• As public entities, NCPA and its members are recipients of power generated by the Central Valley Project in California. NCPA advocates before Congress to ensure power customers concerns regarding agency proposals affecting power rates, operations, and maintenance are understood and addressed where necessary. This includes requests for congressional oversight to assure transparency in decision-making by the federal agencies that manage this program, fairness among all of the multi-purpose uses of these projects, and efforts to prevent the unwarranted imposition of non-power-related costs onto public power customers. NCPA is also focused on assuring that costs for CVP environmental measures undertaken to address the ongoing drought are borne by the federal government. Many of NCPAs member communities exist in or around wildfire-prone areas known as Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) zones. NCPA encourages Congress to implement reforms that reduce the severity and frequency of wildfires in California and provide electric utilities with the tools and resources they need to decrease their risks associated with such incidents. NCPA operates a hydroelectric generation project located in the Sierra Foothills. Unfortunately, due to a series of extreme weather events and debris flows from U.S. Forest Service (USFS) land, a significant amount of sediment buildup has occurred in one of our reservoirs. This sediment buildup has degraded the water quality, accelerated the wear and tear of the turbines, and reduced overall power output to nine NCPA member communities served by the project. To ensure proper project operations, a solution is needed to remove the debris that has flowed into this reservoir from federal lands as a result of landslides and erosion-however, the USFS has thus far informally declined requests to relocate this non-contaminated sediment back onto the adjacent land it manages. NCPA is encouraging the USFS to take action to allow for sediment relocation on adjacent federal lands that were the initial source of the debris for fire breaks and soil augmentation, among other purposes. NCPA is also asking Congress to direct the USFS to take action in this regard.
• As energy suppliers and market participants, NCPA and the broader public power sector has been focused on the clean energy and R&D funding provided through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. As these programs are implemented, NCPA is working to ensure our congressional delegation is aware of public power sector efforts with regard to EV infrastructure development for rural and disadvantaged communities and the potential for the integration of hydrogen at an existing natural gas facility, the Lodi Energy Center. NCPA is also meeting with agencies to learn more about the future administration of these programs with regard to timing and prioritization. NCPA is also very engaged in industry and FERC efforts to ensure physical and cyber security in the electric sector, and continues to engage with agencies to assure an ongoing dialog about industry standards and future needs in this area.
• Congress has approved an extension and expansion of energy tax credits, and NCPA is deeply appreciative of the inclusion of the "direct pay" provision for the first time. Recognizing the importance that public power systems receive comparable incentives for investments in eligible renewable energy projects, the GREEN Act (HR 848 addressed this inequity by allowing for the direct payment equal to 85% of energy production and investment tax credits and carbon capture tax credits to any entity that owns the project. Achieving the goals of the Inflation Reduction Act is dependent on expeditious implementation of this provision by the IRS. NCPA is working with the IRS to ensure definitional eligibility, streamlined processes, and workable standards. NCPA is keeping its Congressional delegation apprised regarding implementation progress and will let the delegation know if NCPA will need assistance in being directly involved in the implementation of this provision as the IRS works to adjust its rules and guidance related to this provision.

Duration: January 1, 2008 to present

General Issues: Natural Resources, Energy/Nuclear, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code, Telecommunications, Labor Issues/Antitrust/Workplace, Disaster Planning/Emergencies, Utilities, Financial Institutions/Investments/Securities, Government Issues, Budget/Appropriations, Environmental/Superfund, Fuel/Gas/Oil, Clean Air & Water (Quality)

Spending: about $9,654,314 (But it's complicated. Here's why.)

It can be tricky to figure out how much an organization spent on a particular lobbying engagement. The law only requires lobbyists to report the amount they were paid for federal lobbying each quarter rounded to the nearest $10,000—and if it's less than $3,000 in a given quarter (or less than $13,000 for organizations with in-house lobbyists), they don't have to disclose it at all. Plus, some organizations include spending that doesn’t belong in the report—for instance, money spent lobbying state governments or other legal work.

Agencies lobbied since 2008: U.S. Senate, House of Representatives, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Forest Service, Energy - Dept of, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Senate,, Interior - Dept of (DOI)

Affiliated organizations: Alameda Power & Telecom; Bay Area Rapid Transit; City of Biggs