Bipartisan NW Lawmakers to President Trump: Terminate Columbia River Treaty Power Provisions to Benefit U.S. Ratepayers
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Reps. Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Kurt Schrader (D-OR), and Greg Walden (R-OR) introduced a resolution to encourage the Trump Administration to immediately issue a notice of intent to terminate the commercial and power coordination provisions of the Columbia River Treaty.
“The United States has been unfairly burdened by the outdated Columbia River Treaty, and it is long past time to stop the wealth transfer from our constituents to Canada,” said the bipartisan group of lawmakers. “The existing Treaty punishes Northwest electric ratepayers, forcing them to pay for benefits far in excess to the value provided to the United States. With good faith negotiations at a standstill, we urge President Trump to take a strong stance and issue the notice of intent to terminate the power coordination provisions of the Treaty.”
Click here to read the text of the resolution.
Background:
Updating the Columbia River Treaty, which has not been revised since it was ratified in 1964, will allow the U.S. and Canada to find solutions for management of the river that could provide new opportunities for cooperation on clean energy solutions, flood control, and economic growth in the Pacific Northwest region.
In 2016, Reps. Newhouse, Schrader, and Walden joined U.S. House and Senate colleagues to call on the U.S. State Department under President Obama to finalize its negotiating parameters and to press Canada to appoint a lead negotiator. Both actions are required for formal discussions to begin.
On June 21, 2017, Reps. Newhouse, Schrader, and Walden were joined by Pacific Northwest lawmakers in sending a bipartisan letter urging President Trump to commence negotiations with Canada over the Columbia River Treaty as soon as possible.
The United States and Canada began negotiations to modernize the Columbia River Treaty regime in May 2018. As part of this effort, the U.S. Department of State has hosted public town halls to provide updates on the modernization process. One of these public town halls was hosted in Richland, Washington, at the request of Rep. Newhouse.
