republic-os/legal/us/code/title-16/chapter-12f/section-837.md

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LegalText	16 U.S.C. § 837	Definitions	us	united_states_code	code_section	16	CONSERVATION	12F	PACIFIC NORTHWEST CONSUMER POWER PREFERENCE; RECIPROCAL PRIORITY IN OTHER REGIONS	837	16 U.S.C. § 837	current	119-100	2026-06-26	official	https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc16@119-100.zip	/us/usc/t16/s837	data/legal/raw/us/code/title-16/usc16.xml	1ba8aec8f2b0e6e7384a581ee59afb2db135dec171a33303e80ac52076bdf549	7be8950da5a93cac7c98e4576ce00340f2aba5e8e46d29915382c203c421d503	6a132e7d19ff24ae6b6813303635a9b1da9f42f3de0b540b0e28c939479ede89	2026-07-04	official	legal us-code

16 U.S.C. § 837 - Definitions

Text

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.

(Pub. L. 88–552, § 1, Aug. 31, 1964, 78 Stat. 756; Pub. L. 95–91, title III, § 302(a), Aug. 4, 1977, 91 Stat. 578; Pub. L. 96–501, § 8(e), Dec. 5, 1980, 94 Stat. 2729.)

Notes

Editorial Notes

Amendments1980—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 sections 7151(b), 7171(a), 7172(a), 7291, and 7293 of Title 42.