16 U.S.C. § 832a — General administrative provisions

The electric energy generated in the operation of the said Bonneville project shall be disposed of by the said administrator as provided in this chapter. The administrator shall be appointed by the Secretary of Energy; shall be responsible to said Secretary of Energy; and shall maintain his principal office at a place selected by him in the vicinity of the Bonneville project.

The Administrator shall, as in this chapter provided, make all arrangements for the sale and disposition of electric energy generated at Bonneville project not required for the operation of the dam and locks at such project and the navigation facilities employed in connection therewith. He shall act in consultation with the Secretary of Energy. The form of administration established in this chapter for the Bonneville project is intended to be provisional pending the establishment of a permanent administration for Bonneville and other projects in the Columbia River Basin. The Secretary of the Army shall install and maintain additional machinery, equipment, and facilities for the generation of electric energy at the Bonneville project when in the judgment of the administrator such additional generating facilities are desirable to meet actual or potential market requirements for such electric energy. The Secretary of the Army shall schedule the operations of the several electrical generating units and appurtenant equipment of the Bonneville project in accordance with the requirements of the administrator. The Secretary of the Army shall provide and maintain for the use of the administrator at said Bonneville project adequate station space and equipment, including such switches, switchboards, instruments, and dispatching facilities as may be required by the administrator for proper reception, handling, and dispatching of the electric energy produced at the said project, together with transformers and other equipment required by the administrator for the transmission of such energy from that place at suitable voltage to the markets which the administrator desires to serve.

The office of the Administrator of the Bonneville project is constituted an office in the Department of Energy and shall be under the jurisdiction and control of the Secretary of Energy. All functions vested in the Administrator of the Bonneville project under this chapter may be exercised by the Secretary of Energy and, subject to his supervision and direction, by the Administrator and other personnel of the project.

In order to encourage the widest possible use of all electric energy that can be generated and marketed and to provide reasonable outlets therefor, and to prevent the monopolization thereof by limited groups, the administrator is authorized and directed to provide, construct, operate, maintain, and improve such electric transmission lines and substations, and facilities and structures appurtenant thereto, as he finds necessary, desirable, or appropriate for the purpose of transmitting electric energy, available for sale, from the Bonneville project to existing and potential markets, and, for the purpose of interchange of electric energy, to interconnect the Bonneville project with other Federal projects and publicly owned power systems constructed on or after August 20, 1937.

The administrator is authorized, in the name of the United States, to acquire, by purchase, lease, condemnation, or donation, such real and personal property, or any interest therein, including lands, easements, rights-of-way, franchises, electric transmission lines, substations, and facilities and structures appurtenant thereto, as the administrator finds necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this chapter. Title to all property and property rights acquired by the administrator shall be taken in the name of the United States.

The administrator shall have power to acquire any property or property rights, including patent rights, which in his opinion are necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter, by the exercise of the right of eminent domain and to institute condemnation proceedings therefor in the same manner as is provided by law for the condemnation of real estate.

The administrator is authorized, in the name of the United States, to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of such personal property as in his judgment is not required for the purposes of this chapter and such real property and interests in land acquired in connection with construction or operation of electric transmission lines or substations as in his judgment are not required for the purposes of this chapter: Provided, however, That before the sale, lease, or disposition of real property or transmission lines, as herein provided, the administrator shall secure the approval of the President of the United States.

Subject only to the provisions of this chapter, the Administrator is authorized to enter into such contracts, agreements, and arrangements, including the amendment, modification, adjustment, or cancelation 1 thereof and the compromise or final settlement of any claim arising thereunder, and to make such expenditures, upon such terms and conditions and in such manner as he may deem necessary.