[The Vector] Hydropower Improvement Act of 2010
The National Hydropower Association (NHA) released a statement on July 13th 2010 praising introduction of a bipartisan bill by Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Patty Murray (D-WA), Mike Crapo )R-ID) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA). The statement thanked the Senators who “…show great vision in turning to hydropower to provide clean, reliable, domestic energy generation, while also creating jobs in every state in the country – in fact, the measure will help create 1.4 million cumulative jobs over the next 14 years.”
The NHA hopes that the bill will help hydropower in the upcoming Energy Bill and in policymaking, which should include long-term incentives for project development.
“We salute Sen. Murkowski and the bill’s co-sponsors for their work and stand ready to work with Congress, the White House, and other stakeholders to ensure that hydropower is supported in any energy and/or climate bill that moves forward,” said the Executive Director of NHA, Linda Church Ciocci.
The Hydropower Renewable Energy Development Act aims to increase the capacity of the nation’s hydropower sources by up to 75,000 megawatts. It proposes that federal land be opened up to hydropower projects. It calls for a competitive grants program, and requires the Department of Energy to come up with a research, development and demonstration plan to increase hydropower capacity. The bill also wants the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to streamline the permit process for hydropower projects. Finally, the bill wants to make more hydropower projects eligible for federal Production Tax Credits and the Clean Renewable Energy Bonds program.
Hydropower accounts globally for about 15% of energy generation. The chart here, courtesy REN21, shows worldwide statistics through 2008. 
Some, like Duke Energy, have recently said that the U.S. should turn its attention back to hydropower as a plain and simple resource we can handle – and it is a proven technology.
