[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 22 (Monday, February 5, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H749-H750]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
WESTERN AREA POWER ADMINISTRATION TRANSPARENCY ACT
Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(H.R. 2371) to require the Administrator of the Western Area Power
Administration to establish a pilot project to provide increased
transparency for customers, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 2371
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Western Area Power
Administration Transparency Act''.
SEC. 2. WESTERN AREA POWER ADMINISTRATION PILOT PROJECT.
(a) In General.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Western Area
Power Administration (referred to in this section as the
``Administrator'') shall establish a pilot project, as part
of the continuous process improvement program and to provide
increased transparency for customers, to publish on a
publicly available website of the Western Area Power
Administration, a database of the following information,
beginning with fiscal year 2008, relating to the Western Area
Power Administration:
(1) By power system and in a consistent format, rates
charged to customers for power and transmission service.
(2) By power system, the amount of capacity or energy sold.
(3) By region, a detailed accounting, at the functional
level and the budget activity level, of all expenditures,
capital costs, and staffing costs, including--
(A) indirect costs, including overhead costs;
(B) direct charges and direct allocations;
(C) the number of contract staff;
(D) costs related to independent consultants;
(E) the number of full-time equivalents; and
(F) charges to the region from the headquarters office of
the Western Area Power Administration for all annual and
capital costs.
(4) For the headquarters office of the Western Area Power
Administration, a detailed
[[Page H750]]
accounting at the functional level and the budget activity
level, of all expenditures and capital costs, including--
(A) indirect costs, including overhead costs;
(B) direct charges and direct allocations;
(C) the number of contract staff;
(D) costs related to independent consultants;
(E) the number of full-time equivalents;
(F) a summary of any expenditures described in this
paragraph, with the total amount paid by each region and
power system; and
(G) expenses incurred on behalf of other Federal agencies
or programs or third parties for the administration of
programs not related to the marketing, transmission, or
wheeling of Federal hydropower resources, including--
(i) indirect costs, including overhead costs;
(ii) direct charges and allocations;
(iii) the number of contract staff; and
(iv) the number of full-time equivalents.
(5) Capital expenditures, including--
(A) capital investments delineated by the year in which
each investment is placed into service; and
(B) the sources of capital for each investment.
(b) Annual Summary.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the end of
each fiscal year in which the pilot project is being carried
out under this section, the Administrator shall make
available on a publicly available website--
(A) updates to documents made available on the date of the
initial publication of the information on the website under
subsection (a);
(B) an identification of the magnitude of annual changes in
the information published on the website under subsection
(a);
(C) a description of the reasons for the changes identified
under subparagraph (B);
(D) subject to paragraph (2), the total amount of the
unobligated balances retained by the Western Area Power
Administration at the end of the prior fiscal year within
each marketing area and headquarters by--
(i) purpose or function;
(ii) source of funding;
(iii) anticipated program allotment; and
(iv) underlying authority for each source of funding; and
(E) the anticipated level of unobligated balances that the
Western Area Power Administration expects to retain at the
end of the fiscal year in which the annual summary is
published, as delineated by each of the categories described
in clauses (i) through (iv) of subparagraph (D).
(2) Limitation.--Amounts in the Upper Colorado River Basin
Fund established by section 5(a) of the Act of April 11, 1956
(commonly known as the ``Colorado River Storage Project
Act'') (43 U.S.C. 620d(a)), shall not considered to be an
unobligated balance retained by the Western Area Power
Administration for purposes of paragraph (1)(D).
(c) Termination.--The pilot project under this section
shall terminate on the date that is 7 years after the date of
enactment of this Act.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Arizona (Mr. Gosar) and the gentlewoman from Hawaii (Ms. Hanabusa) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona.
General Leave
Mr. GOSAR. I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5
legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include
extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Arizona?
There was no objection.
Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Today, we are considering my bill, H.R. 2371, the Western Area Power
Administration Transparency Act. This bipartisan bill simply requires
the Western Area Power Administration, known as WAPA, to establish a
pilot project to allow for a more detailed understanding of how it uses
both taxpayer and ratepayer dollars.
This bill is the result of calls from some of WAPA's customers given
rate increase trends and other financial discrepancies. H.R. 2371
requires WAPA to develop a publicly available website that contains a
detailed accounting of its rates, expenditures, staffing, and other
operational and financial dealings. Since cost increases are ultimately
borne by its customers, WAPA needs to be more transparent about its
business practices. That is exactly what this bill seeks to achieve.
H.R. 2371 will increase transparency and afford ratepayers with the
necessary information to positively engage with WAPA about its
operation and spending decisions. I urge adoption of the measure.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. HANABUSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2371, the Western Area Power Administration
Transparency Act will help foster greater transparency and promote
public confidence in the Western Area Power Administration, also called
WAPA. WAPA is a critically important Federal agency that helps deliver
power to nearly 40 million Americans across 15 States. This bill would
establish a 7-year pilot project requiring WAPA to publish information
online detailing the rates charged to customers for power and
transmission service.
The legislation would also require WAPA to publish a detailed
accounting of all expenditures, capital costs, and staffing costs by
region and at WAPA's headquarter office.
Finally, the legislation directs WAPA to publish information on the
amount of unobligated balances the agency retains each year.
For these reasons, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the
bill.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
{time} 1630
Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2371 will increase transparency and
afford ratepayers with the necessary information to positively engage
WAPA about its operations and spending decisions. Imagine that: getting
back to what customers want.
Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the measure, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 2371.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not
present.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.
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