I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 10260 

To provide compensation flexibility to address retention and hiring issues 

at the Bonneville Power Administration. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 26, 2024 

Ms. PEREZ (for herself and Mr. NEWHOUSE) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide compensation flexibility to address retention and 

hiring issues at the Bonneville Power Administration. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. COMPENSATION FLEXIBILITY TO ADDRESS RE4 TENTION AND HIRING ISSUES AT THE BON5 NEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION. 

6 Section 10 of the Act of August 20, 1937 (commonly 

7 known as the ‘‘Bonneville Project Act of 1937’’) (50 Stat. 

8 736, chapter 720; 16 U.S.C. 832i), is amended by striking 

9 the section designation and subsections (a) and (b) and 

10 inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 10. EMPLOYMENT OF PERSONNEL. 

2 ‘‘(a) EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION PROGRAM.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

4 law, rule, regulation, or directive relating to the pay5 ment of Federal employees (other than chapter 83 

6 of title 5, United States Code), the administrator 

7 shall develop, implement, and, as appropriate, up8 date, based on the results of an annual review under 

9 paragraph (4), a compensation plan that specifies 

10 and fixes the compensation (including salary or any 

11 other pay, bonuses, benefits, incentives, and any 

12 other form of remuneration) for employees of the ad13 ministrator, including members of the Senior Execu14 tive Service (as defined in section 2101a of title 5, 

15 United States Code). 

16 ‘‘(2) INITIAL COMPENSATION PLAN.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

18 after the date of enactment of the Energy Per19 mitting Reform Act of 2024, the administrator 

20 shall, in consultation with the Director of the 

21 Office of Personnel Management, and subject to 

22 confirmation and approval by the Secretary of 

23 Energy, which shall not be unreasonably with24 held, develop an initial compensation plan under 

25 paragraph (1). 


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1 ‘‘(B) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 1 

2 year after the date on which the initial com3 pensation plan is developed under subparagraph 

4 (A), the administrator shall implement the ini5 tial compensation plan. 

6 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—A compensation plan 

7 developed under paragraph (1) shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) be based on an annual survey of the 

9 prevailing compensation for similar positions in 

10 the public sectors of the electric industry; 

11 ‘‘(B) be consistent with the approved an12 nual general and administrative budget of the 

13 administrator and encourage the widest diversi14 fied use of electric power at the lowest possible 

15 rates to consumers consistent with sound busi16 ness principles; 

17 ‘‘(C) provide that education, experience, 

18 level of responsibility, geographic differences, 

19 and retention and recruitment needs are to be 

20 taken into account in determining the com21 pensation of employees of the administrator; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(D) provide that the individual total com24 pensation of the administrator and any em25 ployee of the administrator shall be comparable 


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1 to and competitive with similar positions among 

2 consumer-owned utilities in the Western Inter3 connection. 

4 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL REVIEW.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Annually, the admin6 istrator shall review and update, as appropriate, 

7 the compensation plan developed under para8 graph (1). 

9 ‘‘(B) COMPENSATION OF THE ADMINIS10 TRATOR.—Notwithstanding any other law, rule, 

11 regulation, or directive relating to the payment 

12 of the administrator (other than chapter 83 of 

13 title 5, United States Code), the Secretary shall 

14 periodically review and update, as appropriate, 

15 the compensation of the administrator con16 sistent with paragraph (3)(D). 

17 ‘‘(C) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION.— 

18 The administrator shall include in the quarterly 

19 public business review of the administrator or 

20 any other appropriate public review of the oper21 ations and finances of the administrator infor22 mation on the applicable annual compensation 

23 plan review under subparagraph (A), including 

24 information on the amount of salaries of any 

25 employees whose annual salaries would exceed 


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1 the annual rate payable for positions at Level 

2 IV of the Executive Schedule under section 

3 5315 of title 5, United States Code. 

4 ‘‘(5) ANNUAL PUBLICATION.—Annually, the ad5 ministrator shall publish the compensation plan de6 veloped under paragraph (1) or updated under para7 graph (4), as applicable. 

8 ‘‘(b) APPOINTMENT; EMPLOYMENT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The administrator may, as 

10 the administrator determines to be necessary to 

11 carry out this Act, subject to applicable civil service 

12 laws— 

13 ‘‘(A) appoint any officers and employees; 

14 ‘‘(B) employ laborers, mechanics, and 

15 workers for construction work or the operation 

16 and maintenance of electrical facilities; and 

17 ‘‘(C) fix the compensation of individuals 

18 appointed under subparagraph (A) or (B), re19 spectively, consistent with the applicable com20 pensation plan developed under subsection 

21 (a)(1). 

22 ‘‘(2) EXEMPTION FROM CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE

23 LAWS.—In carrying out the authority provided by 

24 paragraph (1), the administrator shall be exempt 


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1 from chapters 34, 43, 51, 53, 57, and 59 of title 5, 

2 United States Code. 

3 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION OF MERIT SYSTEM PRIN4 CIPLES.—Employees of the administrator are sub5 ject to the application of the merit system principles 

6 set forth in section 2301 of title 5, United States 

7 Code, to the extent that the principles apply to a 

8 wholly owned Government corporation. 

9 ‘‘(4) EMPLOYMENT OF PHYSICIANS.—The ad10 ministrator may employ physicians, without regard 

11 to the civil service laws (including regulations), to 

12 perform physical examinations of employees of the 

13 administrator or prospective employees of the ad14 ministrator who are or may become laborers, me15 chanics, and workers described in paragraph (1)(B). 

16 ‘‘(5) EMPLOYMENT OF EXPERTS.—The admin17 istrator may appoint, without regard to the civil 

18 service laws (including regulations), any experts that 

19 the administrator determines to be necessary to 

20 carry out the functions of the administrator under 

21 this Act.’’. 

Æ 


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