

2. 22 January 2025

   Introduced

   Introduced in House

   Source: IntroReferral

3. 22 January 2025

   Introduced

   Introduced in House

   Source: IntroReferral

4. 23 January 2025

   Referred

   Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.

   Source: Committee

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

No version snapshots stored. Document URLs remain at the source.

Documents

2 official files

• Introduced in House

  Introduced in House · EN · 22 January 2025

  DownloadOpen at official source

• Introduced in House

  summary · EN · 22 January 2025

  Open at official source

Sponsors

• Rep. Newhouse, Dan [R-WA-4] · R · Sponsor
• Michael Baumgartner · R · Sponsor
• Rep. Fulcher, Russ [R-ID-1] · R · Sponsor
• Cliff Bentz · R · Sponsor
• · hspw00 · Standing
• · hsii00 · Standing

Related records

• related to ← Northwest Energy Security Act