Next steps for hydropower

In 2013, Congress passed and the president signed groundbreaking – quite literally – legislation to boost American hydropower development. Now Public Laws 113-23 and 113-24, these reforms aim to produce more clean and job-producing American energy by streamlining an often costly, redundant, and uncertain federal licensing process, particularly for smaller hydro projects.

This bipartisan collaboration has led to increased interest in new hydropower development, particularly for the small and low-impact facilities that make up a significant portion of the estimated 65,000 megawatts of hydropower potential in the U.S., according to a recent Department of Energy (DOE) study.

{mosads}While hydropower finds itself in a better regulatory environment, the federal government should continue to expand its partnership with private industry to boost the country’s largest renewable resource.

Fortunately, the Departments of the Interior and Energy, as well as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), recently renewed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen their collaboration and align priorities for hydropower development.

Originally signed in 2010, the MOU supports the Obama Administration’s previously stated goal of doubling renewable energy generation by 2020, in part by improving the federal permitting process. The MOU has already facilitated numerous breakthroughs, including an additional 70 non-federal hydropower projects in some stage of development. Over the next five years, the MOU will expand on its initial progress, with the goal of deploying more efficient and environmentally friendly hydropower across the country.

Congress should continue to show its support, too.

At this week’s National Hydropower Association annual conference, industry leaders, developers, and many others will be discussing hydropower’s next steps. Our goal is to improve and shorten the licensing process for all projects – both new and relicenses – while preserving effective environmental and safety standards.

We are certainly pleased one of hydropower’s strongest champions in Congress – Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) – has released a draft bill that attempts to address many of the issues that have long slowed the growth of the industry. We hope her bill will be a starting point for a renewed legislative push for additional hydropower regulatory reforms. 

Hydropower licensing can take 10 years or longer – by some measures, longer than a nuclear facility. Perhaps more significantly, the drawn out regulatory time frame and redundant local, state, and federal regulations give developers and utilities little of the certainty all businesses need to invest in such a costly process. Considering over 11,000 MW of installed capacity will be up for relicensing over the next 10 years, timely regulatory reform is a pressing concern.

Funding levels also present challenges. For example, the draft House Energy and Water Appropriations Bill cuts FY2016 funding for DOE’s Water Power program by one-third, jeopardizing the critical research and development advanced by the program. As Congress works through the appropriations process, funding should at least be restored to current levels.

Let’s not forget what’s at stake. While hydropower’s other attributes are numerous – support for the development of other renewables through baseload power generation, flood control, recreation, and irrigation, to name a few – it also creates jobs. By one estimate, with the right policies in place, hydropower could create 1.4 million cumulative jobs by 2025. Those are numbers no lawmaker can easily ignore.

As the hydropower industry gathers in Washington, there is much to celebrate. We hope it’s also a call for our federal partners to continue to encourage and expand America’s largest renewable energy resource.

Gallo is president and CEO of Voith Hydro’s U.S. operations, based in York, Pennsylvania.