Jayapal Joins Washington Delegation in Letter to Energy Secretary on Trump and Musk’s Indiscriminate Firings at Bonneville Power Administration, Threatening PNW Energy Reliability and Increased Costs
***FACT SHEET: Impact in Washington State of Trump and Musk’s Reckless Mass Layoffs***
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D. (D, WA-08) led their colleagues in Washington’s Congressional delegation—U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Representatives Suzan DelBene (D, WA-01), Rick Larsen (D, WA-02), Emily Randall (D, WA-06), Pramila Jayapal (D, WA-07), Adam Smith (D, WA-09), and Marilyn Strickland D, WA-10),—in sending a letter to Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Chris Wright laying out their grave concerns with Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s recent mass firings at the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and how these reckless layoffs threaten grid reliability for the people in Washington state.
“Pursuant to President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) 14210, last week DOE implemented large scale, department-wide reductions in the workforce. At the Bonneville Power Administration, these have been nothing short of devastating, totaling nearly 20 percent of BPA’s total headcount. These public servants literally helped keep the lights on for tens of millions of Americans. Beyond harming BPA’s ability to address existing and future needs, these cuts immediately jeopardize the reliability of the Pacific Northwest’s electrical grid and severely hamper economic development in the region. Such significant reductions in BPA’s workforce will result in increased costs to consumers and delays to further economic investments in the Northwest,” the Members wrote.
BPA provides 28 percent of the Pacific Northwest’s electric power, ensuring affordable electricity for more than 13 million people across Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Western Montana. BPA owns and operates 75 percent of the Northwest’s high voltage electrical transmission system, amounting to over 15,000 miles of transmission lines—the services BPA provides support the entire Northwest. Importantly, BPA does not receive federal funding—Northwest ratepayers ensure that BPA is able to remain self-funded.
Last week, Senator Murray raised the alarm immediately after hearing about mass firings at BPA—between employees who were fired, those whose job offers were rescinded, and those who took the “Fork in the Road offer,” we estimate that BPA is losing between 450 and 600 skilled workers as a result of Trump and Elon Musk’s attempts to gut the federal workforce. This includes everyone from electricians and engineers to dispatchers, lineworkers, cybersecurity experts, and so many other people who help keep the lights on in the Northwest. Again, these are positions funded by ratepayers.
“Beyond those fired, hundreds of BPA employees opted in to OPM’s so-called ‘deferred resignation’ program, which will leave critical positions open without the ability to backfill easily. Both workers and ratepayers are now left without certainty on what funding will be used or when payments under this legally dubious program will begin. Encouraging resignation of these highly specialized workers alone risks grid reliability and stable rates in the region, draining BPA’s institutional knowledge with no solution to account for these additional vacancies,” the Members continued.
“The EO also calls for further large-scale Reductions in Force (RIFs). There may also be further firings of probational employees. Additionally, the EO requires the hiring of ‘no more than one employee for every four employees that depart.’ BPA cannot afford to follow through on such directives. The EO states that workforce reductions ‘shall not apply to functions related to public safety’—ensuring the reliable provision of electricity is clearly a matter of public safety. As such, we call on you to continue to swiftly rescind the terminations of staff and reverse rescinded job offers at BPA, in acknowledgement of the critical role that these employees play ensuring grid reliability in the Northwest. It cannot be stated more plainly: this is a matter of life-and-death for millions of Americans,” the Members wrote.
The Members concluded by asking Secretary Wright to rescind the terminations of BPA employees, reverse rescinded job offers, and “explain why BPA employees were not deemed necessary to meet public safety responsibilities and exempted from last weeks’ workforce reductions in the first place.”
A PDF of the full letter is available HERE.
Issues: Jobs, Labor, & the Economy