The Power Marketing Administration (PMA) is a United States federal agency within the

Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-rel ...

responsible for marketing

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...

, primarily from multiple-purpose water projects operated by the

Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, and formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and opera ...

, the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

, and the

International Boundary and Water Commission The International Boundary and Water Commission ( es, links=no, Comisión Internacional de Límites y Aguas) is an international body created by the United States and Mexico in 1889 to apply the rules for determining the location of their intern ...

. The federal government first assumed a role in power marketing in the early 1900s when power from federal water projects in excess of project needs was sold in order to repay the government's investment in the projects. The Southeastern Power Administration is the only PMA that doesn't construct and own transmission lines, putting it at a disadvantage with regards to dealing with private utility companies compared to the other three PMAs. The SEPA has to contract with other utilities to provide transmission. There are four federal PMAs, which market and deliver power in 34

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

s: *

Bonneville Power Administration The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is an American federal agency operating in the Pacific Northwest. BPA was created by an act of Congress in 1937 to market electric power from the Bonneville Dam located on the Columbia River and to constr ...

(established 1937) *

Southwestern Power Administration The Southwestern Power Administration (Southwestern) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Energy. Southwestern's mission was established by Section 5 of the Flood Control Act of 1944. The agency is a power marketing administration responsible ...

(established 1943) *

Southeastern Power Administration The Southeastern Power Administration is a United States Power Marketing Administration with responsibility for marketing hydroelectric power from 23 water projects operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the states of West Virginia, Virgin ...

(established 1950) *

Western Area Power Administration As one of the four power marketing administrations within the U.S. Department of Energy, the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA)'s role is to market wholesale hydropower generated at 57 hydroelectric federal dams operated by the Bureau of R ...

(established 1977) A fifth PMA, the Alaska Power Administration, existed from 1967 to 1998. In 1995 Congress passed a law authorizing the sale of the two hydroelectric power projects in the APA, the Eklutna Hydroelectric Project and the Snettisham Hydroelectric Project, to private companies. It also authorized the termination of the APA.

References

United States Department of Energy {{US-stub