Former leaders of Bonneville Power say federal staffing cuts threaten stability and safety of NW power grid

The Bonneville Power Administration is among the federal agencies currently being gutted by Elon Musk at Pres. Donald Trump’s direction. The ostensible reason for federal government layoffs and buyouts is to save taxpayer dollars. In the case of the BPA, it’s funded by its ratepayers, not taxpayers, but that hasn’t stopped the departure of hundreds of the agency’s skilled and specialized workers. And additional staffers who were considered probationary were let go without notice last week. And that has industry watchers, including two former heads of the BPA, sounding the alarm about the potential catastrophic impacts on the power grid and the people who rely on it. Steven Wright and Randy Hardy wrote a joint article in an industry newsletter Friday detailing those possible threats.
The BPA can be thought of as the backbone of the Northwest power grid. It sells wholesale electricity to the utilities, companies and other entities that sell power to residents all over the region. Sources include hydropower from Columbia River dams and the region’s only operating nuclear power plant. It also transmits energy through 15,000 miles of high voltage lines.The thousands of BPA employees perform tasks from engineering and line work to complex demand modeling and resource planning. That planning includes decisions around sources of power and how to prioritize and price the power. Energy consultant and former BPA administrator Randy Hardy joins us to discuss the details and possible impacts of the Elon Musk-led reductions on the Northwest