National Hydropower Association urges Congress to pass hydropower provisions in Senate bill

The National Hydropower Association (NHA) called on Congress to pass provisions that would benefit the hydropower industry as part of the Senate’s newly revised Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015.

Linda Church Ciocci, the executive director of the NHA, urged House and Senate Energy bill conferees to pass bipartisan comprehensive legislation that will increase predictability, coordination and timeliness in the hydropower regulatory process.

“Improving the process means designating the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as the lead agency for purposes of coordinating permits, and enhancing schedule discipline by involving all federal and state regulators much earlier in the approval process and providing opportunities to collaborate and resolve any disputes,” Ciocci said.

The NHA said it supports having those commonsense solutions in place in order to speed up the current process for permitting hydropower projects, which can take up to a decade or longer.

“Congress has an opportunity to unlock hydropower’s clean energy potential, enhance the existing hydro system, and promote responsible new energy infrastructure development. Passage will also put the nation on the path to making the U.S. Department of Energy’s vision of sustainably growing hydropower by 50GW by 2050 a reality,” Ciocci said.