Oklahoma U.S. Sen. James Lankford and others on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will explore hydropower during a hearing on Tuesday.
Led by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, the committee hearing will examine the opportunities and challenges for maintaining existing hydropower capacity, expanding hydropower at non-powered dams and increasing pumped storage hydropower.
The hearing will be held on Tuesday, January 11, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC.
The purpose of the hearing is to examine the opportunities and challenges for maintaining existing hydropower capacity, expanding hydropower at non-powered dams, and increasing pumped storage hydropower.
The 10 a.m. hearing will begin with opening remarks from Sen. Manchin followed by Ranking member, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming.
Four witnesses are slated to testify and be questioned by members including Jennifer Garson, Acting Director of the Water Power Technologies Office at the U.S. Department of Energy.
Other witnesses include Camille Touton, Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation; Scott Corwin, Executive Director of the Northwest Public Power Association; and Malcolm Woolf, President and CEO of the National Hydropower Association.
There are four hydroelectric power dams in Oklahoma, the Denison Dam, Eufaula Dam, Fort Gibson Dam and Pensacola Dam.
Nearly half of the hydroelectricity capacity in the U.S. is located in three states: Washington, California and Oregon. Four states—Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Vermont depend on hydroelectricity operations for at least half of their in-state utility-scale generating capacity.
