View source for Power Marketing Administration

{{Short description|Type of US federal agency for selling hydroelectricity}}
The '''Power Marketing Administration''' ('''PMA''') is a [[List of United States federal agencies|United States federal agency]] within the [[United States Department of Energy|Department of Energy]] responsible for marketing [[hydropower]], primarily from multiple-purpose water projects operated by the [[United States Bureau of Reclamation|Bureau of Reclamation]], the [[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]], and the [[International Boundary and Water Commission]].

The federal government first assumed a role in power marketing in the early 1900s when power from federal water projects in excess of project needs was sold in order to repay the government's investment in the projects.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.energy.gov/organization/powermarketingadmin.htm |title=Power Marketing Administrations |website=U.S. Department of Energy |access-date=January 23, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109032700/https://www.energy.gov/organization/powermarketingadmin.htm |archive-date=2009-01-09 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Southeastern Power Administration is the only PMA that doesn't construct and own transmission lines, putting it at a disadvantage with regards to dealing with private utility companies compared to the other three PMAs. The SEPA has to contract with other utilities to provide transmission.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2013/07/f2/SEPAHistorySect1-cleanup1.pdf |title=Serving the Southeast - A History of the Southeastern Power Administration 1990-2010 |website=www.energy.gov |access-date=17 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120080530/https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2013/07/f2/SEPAHistorySect1-cleanup1.pdf |archive-date=2022-01-20 |url-status=live}}</ref>

There are four federal PMAs, which market and deliver power in 34 [[U.S. state]]s:
* [[Bonneville Power Administration]] (established 1937)
* [[Southwestern Power Administration]] (established 1943)
* [[Southeastern Power Administration]] (established 1950)
* [[Western Area Power Administration]] (established 1977)

{{anchor|Alaska Power Administration}}
A fifth PMA, the Alaska Power Administration, existed from 1967 to 1998. In 1995 Congress passed a law authorizing the sale of the two hydroelectric power projects in the APA, the [[Eklutna Dam|Eklutna Hydroelectric Project]] and the [[Snettisham hydroelectric power plant|Snettisham Hydroelectric Project]], to private companies. It also authorized the termination of the APA.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/104th-congress/senate-bill/395/text/pl |title=Text - S.395 - 104th Congress (1995-1996): An Act to authorize and direct the Secretary of Energy to sell the Alaska Power Administration, and to authorize the export of Alaska North Slope crude oil, and for other purposes |website=www.congress.gov |date= 28 November 1995|access-date=21 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419033215/https://www.congress.gov/bill/104th-congress/senate-bill/395/text/pl |archive-date=2019-04-19 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://inis.iaea.org/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/28/057/28057580.pdf |title=The Changing Structure of the Electric Power Industry: An Update |page=9 (footnote 16) |date=December 1996 |access-date=21 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220908215902/https://inis.iaea.org/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/28/057/28057580.pdf |archive-date=2022-09-08 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==References==
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{{DOE agencies}}

[[Category:United States Department of Energy]]


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