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Energy Secretary Vows Snake River Dams Will Remain by Matthew Weaver Capital Press, April 28, 2026

"They are critical energy resources for our country, and
we cannot and will not allow to see those dams come down."
-- U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright

The Trump administration "cannot and will not allow" the lower Snake River dams to be breached, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright recently said.

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., during an April 15 hearing before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, asked Wright to reaffirm the Trump administration's commitment to preserving the dams and ensure they are protected in future attempts to breach them. The conversation begins at the two-hour mark of the video.

"The story of the Snake River dams is fantastic, what they've done for environmental mitigation and dealing with the fish," Wright responded. "They are critical energy resources for our country, and we cannot and will not allow to see those dams come down."

Newhouse cited "relentless efforts continuing to weaken and remove the dams," and cited the U.S. District Court order to increase spill over the dams, which "will result in continuing to increase utility rates for customers and increase harm to fish through gas-bubble poisoning."

California has expensive electricity and gas because "in the name of the environment, they've done regulations that don't meaningfully change environmental outputs at all, they took something that was originally intended for that, and then just used it to kill industries that they don't like," Wright said, telling Newhouse that's what's happening with the Lower Snake River dams.

'Exposes the lie'

Wright pointed to "outstanding" fish mitigation efforts at the Snake River dams, with fish ladders and new turbines that allow fish passage.

"You solved a problem that was a real problem, but that wasn't enough for the people that are fighting against these dams, and sort of exposes the lie," Wright said. "It's not really about the salmon for them. They don't like these big pieces of industrial infrastructure."

Dam critics believe they want to return to the pre-industrial age -- "they would never want to live in that pre-industrial age, but they believe they want to go back that way, and they want to tear down infrastructure," Wright said.

"I believe they represent a very small minority of the people, but they too often get viewed as environmentalists -- who doesn't want a clean environment? we all want a clean environment -- but that's not real environmentalism, that's just people attacking infrastructure," Wright continued.

'Dream power'

Wright called hydropower "the dream power -- you can turn up when you need it and you can turn it down when you don't need it."

"You need dispatchable sources of power," Wright said, citing natural gas and hydropower. "You can deliver power as you need it -- that's very valuable power."

Wright thanked Newhouse for his education efforts regarding the dams.

Wright toured Ice Harbor Dam in December, "and I loved hydropower even before I visited."

New BPA administrator

Newhouse cited a letter recently sent to Wright by Pacific Northwest lawmakers regarding selection of the next administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration.

Current administrator John Hairston announced his retirement in February.

Wright said most people don't appreciate the scale of the BPA, how much power it markets and the percentage of its

"This is a major utility, buried inside a government agency," Wright said. "I've made personal calls around trying to get input and find people to find the right leader for that critical utility of scale that we have. We can transform either for the better, or we can continue a little bit of stagnation, the (availability) and cost of electricity, the speed at which new interconnections can be made."

Wright said BPA is important to him personally, and to his department.

'We need to find that right person we can attract to come and take on that challenge," he said. "Given the scale of that, we need a top-notch leader."