What California Assembly Bill 825 Means for Salmon Recovery

The Columbia Snake River Campaign (CSRC) welcomes today’s passage of California Assembly Bill 825, which places further pressure on the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) to justify its reckless decision to join the Markets+ day-ahead energy market – restricting the Northwest's access to new renewable energy that could replace the fish-killing hydropower of the lower Snake River dams. 

BPA announced its intention to join Markets+, a small disconnected day-ahead market proposed for the West, over the objections of Northwest governors, senators, state agencies, Tribes, and energy consumers throughout the region. Its own analysis showed that joining a different preferred market, the Extended Day-Ahead Market (EDAM), could save its customers $400 million in the near term and over $4 billion by 2035, while giving the Northwest access to broader and more diverse energy sources. 

Instead, BPA chose Markets+, citing concerns about governance bias towards California because EDAM is currently overseen by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO).

But Assembly Bill 825 changes this. It enables the transfer of oversight of the regional market to a new entity, the Regional Organization for Western Markets, which will be governed by an array of Western interests. 

Although BPA has discounted the importance of this development, it continues to face scrutiny and ongoing litigation over its evident desire to maintain more control of the marketplace at the expense of Tribes, salmon, and its own customers. BPA continues to rely on an outdated hydropower system that has driven Snake River salmon towards extinction. Transitioning away from this dependence requires modernizing our energy infrastructure and increasing access to new, renewable energy sources that can replace the services currently provided by the lower Snake River dams. 

The Columbia Snake River Campaign applauds the leadership of Senators Wyden, Merkley, Murray, Cantwell, Schiff, and Padilla in urging swift passage of Assembly Bill 825. Expanding regional energy markets is not only a matter of lowering costs and strengthening grid reliability, it is essential to building the clean energy system we need to reduce our reliance on lower Snake hydropower and recover wild salmon.

The urgency of Columbia Basin salmon recovery cannot be overstated. Populations are collapsing, Tribal treaty rights are being violated, and Southern Resident orcas are starving. We cannot save salmon with yesterday’s energy policies. Assembly Bill 825 represents a forward-looking approach that aligns energy security with environmental justice, and we applaud lawmakers who are fighting to make it a reality.