H.R. 447 — Reliability for Ratepayers Act

This section revises the personnel compensation and appointment authorities applicable to the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA)—which markets and transmits federal hydroelectric power in the Pacific Northwest—by replacing prior civil service-based requirements with a new market-driven compensation program and streamlined hiring authorities. Specifically, it (1) directs the BPA Administrator to develop and implement, subject to Secretary of Energy approval, an initial employee compensation plan within two years of enactment (one year to develop, in consultation with the Office of Personnel Management; one year to implement) that sets pay, bonuses, benefits, and incentives notwithstanding most federal pay laws (except 5 U.S.C. chapter 83), based on annual surveys of private electric industry compensation, competitive with consumer-owned utilities in the Western Interconnection, and considering factors such as education, experience, responsibility, geography, and recruitment needs; (2) requires annual reviews, updates, and public disclosure of the plan and salaries exceeding Executive Level IV ($183,500 in CY2024); (3) authorizes the Administrator, exempt from specified civil service chapters (5 U.S.C. chapters 34, 43, 51, 53, 57, and 59), to appoint officers, employees, laborers, mechanics, and workers as needed and fix their compensation consistent with the plan, while applying merit system principles as for a government corporation; and (4) retains existing authorities for employing physicians and experts without regard to civil service laws and accepting voluntary services.