About the Western Area Power Administration

The Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) is one of four federal power marketing administrations providing critical sources of energy and grid stabilization within the U.S. Department of Energy .

WAPA markets and delivers reliable, cost-based federal hydroelectric power generated at 57 hydropower plants across a 15-state service area in the central and western United States.

WAPA’s employees work around the clock to operate, manage and maintain transmission services over an integrated 17,000+ circuit-mile high-voltage transmission system, and to bring to market over 26,000,000 MWh of electric power generated from hydropower plants operated by the Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the International Boundary and Water Commission.

WAPA markets power to preference customers such as federal and state agencies, cities and towns, rural electric cooperatives, public utility districts, irrigation districts and Native American tribes, who collectively deliver that electrical power to more than 40 million people across the West.

WAPA also runs the Transmission Infrastructure Program, which develops and upgrades new and existing electrical infrastructure to facilitate the delivery of reliable hydropower generation.​

WAPA’s Mission

Safely provide reliable, cost-based hydropower and transmission to our customers and the communities we serve.​

WAPA’s Vision

Empowering communities, securing a resilient energy future​.

Core Values

  • Listen to understand, speak with purpose. We must always consider our audience and speak to them in ways that will be clear, simple and relevant. We know active listening is the first step in effective communication. We consider context and check for clarity and simplicity. We are respectful, direct, honest, transparent and consistent. We assume positive intent.
  • Seek. Share. Partner. We value partnership and actively engage others in the seeking and sharing of ideas. We collaborate to move forward and partner to add value. We actively engage others. We share all relevant information in a timely fashion, acting as one team united in our common mission.
  • Respect self, others and the environment. We represent WAPA in being good neighbors and stewards of our collective resources. We are compassionate in our relationships with others, as well as toward ourselves. We are respectful in all of our dealings.
  • Do what is right. Do what is safe. We are public servants who act with integrity, stand up for what is right and demonstrate courage when acting in the best interests of our customers and the communities they serve. We are safe in all of our actions and consider safety in all our planning.​
  • Be curious, learn more, do better. Repeat. We seek and welcome feedback to directly and quickly improve. We innovate, plan for the future and support the growth of our teams and colleagues. We reflect upon progress to learn and grow.
  • Serve like your lights depend on it! We understand the importance of our mission to provide power to customers that serve more than 40 million Americans. We anticipate customer needs, build relationships, seek win-win solutions and embrace responsibility. We work hard to ensure other Americans know and understand the importance of our mission.

Our Community Philosophy

At WAPA, we have a TRUE Communication Philosophy. We are:

  • Transparent
  • Relevant
  • Understandable
  • Expedient

WAPA’s Functional Responsibilities

  • Construction – Engineers throughout WAPA are responsible for the construction of new and upgraded transmission lines and related facilities.
  • Design – WAPA’s Design staff provides transmission system engineering services and expertise with an emphasis on substation, transmission line and building designs.
  • Maintenance – WAPA’s Maintenance staff, which makes up more than one-half of WAPA’s workforce, focuses on reliability and providing superior customer service in keeping the system in good operating condition.
  • Natural Resources – The Natural Resources Office is made up of Environment and Lands teams. The Environment team focuses on environmental planning and compliance, National Environmental Policy Act compliance, cultural resources and endangered species issues, and hazardous material transportation. The Lands team assists in the development, acquisition and management of land and land rights required for Western’s transmission system.
  • Planning – WAPA’s Planning staff conducts short-and long-term planning studies to assess the impacts to power flows on the transmission system in response to upgraded or new facilities that intend to interconnect to WAPA’s grid. They also actively participate in regional planning groups to ensure WAPA’s support and involvement in collaborative future planning.
  • Power Marketing – WAPA primarily markets wholesale federal power.
  • Power System Operations – WAPA’s Power System Operations staff is responsible for the reliable operation of WAPA’s transmission system and multiple balancing authorities.
  • Transmission Infrastructure Program – This WAPA program is responsible for developing transmission and related technology projects to deliver, or facilitate the delivery of, renewable energy. To accomplish this, Congress granted WAPA $3.25 billion in borrowing authority through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
  • Transmission Marketing – WAPA is also in the business of transmission marketing. After WAPA meets its capacity needs to deliver federal hydropower to its firm power customers, any additional available transmission capacity is sold on WAPA’s Open-Access, Same-Time Information System.

Leadership Team

See WAPA’s organizational chart and leadership team page for teams’ bios

Last modified on May 23rd, 2025