Mohave Electric Cooperative and several other rural electric cooperatives in Arizona have banded together in an effort to secure a meaningful allocation of power from Hoover Dam. Federal legislation has allowed the State of Arizona to use discriminatory laws that deny cooperatives equitable access to the low-cost federal hydropower generated at Hoover, a practice that has been in existence for more than 70 years.  

The United States Congress is working on legislation, known as HR 470 (Hoover Power Allocation Act of 2011), that will determine who receives power from Hoover Dam in the states of California, Nevada, and Arizona until the year 2067. As it stands right now, the proposed legislation is a continuation of an allocation of power to 30 Arizona entities, none of which is a rural electric cooperative.

The Arizona-based Cooperatives are asking for equal access to Arizona’s allocation of Hoover power.

“We aren’t asking for special preference, just equal consideration that electric cooperatives in all other federal hydropower projects are given under the law. This is an important issue for MEC and its members,” said Tyler Carlson, Mohave Electric CEO.

Within Arizona, Hoover power is reallocated by the Arizona Power Authority (APA), an organization that has excluded the Cooperatives from receiving a share of the power. In its current form HR470 allows for the continuation of a policy that is discriminatory and detrimental to Arizona’s Electric Cooperatives and their members.

Rural electric cooperative representatives are asking for a change to the provisions of HR470 so that a state, such as Arizona, is prohibited from the discriminatory practice of treating cooperatives other than equal or equitable. In an effort to overcome this treatment, the cooperatives have asked for help from Arizona’s elected officials in the U.S. House of Representatives but have been turned away.

“We asked for just five minutes to be heard in front of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power on behalf of our members,” said Carlson. “But our elected officials were unable or unwilling to arrange a five minute appearance to testify last month at a hearing on the Hoover Power Allocation Act.”

Only one Arizona Congressman, Ed Pastor, took demonstrable action by writing to the Subcommittee chairman to ask that Cooperative representatives be granted the opportunity to testify. Surprisingly, there are no co-ops in Pastor’s district; however, he understands that fair distribution of Hoover power is extremely important for all Arizonans.

 “We appealed to every elected official in the House of Representatives that represents Arizona’s cooperative members, to help us get a few minutes to bring our concerns to the Subcommittee hearing. Congressman Pastor was our only advocate even though Congressman Gosar is on the Committee and he represents co-op members in his Arizona district.” Carlson added.

The next step for the Hoover Power Allocation Act is in the U.S. Senate. Arizona’s rural electric cooperatives will seek every opportunity for support from Senator McCain to correct the 70 years of discrimination the Arizona Cooperatives have experienced in their quest to obtain low-cost Hoover power for their members and rural Arizona.