The Honorable Ron Wyden
The Honorable Suzanne Bonamici
The Honorable Maxine Dexter
The Honorable Janelle Bynum
The Honorable Jeff Merkley
The Honorable Cliff Bentz
The Honorable Val Hoyle
The Honorable Andrea Salinas
March 5, 2025
Dear Oregon’s Congressional Delegation:
In the next few weeks, you will need to decide whether to vote for a Continuing Resolution to prevent an overall shutdown of the Federal government. We ask you to vote “no” on any Continuing Resolution until the Trump Administration takes steps to address the existential threat posed to our region by the mass exodus of employees from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) that the Administration has caused.
Some or all of you have already raised concerns about this issue, which we appreciate. As you know, the Bonneville Power Administration provides much of the Northwest’s power and – even more critically - operates 75% of its high-voltage transmission capacity. As experts such as former BPA Administrator Randy Hardy have warned, the massive layoffs and “invited” resignations at BPA, combined with a hiring freeze, are likely to lead to frequent, devastating brownouts or blackouts. Moreover, the loss of staff will make it impossible for BPA to undertake the upgrades of the transmission system planned to meet rising demand.
In that scenario, the economy of the region will quickly die. The consequences will go beyond the immediate impacts of brownouts or blackouts, which will be dramatic. Nobody will invest in a region without reliable electric power. Anybody who can get out will get out.
As Hardy has pointed out, most recently on OPB’s “Think Out Loud,” the scariest development has been the loss of employees largely due to invited resignations. The losses include dispatchers, transmission schedulers, and real-time traders at the BPA Dittmer Control Center in Vancouver, Washington where power is dispatched and the grid is monitored 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Hardy observed that these highly specialized employees are mission-critical and not readily replaceable.
Thanks to your efforts, BPA has rescinded some of the layoffs. But Hardy says that the same concerns remain. We ask you to make it clear that you will not vote for a Continuing Resolution unless the Trump Administration agrees to rehire the BPA employees who have been laid off, provide incentives for the employees who have resigned to return, and end the hiring freeze. At a minimum, we ask that you refuse to vote for a Continuing Resolution until the Administration takes whatever steps are necessary, including but not limited to “re-signing” bonuses, to bring back the Dittmer Control Center employees who have been lost. In addition, we urge you to ask your colleagues in Idaho and Montana to join you in insisting on these steps as a condition of their supporting a Continuing Resolution.
Sincerely,
Councilor Jamie Dunphy, District 1
Councilor Sameer Kanal, District 2
Councilor Steve Novick, District 3
Councilor Angelita Morillo, District 3
Councilor Mitch Green, District 4
CC: The Honorable Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03)