The Bonneville Power Administration, a not-for-profit power marketing administration of the U.S. Department of Energy, is a marketer of wholesale electrical power from 31 federal hydro projects in the Columbia River Basin, one nonfederal nuclear plant and several other small nonfederal power plants. The dams are operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation. About 30 percent of the electric power used in the Northwest comes from BPA. BPA’s resources — primarily hydroelectric — make its power nearly carbon free.
BPA also operates and maintains about three-fourths of the high-voltage transmission in its service territory. BPA’s service territory includes Idaho, Oregon, Washington, western Montana and small parts of eastern Montana, California, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming, an area of about 300,000 square miles with a population of more than twelve million.
BPA promotes energy efficiency, renewable resources and new technologies that improve BPA’s ability to deliver on its mission. The agency also funds regional efforts to protect and rebuild fish and wildlife populations affected by hydropower development in the Columbia River Basin. BPA is a self-funded entity that covers its costs by selling wholesale power, transmission and related services at cost.
BPA Overview for Investors - as of July 7, 2016