Why Hydro

Hydropower is the nation’s most available, reliable, affordable and sustainable energy source. Requiring only the power of moving water – rivers, streams and ocean tides– hydropower is also domestic and sustainable. Free from a dependence on volatile fuel prices, much of the money invested in hydropower stays in America and expanding hydro capacity would create hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs.

Hydropower is keeping the lights on in every region of the country. It is America’s largest source of clean electricity, accounting for 52 percent of all renewable energy generation in the United States, and with the right policies, it has significant room to grow.

Hydropower has been a reliable source of power in the United States for over 100 years. That proven reliability benefits the national electric grid in a number of ways, from supporting other renewable energy sources to stabilizing the network to storing electricity for later use.

Hydropower is not only a low cost source of renewable electricity, it is among the most cost effective energy sources across the board. And since hydro taps the self-renewing power of our waterways, electricity from hydro is not subject to unpredictable price swings in the markets for energy commodities.

Using hydropower – our leading source of renewable energy –avoids the emission of approx. 200 million metric tons of carbon pollution in America each year.

America’s hydropower industry has the potential to create 1.4 million cumulative jobs by 2025, putting Americans to work building a 21st century clean energy infrastructure.

Hydropower facilities often do more than produce electricity, also providing vital benefits such as flood control, navigation, irrigation, water supply and a range of recreational opportunities.

Americans view hydropower as a clean, reliable and renewable resource, and support hydro-specific initiatives for tax credits, federal reinvestment in facility upgrades, and federal investment in research and development.