Oregon lawmakers and those on congressional infrastructure committees are looking for a forthcoming federal report to justify removing hydropower at costly dams in the state’s populous Willamette Valley.
Public power utilities, wildlife advocates, tribes, and local elected officials are among the diverse groups lobbying Congress to end hydropower production at eight dams the Army Corps of Engineers operates in the Willamette River Basin, which includes Portland. Nine Willamette dams produce hydropower; one of them is privately owned and licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The dams, built initially for flood control, generate only about 2% of hydropower for consumers ...