Federal Power: Outages Reduce the Reliability of Hydroelectric Power Plants in the Southeast

GAO discussed the maintenance and repair of hydroelectric powerplants operated by the Army Corps of Engineers in the Southeast, focusing on the extent to which: (1) the power plants are experiencing outages; and (2) planning and budgeting processes allow the Corps to perform timely and effective repairs and rehabilitation of its hydroelectric assets. GAO noted that: (1) due to lengthy outages, the plants' availability to generate power dropped from 95.4 percent to 87.2 percent and have lost about $13 million since fiscal year (FY) 1986; (2) some of the plants' units are aging, need repair or replacement, were poorly designed, were not properly installed, and have been adversely affected by the way they have been operated; (3) the need to spend more to maintain and repair the aging hydroelectric power plants will compete with the need to maintain and repair other Corps facilities; (4) the Corps' emphasis on routine, ongoing maintenance and repair work and the lengthy justification process for extensive work delays long-term repairs; and (5) the Corps is addressing the plants' planning and budgeting needs.