Wednesday is National Hydropower Day – Make Your Voice Heard

Wednesday is National Hydropower Day – Make Your Voice Heard

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Imagine getting millions of people – all on the same day – to hear, read, and listen to messages about hydropower being a reliable, clean energy source!

That’s exactly what’s going to happen on Wednesday, August 24, National Hydropower Day, when NHA will be pushing out exciting content to celebrate hydropower, including a live, exclusive, one-on-one interview with U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

And you can participate … all it takes is these 3 easy actions:

  • Following the National Hydropower Association on your preferred social media platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn
  • Liking, commenting, and sharing what you see
  • Posting a message of your own on your accounts on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and/or Instagram, including the hashtag: #hydroday

Throughout the day on Wednesday, August 24, the National Hydropower Association will be active on social media. Highlights include:

  • Sharing content that showcases hydropower’s reliability and clean energy benefits
  • Celebrating waterpower’s inclusion in the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden on August 12

NHA has several resources, including a social media toolkit, for use in participation in National Hydropower Day.

WHY A ‘NATIONAL HYDROPOWER DAY’ MATTERS

The annual August 24 National Hydropower Day, launched in 2018, grew out of the desire to provide the hydropower community in the United States with an opportunity to rally around a shared cause. The National Hydropower Association (NHA) knew much of the industry’s good work was going unnoticed and wanted to do something about it. By unifying hydropower asset owners, industry service & product suppliers, and project developers, a shared platform could be developed to both broadcast and elevate a single message: “Hydropower Matters.”

By devoting a day to hydropower every year, the industry has an opportunity to share the benefits of hydropower and to celebrate the industry’s role in powering the clean energy economy.

In past years, the greater hydropower community engaged at an extraordinary level with National Hydropower Day messaging reaching millions of people on social media. Engagement surpassed more than just social media platforms with organizations earning media attention (see NPPD’s local TV spotlight below), issuing press releases, and writing letters to editors.

While conventional hydropower represents the second largest renewable energy source in the United States, the industry has more work to do in promoting the additional benefits of hydropower generation.

As a carbon-free resource with the multiplying factors of strengthening the health of our rivers, creating locally-minded recreation spaces which provide opportunities like fishing, canoeing, stargazing, and more, hydropower makes communities cleaner. That’s why the theme of this year’s National Hydropower Day is “Cleaner Communities.” This theme will help unify the message among hydropower supporters and encourage more participants to share messages on how hydropower has created a cleaner community near them.

The hydropower industry’s adoption of National Hydropower Day has led to resonance with the public, federal agencies, Congressional members, and two White House administrations.

Building on the momentum of past years and expanding its reach, NHA has secured a one-on-one interview with U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in celebration of National Hydropower Day.

During the interview on August 24, Secretary Granholm will discuss the recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), as well as opportunities for hydropower, and more.

CELEBRATING WATERPOWER’S INCLUSION IN THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT

The hydropower industry will use this year’s National Hydropower Day to celebrate passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the biggest climate bill in the history of the United States.

Owing to the efforts of the hydropower industry and its champions, conventional hydropower, pumped storage hydro, and marine energy all receive support in the Act.

Containing significant clean energy tax provisions as a means of combatting the climate crisis, the landmark legislation is expected to transform the United States’ electricity landscape. With hydropower playing a critical role in the transition to a clean energy grid, the waterpower industry will benefit from the legislation in many ways, but some of the biggest benefits are:

  1. Investments for capacity upgrades at existing hydropower facilities, retrofits of non-powered dams with hydropower generation, and the creation of a 10-year investment tax credit/production tax credit for new marine and hydrokinetic projects
  2. Incentives for developing new pumped storage facilities via a 10-year technology-neutral energy storage investment tax credit
  3. Maximizing the aforementioned benefits by providing direct pay for non-taxed entities, like co-ops and public power, and transferability for taxed entities, like investor-owned utilities

To learn more, read NHA’s analysis unpacking the IRA’s benefits to waterpower.

The Inflation Reduction Act is a generational opportunity to embrace renewables, and with hydropower’s broad functionality, the dependability it provides to the grid, and incomparable energy storage potential, the Biden Administration considers it a core component in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by one billion tons by 2030, enabling the clean energy economy.

HOW TO CHAMPION HYDROPOWER ON AUGUST 24

The National Hydropower Association’s goal for this year’s National Hydropower Day is to make engagement as simple as possible. In pursuit of this goal, NHA has created a communications toolkit with ready-to-go posts. Of course, individuals and organizations are welcome to create their own graphics in support of the day.

If you’re looking for some easy-to-use facts and statistics, NHA has created a messaging guide that covers all things hydropower.

If this article has inspired you to celebrate National Hydropower Day, then here are some steps you can take after reading:

  1. Calculate the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions your clean energy production avoids each year: Use the Environmental Protection Agency’s GHG Emissions Calculator to translate your facility’s energy generation (kWh) output into tons of CO2 avoided by producing hydropower and providing clean energy to the grid. You can then add this number to your communications’ narrative about how your hydropower facility is adding clean energy generation to local communities.
  2. Remind your colleagues that August 24 is National Hydropower Day: By making National Hydropower Day a cause for celebration, you can leverage the event as an opportunity to celebrate the staff that make operation possible each day. Consider sharing their stories and profiles to demonstrate the human side of the cleaner communities they support with their employment.

And, it’s never too early to start thinking about 2023! For next year’s National Hydropower Day, NHA encourages you to begin planning now. A couple of ideas:

  1. Contact your Congressional delegation: Invite local congressional delegations to visit your facility. Regardless of whether a member of Congress can visit on August 24th, the invitation initiates dialogue about how hydropower contributes to clean energy generation in the politician’s state or district.
  2. Formulate a plan with communications staff: A social media engagement strategy for National Hydropower Day is always recommended, but it is not the only way to broadcast the importance of hydropower. NHA encourages you to consider reaching out to local media – newspapers, radio, T.V. stations – to share the story of how hydropower facilities or products are contributing to cleaner communities