LABOR LEADERS ACROSS THE PNW SUPPORT KEEPING THE DAMS ON THE LOWER SNAKE RIVER

From Pierce County to Idaho, union members back clean, affordable hydroelectricity. A growing movement of labor leaders and the organizations they represent took a stand to endorse clean, affordable hydroelectricity. Multiple labor leaders and organizations from around the region submitted letters of support for the lower Snake River dams to the Murray-Inslee process. Many of these labor organizations took votes on formal resolutions of support, as well. This effort builds on Labor's nearly 100 years of supporting public hydropower and comes on the heels of multiple studies released this month that outline the high costs and negative social and environmental consequences of removing the lower Snake River dams.

A study by the Biden Administration’s Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) conducted by E3 verifies previous analyses and conclusions by Northwest RiverPartners, including the recently released study by Energy GPS. The E3 and Energy GPS studies demonstrate that, given existing technologies, there is currently no viable way to remove the LSRD without burning more fossil fuels or jeopardizing grid reliability. The BPA commissioned E3 study also states that Snake River dam removal could cost ratepayers as much as $75B just to replace their electricity generation capacity.

The Idaho AFL-CIO takes this issue so seriously that it passed a resolution with amendments that no future candidates will be endorsed by the Idaho AFL-CIO if they are in favor of breaching dams. Removal of the dams would also increase power costs by up to 25 percent which would disproportionately impact low-income communities. In 2022, the Snohomish County Public Utility District, the state’s largest public utility, estimates it will get 84 percent of its electricity from the region’s federal power system, which includes the Snake River dams.

These labor leaders and organizations represent tens of thousands of workers throughout the PNW and support the dams and the clean, affordable, and reliable electricity they generate:

Washington State Building & Construction Trades Council
Laborers’ International Union of North America Local (LiUNA 335)
International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators Local 36
U.A. Plumbing & Pipefitters Local 32
Pierce County Building and Construction Trades Council
Northeast Washington and Northern Idaho Building and Construction Trades
Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Central Labor Council
Longview-Kelso Building Trades Council
Northcentral Washington Central Labor Council
Spokane Regional Labor Council
Southwest Washington Central Labor Council
Thurston-Lewis-Mason Central Labor Council