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Nonprofit Utilities Chide Kotek on Reduced Columbia System Dam Power Generation by Pete Danko KGW, March 11, 2026

The case is unfolding in the wake of the Trump administration's decision
to withdraw from an agreement on restoring endangered fish runs.

Salem, Ore. -- Consumer-owned utilities are taking Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek to task for her support of a court order to increase spill over eight Columbia Basin dams. They charge the order "creates real reliability risk and very real rate consequences for Oregonians."

U.S. District Judge Michael Simon issued the order on Feb. 25, finding "dire and immediate" threats to salmon and steelhead populations. He wrote that "it is reasonable to conclude that the listed species' prognosis is as bad as -- or worse than -- it has ever been."

The case is unfolding in the wake of the Trump administration's decision last year to withdraw from an agreement between the federal government and Native American tribes, conservationists and Oregon and Washington on restoring endangered fish runs.

Consumer-owned utilities that rely on power from the dams -- nonprofits such as public utility districts, municipal operations and co-ops -- supported the Trump move. But it prompted fish advocates, joined by Oregon, to resume a long legal fight over dam operations and their effects on fish.

In a Feb. 26 statement, Kotek supported Simon's ruling, saying it would have a "modest impact on power generation, ability to meet peak demand, and our region's ability to maintain a reliable, affordable power system."

In a letter to Kotek dated March 9, some three dozen consumer-owned utility leaders said they'd requested a meeting with the governor last October, hoping to discuss the state's position.

"We never received a response," they wrote.

Related Pages:
Salmon Could Make a Comeback if Lower Snake River Dams are Breached, New Research Finds by Joe Raineri, KGW, 7/27/22