Hydropower is one of the most reliable, affordable, and clean sources of power on the grid, but the cost and length of relicensing now threaten the existing fleet. Relicensing a facility can take seven to ten years and cost tens of millions in legal and administrative fees alone, and nearly half of the non-federal fleet's licenses expire in the coming decade.

Congressman Cliff Bentz (R-OR) has introduced H.R. 9337, the Hydropower Licensing Affordability Act, to fix this. The bill amends the Federal Power Act so that mandatory licensing conditions and prescribed fishways must reasonably mitigate a project's direct impacts, rather than being expanded to cover concerns unrelated to the project. The result is less cost, less delay, and more certainty for the clean power we already rely on.

✅ NHA urges its members to contact their U.S. Representatives and ask them to cosponsor and support H.R. 9337.

Why This Matters

The hydropower relicensing process is the single largest regulatory hurdle facing the existing fleet. H.R. 9337 helps address it by ensuring licensing conditions stay tied to a project's real impacts. This is important because:

• More than 50 hydropower facilities have surrendered their licenses over the past decade, in part because of the cost and administrative risk of relicensing.
• Mandatory conditions and fishway prescriptions have at times been expanded to cover concerns not directly tied to a project, increasing costs without a corresponding environmental benefit at that facility.
• Existing hydropower provides dispatchable, carbon-free, low-cost baseload power and grid flexibility that is difficult and expensive to replace.
• Reducing unnecessary cost and delay in relicensing helps keep clean, reliable generation online at a time of rising electricity demand.

This approach is consistent with a long-standing NHA priority: that license and mandatory conditions imposed on a hydropower facility should be reasonably related to the effects of the project.

What the Legislation Does

The Hydropower Licensing Affordability Act (H.R. 9337) would:

• Amend Section 4(e) of the Federal Power Act so that mandatory conditions imposed on projects located on a federal reservation must reasonably mitigate the direct adverse effect of the project on that reservation.
• Amend Section 18 of the Federal Power Act so that prescribed fishways must reasonably mitigate the direct adverse effect of the project on the population of a species of fish in the applicable river system.
• Provide greater regulatory certainty and help reduce the cost and delay of relicensing existing hydropower facilities, without rewriting the underlying environmental protections of the Act.

Take Action Now

Please take a moment to tell your U.S. Representative to cosponsor and support H.R. 9337, the Hydropower Licensing Affordability Act, and help keep affordable, reliable hydropower online.

Need Support or Want to Follow Up?

Refer offices to:
 📧 Matthew Allen, matthew@hydro.org
 📧 Erika Ose, erika@hydro.org