Reclamation’s Power Office operates and maintains the initial units of the Colorado River Storage Project, including Blue Mesa, Morrow Point, Crystal, Flaming Gorge, and Glen Canyon dams and powerplants. The Power Office also has responsibility for operation and maintenance of Fontenelle Dam and Powerplant (Seedskadee Project) and Upper and Lower Molina Powerplants (Collbran Project). Examples of activities associated with operating and maintaining these facilities include:
- Operating powerplants to maximize power generation while meeting downstream water delivery and environmental commitments
- Testing and inspection programs to ensure safe equipment performance and continued reliability of the federal infrastructure
- Evaluating impacts to hydropower generation associated with changes in operations to meet Endangered Species Act requirements
- Planning and implementation of actions associated with maintaining the security of structures, including emergency response exercises involving local communities
- Inspecting and maintaining gates, penstocks, spillways, and waterways to ensure the safety of dams and associated structures
- Evaluating opportunities to enhance the visitor experience
- Maintaining or replacing turbines, generators and other major equipment to improve generation efficiency and power system reliability
- Managing the North American Electric Reliability Council/Western Electricity Coordinating Council (NERC/WECC) reliability program to ensure Upper Colorado Region power facilities meet federally mandated reliability requirements
The Power Office works closely with Western Area Power Administration and the Colorado River Energy Distributors Association to assure repayment of the federal investment, to secure funding for environmental and operation and maintenance programs, and to coordinate operation and maintenance activities with overall power system operations, power marketing, and customer needs.
The Power Office provides technical and programmatic support to other federal power facilities in the UC Region. These facilities include Deer Creek, McPhee, Towaoc, and Elephant Butte powerplants. The Power Office is also involved in non-federal hydropower development at Reclamation facilities where power has not been developed, either under a lease of power privilege contract with Reclamation or a license issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.