Bonneville Power staffing cuts increase odds of power outage

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Bonneville Power Administration, which distributes hydropower from federal dams through transmission lines to provide electricity to companies like Portland General Electric, could lose up to 20% of its workforce as a result of efforts by the Trump administration to purge the federal workforce.

The staffing cuts and layoffs at BPA have fueled worries for many in the Northwest that the heat and lights could go out. The possibility of that happening is greater than it was before, former BPA Administrator Randall Hardy told KOIN 6 News.

“The sky is not falling and you’re not going to automatically have a power outage, but you have increased the risk of having an unplanned power outage from less than 1% to something in the 5-10% range,” he said. “So, yeah, the probability is way up there. That still doesn’t mean you’re going to have one but that means the risk is greater.”

The BPA is self-funded and no tax money is involved. Their funding, Hardy said, comes from power and transmission sales customers. Cutting critical staff could have a big impact, especially during bad weather.

Linemen, engineers and dispatchers are among the hundreds of people fired or resigned from the BPA by the Trump Administration. It’s expected that workers hired more recently will also be laid off.

Hardy said a big concern is making across-the-board cuts rather than focusing on protecting critical reliability jobs, such as power dispatchers and line workers. Bonneville runs the power grid for the Pacific Northwest for everyone from PGE to industrial customers.

Washington Sen. Patty Murray’s office told KOIN 6 News she plans to hold a news conference on Wednesday over the fact that 20% of the BPA workforce may lose their jobs. Murray said the power supply to the PNW needs to be protected.

KOIN 6 News will continue to follow this story.