The major transmission grid operator in the area, Bonneville Power Administration, has kept some employees who were initially scheduled to be let go as a result of federal budget cuts under President Donald Trump.
However, with fewer BPA personnel to run the system, the agency will still lose roughly 420 employees, or 13% of its 3,100-person workforce, and it won’t do much to allay worries about regional power shortages.
According to agency insiders, BPA canceled 90 new job offers, 125 employees are taking the Trump administration buyouts, 105 are retiring early, and 100 probationary employees were dismissed.
This is less than the 600 employees who were once anticipated to be let go or accept the buyout in mid-February.
According to Oregon experts, the agency is still losing too many critical employees, such schedulers and dispatchers, which might make it more difficult for BPA to manage the grid and cause blackouts in the area.
75% of the high-voltage transmission lines in the Northwest are owned and operated by BPA, a division of the US Department of Energy, and span 15,000 miles. It provides one-third of the electricity in the Northwest and markets hydropower from 31 federal dams in the Columbia River Basin.
Gosia Wozniacka discusses a variety of environmental topics, including climate change, environmental justice, and the switch to sustainable energy. You may contact her at 971-421-3154 or [email protected].
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