WASHINGTON, D.C.
The National Hydropower Association awarded four members of Congress
with NHA Legislator of the Year awards for their roles in championing
hydroelectric power legislation through the House and Senate.
Honored during the NHA Annual Conference's opening session were
Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and
Representatives Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Diana DeGette
(D-Colo.) for their work on the Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013.
The bill, which was enacted by President Barack Obama in August, represents the only piece of energy-related legislation to have passed legislation this past year. The bill promotes the development of small and in-conduit hydropower
projects and shortens the regulatory timeframes required of certain
other low-impact hydropower project, including additions to existing
non-powered infrastructure and closed-loop pumped-storage. These
additions could account for more than 12,000 MW of additional
hydroelectric power, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
"We could not have done it without the incredible leadership and
support of our congressional champions that we honor here this
afternoon," said Marc Gerken, President of NHA and American Municipal Power. NHA has awarded just five Legislator of the Year honors since the
organization was created in 1983, Gerken said, making today's
presentation unprecedented.
"It means two things," Gerken said. "One, that we have a lot to
celebrate, and two, that we have outstanding leadership in the House and
Senate that cares about hydropower. We're making progress." Though hydropower is making inroads through both parties and both
Congressional chambers, the legislators agreed more work remains to be
done.
"We know there's huge potential for hydropower moving forward, and
that's what we need to continue to advocate," McMorris Rogers said. "It
would create jobs. It's important to our economy. It's important to the
future of energy. So I am proud to be a partner in this effort and I
want to continue to look for these opportunities to tell the positive
story of hydropower and the potential that it has for us moving
forward."
DeGette, who co-authored the bill with McMorris Rodgers, was also present during the opening session. "Hydropower has provided the U.S. with affordable and reliable energy
for over 130 years, and we are still finding ways to tap its
potential," DeGette said. "I was proud that the Hydropower Regulatory
Efficiency Act passed Congress and was signed into law. We are helping
smaller communities and projects across the country take advantage of
hydropower's flexibility, and we are creating jobs and cutting
electricity bills at the same time."
Murkowski, who addressed attendees with a recorded message, is the
ranking Republican of the Senate Energy Committee and first introduced a
version of the legislation to the Senate in 2010. "It was only by working together -- not only across the aisle, but
across the two chambers -- that w were able to enact the Hydropower
Regulatory Efficiency Act last session," Murkoski said. "The enactment
of this bipartisan bill furthers Americans' access to the most
cost-effective and reliable source of energy available to us.
"It is my hope that as the Senate considers our nation's long-term
energy policy we can finally recognize the important contributions the
renewable resource hydropower makes and continues to make to our clean
energy goals." Wyden, as former chair of the Senate's Energy Committee, was also key in making the bill a top priority.
"This is a reflection of the work NHA has done to show legislators
what it already knew -- that hydropower is a clean, baseload renewable
source of power capable of cutting millions of tons of carbon dioxide
emissions out of the equation," Wyden said. "I'm going to continue
working with my colleagues to build on the successes of the past year in
bringing hydropower to millions of American homes."
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2014/04/four-legislators-honored-by-nha-for-hydroelectric-power-advocacy
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