The Commission's Office of Energy Projects is responsible for administering the hydropower program. All licensing matters and environmental compliance activities are managed from Washington DC. Dam safety and public safety inspections are also coordinated from Washington DC. Engineers located in New York, Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco, and Portland (Oregon) inspect all projects periodically to ensure dam safety and public safety.
The Commission employs many specialists to evaluate all phases of constructing, operating and maintaining all regulated hydropower projects.
The specialists include:
- Mechanical, civil, and electrical engineers
- Geologists, soil scientists, historians, and economists
- Fishery biologists, aquatic ecologists, wildlife biologists, botanists, and ecologists
- Outdoor recreation planners and land-use planners