NHA president Munro plans new year
Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., speaks in April during the National Hydropower Association's Hydropower Rally in Washington, D.C. The association's president, Andrew Munro, is standing in the background.
Grant PUD's Wanapum Advance Turbine Crew gathers together for a group photo at Wanapum Dam. Improvements at Wanapum Dam result in a 3 percent capacity gain.
EPHRATA - National Hydropower Association President Andrew Munro
discussed the association's hydropower goals and what the new
Republican majority Congress means to the association Friday.
Munro is currently serving his second term as the association's
president.
He is also employed with Grant County PUD as the district's
external affairs director.
EPHRATA - National Hydropower Association President Andrew Munro discussed the association's hydropower goals and what the new Republican majority Congress means to the association Friday.
Munro is currently serving his second term as the association's president.
He is also employed with Grant County PUD as the district's external affairs director.
This year, the association's external goals involve positioning hydropower as a preferred and renewable resource and to double hydropower capacity and jobs in the next 20 years, he said.
Munro also wants to advance a smarter licensing and permitting process to expand hydropower capacity.
"I call this a two-year process that is in line with a typical timeline for other resources a utility or entity would want to develop," he explained.
Within that timeline, there would be no need to change laws such as the Endangered Species Act or Clean Water Act.
The NHA is asking the government to function more effectively.
Smarter licensing permitting is going to be a big effort this year, he says.
"We've been doing the steps leading up to this," he said. "My first goal, the doubling of hydropower, there is a big opportunity here. The second goal, in order to help us achieve that, is asking for government and all players to work smarter."
The association's third external goal is to have a sustained, strategic communications effort.
"If you read the Wall Street Journal and talk to decision makers in DC, hydropower may not be the first thing they think of," he said. "We want to change that."
The NHA strives to provide facts and information to the public, so they can appreciate hydropower.
To do so, the association is about to launch a new Web site.
The NHA is also hiring an employee to handle communications in-house after several years of contracting the work.
He mentioned the Hydropower Improvement Act of 2010, which was jointly introduced by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., with four other co-sponsors.
Based on this year's new makeup of Congress, the NHA is evaluating the priority issues in that act, which was introduced in 2010.
NHA is considering whether or not to try to get the bill introduced in the House and the Senate, as the House passed an energy bill last year.
Munro also responded to the change in the Republican control of the House and the new leadership role of Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., as the Natural Resources Committee's chairman.
"This is excellent news for Grant County, Eastern Washington and all of the region," Munro said.
The Natural Resources Committee has jurisdiction over energy, future energy and natural resources the NHA is working to protect, he said.
"We're happy and pleased he's been selected as chairman," Munro commented. "It's a good opportunity for Eastern Washington that's going to benefit the interest of our customers and utility. He's been one of the strongest supporters of hydropower in the U.S. Congress."
Munro cited an example of Hastings' help in passing the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Munro also called Hastings well-respected by his peers in Washington, D.C. and very effective in hydropower issues.