This month, the Trump administration instituted sweeping cuts within the federal agencies in charge of power from hydroelectric dams, raising fears of grid instabilities in key data center markets. The recent layoffs slashed between 13% to 20% of the four Power Marketing Administrations’ workforces, affecting everyone from linemen to the teams that direct power on a minute-to-minute basis.
But after criticism from lawmakers and customers, the Trump administration has rehired at least some of those employees, according to a report in E&E News.
The four power marketing administrations sell and transmit hydropower from a range of federally owned dams, including the Bonneville Dam in the Pacific Northwest and the Hoover Dam in the Southwest. These dams — and the agencies that oversee the sale and distribution of the power they produce — supply electricity to tens of millions of homes across 34 states.
The agencies are funded through the sale of that electricity and don’t rely on money from the U.S. Treasury.