69–006 

115TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 115–282 

WESTERN AREA POWER ADMINISTRATION 

TRANSPARENCY ACT 

AUGUST 29, 2017.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State 

of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. BISHOP of Utah, from the Committee on Natural Resources, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 2371] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 2371) to require the Administrator of the Western Area 

Power Administration to establish a pilot project to provide increased transparency for customers, and for other purposes, having 

considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment 

and recommend that the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 2371 is to require the Administrator of the 

Western Area Power Administration to establish a pilot project to 

provide increased transparency for customers. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

H.R. 2371 requires the Administrator of the Western Area Power 

Administration (WAPA) to establish a pilot project to increase 

transparency of WAPA’s costs, rates, staffing and other financial 

and operational dealings. 

Under numerous federal statutes, the Bureau of Reclamation and 

the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers generate hydropower at federal 

dams and reservoirs. Hydropower generated at these facilities, particularly in the western United States, is first used to provide electricity to operate irrigation pumps affiliated with Reclamation 

projects. Any excess power is then primarily sold by the Power 

Marketing Administrations (PMAs) to preference customers, which, 

by federal statute, are non-profit rural electric cooperatives, public 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with HEARING
2 

utility districts, Indian tribes, municipalities and some irrigation 

districts. The power is sold at rates designed to repay the federal 

capital investment in federal electricity generation and transmission facilities, annual operation and maintenance of such facilities, and federal staffing. The rate structures are followed pursuant 

to 20 to 50 year contracts between the wholesale customers and the 

federal government. With a few exceptions, the PMA budgets are 

designed to be financed 100% by ratepayers, as all initial appropriations are reimbursed. 

The PMAs—WAPA, Bonneville Power Administration, Southwestern Power Administration and Southeastern Power Administration—market and deliver (via transmission lines) electricity generated at these federal facilities. According to WAPA, the agency 

markets and delivers annually an average of 10,000 megawatts of 

hydroelectricity produced at Reclamation and Corps dams. WAPA 

serves about 700 wholesale customers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New 

Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming 

through a 17,000-mile federal transmission system. These wholesale customers, in turn, supply 50 million retail customers. 

WAPA’s roughly $1 billion budget is financed by annual customer 

funding and advance payments and appropriations, which are then 

reimbursed, with interest, through customer contractual repayment 

obligations. As is the case with all PMAs, WAPA must market 

power produced at federal hydroelectric facilities at the lowest possible rates consistent with sound business principles. Some customers have called for increased transparency over WAPA’s business practices given rate increase trends and discrepancies between 

budgeted and executed dollar amounts. For example, at a May 18, 

2017, Water, Power and Oceans Subcommittee hearing, Mr. Patrick Ledger, Chief Executive Officer at for Arizona Electric Power 

Cooperative testified: ‘‘. . . what is missing from the presentation 

from [WAPA] and conversations with [WAPA] officials on the use 

of budget authority is granularity that would help PMA customers 

understand why rates continue to increase.’’ WAPA has taken steps 

to be more transparent in an effort to address some of the concerns 

raised by customers. For example, on March 17, 2016, WAPA created a website called ‘‘The Source’’, which displays some of its financial operations and operational data. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 states the short title of the bill as the ‘‘Western Area 

Power Administration Transparency Act.’’ 

Section 2 requires the Administrator of WAPA to establish a publicly available website that contains: rates charged to customers by 

power system; the amount of energy or capacity sold by power system; a detailed accounting of expenditures, capital costs, and staffing at headquarters and each region; and capital expenditures expended including the sources of capital for each investment. Additionally, this section requires the Administrator to make publicly 

available online an annual summary that would include updates to 

documents listed above; the total amount of unobligated balances 

broken down by function and authority; and the anticipated unobligated balance levels for the next year. 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with HEARING
3 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 2371 was introduced on May 4, 2017, by Congressman Paul 

A. Gosar (R–AZ). The bill was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 

Water, Power and Oceans. On May 18, 2017, the Subcommittee on 

Water, Power and Oceans held a hearing on the bill. On July 25, 

2017, the Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill. 

The Subcommittee was discharged by unanimous consent. No 

amendments were offered, and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous consent on 

July 26, 2017. 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 

Natural Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in the body of this report. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 

With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) and (3) of rule 

XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and sections 

308(a) and 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the enclosed cost estimate for the bill from the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office: 

U.S. CONGRESS, 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, 

Washington, DC, August 16, 2017. 

Hon. ROB BISHOP. 

Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources, 

House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 2371, the Western Area 

Power Administration Transparency Act. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Kathleen Gramp. 

Sincerely, 

KEITH HALL. 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 2371—Western Area Power Administration Transparency Act 

H.R. 2371 would direct the Western Area Power Administration 

(WAPA) to make more information about its financial operations 

available to the public. WAPA is an agency within the Department 

of Energy that markets electricity produced at federally owned 

dams in several western states. WAPA’s expenditures are funded 

by annual appropriations and are offset over time by income from 

the sale of electricity. 

Based on information from WAPA, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 2371 would cost less than $500,000 over the 2018– 

2022 period; such spending would be subject to the availability of 

appropriated finds. Implementing this bill would primarily involve 

making existing data accessible in new formats. According to 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with HEARING
4 

WAPA, much of that work is being done under current law. Enacting H.R. 2371 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. 

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2371 would not increase net 

direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 

10-year periods beginning in 2028. 

H.R. 2371 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Kathleen Gramp. The 

estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant 

Director for Budget Analysis. 

2. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 

clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or objective 

of this bill is to require the Administrator of the Western Area 

Power Administration to establish a pilot project to provide increased transparency for customers. 

EARMARK STATEMENT

This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, limited 

tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined under clause 9(e), 

9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5

Directed Rule Making. This bill does not contain any directed 

rule makings. 

Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not establish or 

reauthorize a program of the federal government known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was not included in 

any report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress 

pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111–139 or identified in the 

most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program Information Act (Public Law 95–220, 

as amended by Public Law 98–169) as relating to other programs. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing law. 

Æ 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with HEARING