{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://maloy.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=34", "Maloy Introduces Bipartisan, Bicameral \u2018HYDRO Act\u2019 to Reduce Electricity Costs During Drought", "2024-01-11", "2024", "2024-01", "Republican", "House", "UT", "Celeste Maloy", "M001228", "maloy.house.gov", "maloy", "https://maloy.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 Today, Representative Celeste Maloy (R-UT) was joined by Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) in introducing the bipartisan, bicameral Hydropower Delivery Rate-reduction Offset (HYDRO) Act to reduce rates when certain Buruea of Reclamation hydropower facilities aren\u2019t producing the contracted amount of electricity due to drought and low reservoir levels.\n\nAs the West confronts its worst drought in centuries, reservoir levels at Lake Powell and Lake Mead have reached record lows. As a result, hydroelectric power generation in the Colorado River Basin has been reduced by roughly one-third, raising electricity costs as customers are obligated to replace unavailable generation from the volatile and limited wholesale market. The HYDRO Act would direct the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) to reduce contracted rates for those hydropower facilities to help stabilize utility costs.\n\n\u201cI am very excited to lead the HYDRO Act in the House. It will be a great benefit to all hydropower customers in the West who have been experiencing low electricity generation due to the severe and ongoing drought. I know this bipartisan legislation will be a great help in easing the burden for Utah and the other Colorado River Basin states whose electricity is generated by these facilities throughout the region,\u201d said Rep. Maloy.\n\n\u201cAs Arizona and the West continue to deal with the effects of this historic drought, we must address challenges brought by water shortages head on. While drought reduces hydropower generation, common-sense policies like the HYDRO Act will give us the tools we need to help ensure Arizonans don\u2019t pay more for the electricity they need,\u201d said Sen. Kelly.\n\n\u201cAs record drought conditions impact our state\u2019s ability to produce electricity through hydropower, we're working to ensure hardworking Arizonans don't have to foot the bill for higher energy costs,\" said Sen. Sinema.\n\nThe HYDRO Act will:\n\nRequire the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) to reduce rates for federal hydropower customers during times of lower electricity generation due to the ongoing drought in the West.\n\nProvide flexibility to WAPA in how they choose to reduce customer rates with a variety of tools at their disposal.\n\nThe HYDRO Act will NOT:\n\nLimit the ability of the Secretary of the Interior or Colorado River Basin states to address drought operations.\n\nBill text can be found HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T23:46:48Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://maloy.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=34"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6878030728548765, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}