Trump and Musk Slash 13.5% of Bonneville Power’s Jobs While Protecting the Tennessee Valley Authority

[WGBH NEWS] – The Trump administration’s 13.5% arbitrary job cuts at the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) did not hit the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), despite both not relying on federal funds to pay their workers.

Last week, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) warned that cuts of between 450 to 600 workers “are literally the people who help keep the lights on.”

“Between employees who were fired, those whose job offers were rescinded, and those who took the ‘Fork in the Road offer,’ we estimate that BPA is losing between 450 and 600 skilled workers,” said Murray. “This includes everyone from electricians and engineers to dispatchers, lineworkers, cybersecurity experts, and so many other people who help keep the lights on in the Northwest.”

After last week’s job cuts, BPA is attempting to rehire approximately 30 probationary workers, those who had been in their jobs for less than two years, after being deemed critical staff.

The workers who left were paid by ratepayers—the BPA’s customers—and not by federal funds. “Staff reductions…will not create reductions in the federal deficit,” said Randy Hardy and Steve Wright, former BPA administrators who wrote an open letter about the job cuts.

On Monday, Scott Simms, the executive director of the Public Power Council, said “more than 400” of BPA’s employees had been let go. About 125 staffers took a deferred resignation option, the so-called “Fork in the Road” e-mail offered last month, another 105 accepted early retirement, and 90 recent job offers had been rescinded. According to Simms, another 125 to 200 probationary workers were terminated.

Many of the 230 workers who voluntarily left were in specialized jobs, including linemen, system engineers, power dispatchers, and substation operators. The Southeast Lineman Training Center tells students it takes up to 4 years and 8,000 hours of training to become a journeyman lineman with an associates degree.

The BPA is responsible for over 15,000 circuit miles of transmission lines and 261 electrical substations in nine states, including all of Washington, Idaho, and Oregon. Almost 90% of the 11,680 megawatts of power transmitted through BPA infrastructure comes from 31 hydroelectric plants under its management, including the Grand Coulee, Chief Joseph, John Day, The Dalles, and Bonneville Dams.

According to Hardy and Wright, the network “supplies one-third of Northwest electricity and owns/manages 75 percent of the region’s high voltage transmission system, which ensures reliable delivery of regional power to Northwest residents.”

Despite the small recall of 30 employees, Senator Murray condemned the expanding arbitrary federal job cuts, calling billionaire Elon Musk the “co-president.”

“Right now, President Trump, and his co-President Elon Musk are breaking American government. They are firing workers left and right—with no plan, no strategy, and no concern for who gets hurt,” said Murray.

Liz Krumpp, a former BPA employee with 15 years of experience, said the layoffs and hiring freeze “will make it increasingly harder for the remaining employees to do their jobs,” adding, “Customers are asking Bonneville to expand its transmission system, not shrink it.”

Did Musk and Trump Punish the Pacific Northwest – Tennessee Valley Authority Jobs Protected

Unlike the BPA, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was protected from job cuts by the White House and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Just as the BPA was created by an act of Congress in 1937 to expand electrical service to rural areas during the Great Depression, the TVA was created in 1933. It is also federally owned and receives no taxpayer funding. Today, the TVA provides power to seven states, including all of Tennessee.

The Knoxville News-Sentinel quoted TVA spokesperson Scott Brooks, who wrote in an e-mail, “TVA and its employees did not receive this communication, and this deferred resignation offer does not apply to TVA employees.”

When asked about potential arbitrary job cuts, TVA CEO Jeff Lash said, “They won’t do that because why would they, right? The government does not fund TVA at all.”

TVA leaders touted budget and job cuts made in 2015 that contributed to their insulation from the so-called DOGE and Trump. Public records show that in 2018, BPA had 2,900 employees, which grew to 3,100 before the arbitrary job cuts. However, unlike the increasing need for electricity in the Pacific Northwest, a 2018 report from the TVA projected that electrical demand within its network would drop by 13% over the next decade.

In 2020, Trump blasted TVA CEO Lash for a plan to outsource IT jobs to overseas companies. Signing an executive order that prevented federal agencies from outsourcing labor, Trump told reporters, “Let this serve as a warning to any federally appointed board. If you betray American workers, then you will hear two simple words: ‘You’re fired.'”

The TVA and the BPA did not respond to our requests for comment.

Jake Goldstein-Street contributed to this story.

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