WAPA announces new Colorado River Storage Project senior vice president​

LAKEWOOD, Colo. - Rodney Bailey has been selected as the new senior vice president and Colorado River Storage Project Manager. Bailey has been acting in the position since January.

"Rodney's extensive knowledge of WAPA-wide and CRSP operations, long-standing partnerships with customers and experience leading WAPA's market efforts will be instrumental to support CRSP customers on the front lines of drought in the West," said WAPA Administrator and CEO Tracey LeBeau. "His leadership is appreciated particularly now as he champions an outstanding team that is passionate about maintaining the value of hydropower in the Colorado River Basin and seeking innovative solutions through collaboration."

WAPA's CRSP Management Center markets power from 15 hydroelectric powerplants, including Glen Canyon Dam, and delivers it across more than 2,300 miles of transmission lines and 35 high-voltage transformers. On average, the powerplants produce about 5.7 billion kilowatt-hours of energy annually, which can provide 100 percent of electricity needs for an estimated 527,000 American households.

Bailey will lead all power marketing and operations activities for CRSP MC in Montrose, Colorado. CRSP MC's 38 employees manage the sale, purchase, wheeling, interchange and transmission of energy for about 150 retail energy customers and other utilities in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.

"It is an honor to be selected to lead the incredible CRSP team. Although we face challenges, I am confident that we, in close partnership with our customers and other stakeholders, will find innovative solutions to maximize the value of CRSP hydropower and continue to provide reliable, affordable and clean energy to millions of Americans," said Bailey.

CRSP MC plays an important role in representing power customer interests and helping define the future of the Upper Colorado River Basin hydroelectric facilities after more than 20 years of drought. CRSP MC has been involved with the 2007 Interim Guidelines and the 2019 Drought Operations Response Agreements with the Upper Basin States as well as funded programs and supported operational measures to protect and improve habitats for endangered Colorado River species.

Most recently, Bailey was WAPA's Power Marketing advisor, a position he began in April 2016. Since joining WAPA's Colorado River Storage Project Management Center in 1999 as a public utilities specialist, Bailey has supported and led critical initiatives and projects in a number of positions. He became the CRSP MC rates manager in 2009 and was named CRSP MC vice president of Power Marketing in 2011. Bailey possesses a bachelor's degree in technology management from Utah Valley University.

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About WAPA: Western Area Power Administration annually markets and transmits more than 28,000 gigawatt-hours of clean, renewable power from 57 federal hydroelectric powerplants owned and operated by the Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and International Boundary and Water Commission in 15 western and central states. It is part of the Department of Energy. Follow us on Twitter @WesternAreaPowr or visit the website at www.wapa.gov​.