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Title 16, ConservationRelease 119-102

§837 Definitions

Title 16 › CHAPTER 12F — PACIFIC NORTHWEST CONSUMER POWER PREFERENCE; RECIPROCAL PRIORITY IN OTHER REGIONS › § 837

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Defines key words used in the chapter about federal power in the Pacific Northwest. "Secretary" means the Secretary of Energy. "Pacific Northwest" includes Oregon and Washington, Montana west of the Continental Divide, parts of Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming inside the Columbia River drainage, and parts of Idaho the Secretary says are in the Federal Columbia River power system market area, plus nearby cooperative service areas up to seventy-five airline miles that served both inside and outside the region on December 5, 1980. "Surplus energy" means federal hydro power there that would otherwise be wasted for lack of a market at any set rate. "Surplus peaking capacity" means federal hydro peaking power with no demand at any set rate. "Non-Federal utility" means any utility not owned or controlled by the U.S., including related companies it owns, controls, is controlled by, or is a member of. "Energy requirements of any Pacific Northwest customer" means the full electricity needs of (1) any buyer getting power directly from the U.S. for use in the Pacific Northwest, and (2) any non-Federal utility in the region for needs beyond its own hydro output and any extra energy it can get under an existing contract either at no higher incremental cost than the U.S. rate or that it must accept. Terms not defined here use the meanings in the March 1949 Glossary of Important Power and Rate Terms.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §837

Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

As used in this chapter—
(a)“Secretary” means the Secretary of Energy.
(b)“Pacific Northwest” means (1) the region consisting of the States of Oregon and Washington, the State of Montana west of the Continental Divide, and such portions of the States of Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming within the Columbia drainage basin and of the State of Idaho as the Secretary may determine to be within the marketing area of the Federal Columbia River power system, and (2) any contiguous areas, not in excess of seventy-five airline miles from said region, which are a part of the service area of a rural electric cooperative served by the Administrator on December 5, 1980, which has a distribution system from which it serves both within and without said region.
(c)“Surplus energy” means electric energy generated at Federal hydroelectric plants in the Pacific Northwest which would otherwise be wasted because of the lack of a market therefor in the Pacific Northwest at any established rate.
(d)“Surplus peaking capacity” means electric peaking capacity at Federal hydroelectric plants in the Pacific Northwest for which there is no demand in the Pacific Northwest at any established rate.
(e)“Non-Federal utility” means any utility not owned or controlled by the United States, including any entity (1) which such a utility owns or controls, in whole or in part, or is controlled by, (2) which is controlled by those controlling such utility, or (3) of which such utility is a member.
(f)“Energy requirements of any Pacific Northwest customer” means the full requirements for electric energy of (1) any purchaser from the United States for direct consumption in the Pacific Northwest, and (2) any non-Federal utility in that region in excess of (i) the hydroelectric energy available for its own use from its generating plants in the Pacific Northwest, and (ii) any additional energy available for use in the Pacific Northwest which, under a then existing contract, the utility (A) can obtain at no higher incremental cost than the rate charged by the United States, or (B) is required to accept.
(g)Terms not defined herein shall, unless the context requires otherwise, have the meaning given them in the March 1949 Glossary of Important Power and Rate Terms prepared under the supervision of the Federal Power Commission.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1980—Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 96–501 substituted “(2) any contiguous areas, not in excess of seventy-five airline miles from said region, which are a part of the service area of a rural electric cooperative served by the Administrator on December 5, 1980, which has a distribution system from which it serves both within and without said region” for “(2) any contiguous areas, not in excess of seventy-five airline miles from said region, which are a part of the service area of a distribution cooperative which has (i) no generating facilities, and (ii) a distribution system from which it serves both within and without said region”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1980 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 96–501 effective Dec. 5, 1980, see section 11 of Pub. L. 96–501, set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 839 of this title.

Transfer of Functions

“Secretary of Energy” substituted for “Secretary of the Interior” in subsec. (a) pursuant to Pub. L. 95–91, § 302(a), which is classified to section 7152(a) of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. The Federal Power Commission was terminated, and its functions, personnel, property, funds, etc., were transferred to the Secretary of Energy (except for certain functions which were transferred to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) by section 7151(b), 7171(a), 7172(a), 7291, and 7293 of Title 42.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 837

Title 16, Conservation

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102