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Video by Brannen Parrish

USACE, Hydropower and the Rural Electrification Act

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District

Aug. 23, 2019 | 4:14

Today is National Hydropower Day! The Tulsa District has eight hydroelectric dams in its inventory. Seven of those dams - Keystone, Fort Gibson, Webbers Falls, Tenkiller, Eufaula, Broken Bow, and Robert S. Kerr - are located in Oklahoma. The powerhouse at Denison Dam, which straddles the Red River, is on the Texas bank.

Tulsa District's hydroelectric production is marketed and sold by the Southwestern Power Administration to rural municipalities and electric cooperative in several states.

Jeffrey Miller, power plant manager at Fort Gibson Powerhouse explains how power generated by the Corps of Engineers reaches customers.

Hydroelectric Dams are excellent sources of 'peak power', power generated during the hours of highest electricity usage, because they can be quickly activated to generate electricity for the grid.

We spoke with Chris Meyers, the General Manager and CEO of the OAEC - Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives, about the cost benefit of hydroelectric power for rural Oklahomans. Electric cooperatives operate in all 77 counties in Oklahoma.

The hydroelectric mission of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was made possible by the Rural Electrification Act, which allowed the federal government to provide low-cost power to rural communities and municipalities. Additional legislation authorized the Corps of Engineers to install hydroelectric generators in flood control structures.

Due to limited investment in rural areas in the decades preceding the REA, small, rural communities trailed far behind large cities in access to electric infrastructure.