Bureau of Reclamation

About Us

Roles and Responsibilities

The Bureau of Reclamation's power program is the caretaker for some of the Nation's most important electrical resources. We have become the Nation's second largest hydroelectric power producer with 58 hydroelectric power plants having an installed capacity of over 14 million kilowatts. Reclamation's power plants annually generate over 42 billion kilowatt hours of hydroelectric energy -- enough to meet the annual needs of 9 million people. Our annual revenues from hydropower sales average over $700 million. Since 1909, when our first power plant started operation, power revenues have provided more than $10 billion in repayment to the U.S. Treasury. Find out more about the history of Reclamation's power program and the legislation affecting our projects.

[Western U.S. Electric Generating Capacity]

As you can see below, our power plants are all located in the western United States. In this region, we play an especially important role in providing electricity to agricultural, industrial, and residential customers. Find out more about hydropower, the electric utility industry, and our research and development programs.

[Map showing location of Reclamation facilities in the Western United States]

Facility Map

Hydropower plants are the most efficient energy-producing plants, operating at 85- to 90-percent efficiency -- more than twice that of fossil-fueled plants. Hydropower plants are important in meeting peak power demands because they can quickly adjust to changes in peak loads. Two important services we provide are voltage support and spinning reserve. Find out more about the services we provide and the customers we serve.

Also see our report titled "Reclamation's Role in Hydropower" for more information.

Organization and Staffing

The Bureau of Reclamation is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior. At the head of our organization is the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation. Our Power Resources Office develops and coordinates policy, provides advice, and assists in managing Reclamation's power program. Our Regional and Area Offices oversee the operation of our individual power facilities. We provide information about the organization, staffing, responsibilities, and contacts for these offices.

Below is a brief description of our Power Resources Office staff, and links to staff directories.

Manager, Power Resources Office
P.O. Box 25007, Bldg 67, 84-54000
Denver, CO 80225-0007
(303) 445-2923
FAX (303) 445-6471
E-mail: power@do.usbr.gov

•One Senior Power Engineer

•One General Engineer

•Two Electrical Engineers

•One Program Analyst

•One Public Utilities Specialist

•Secretary

Partnerships

To deliver power to our customers, we partner with a number of organizations. In 1977, the responsibility for marketing and transmission of our power was transferred to the newly created Power Marketing Administrations. We work with Western Area Power Administration and the Bonneville Power Administration to deliver power to our customers. We maintain membership in a number of electric utility organizations.

New Initiatives

Explore Opportunities for Additional Capacity- There may be opportunities for Reclamation to add capacity through in river generation at existing facilities, upgrades at existing facilities, or efficiency enhancements of generation and pumping facilities. These opportunities will be catalogued and evaluated.

Increased Focus on Reclamation Power Facility Reliability - Reclamation’s hydro plants are a keystone in the reliability and stability of the Western Interconnected System. The reliability of our plants is and must continue to be the focus of our Operation and Maintenance (O&M) efforts. Reclamation plants are an average of 44 years old. Reclamation is exploring Reliability Centered Maintenance and Life Extensions in order to assure continued reliability of our plants.

Powerplant Facilities
	We provide fact sheets for each of our powerplant facilities, as well as summary statistics for them.

Publications
	We provide a variety of publications, and are actively working to add information about them to this web site. The current list of available publications is listed here.

Revised April 6, 2006 Hydropower Site Map Help