The Bonneville Power Administration’s top official will retain his politically appointed job U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Thursday.

Steve Wright is BPA’s second-longest tenured CEO and administrator, taking office on the eve of the 2000-2001 West Coast energy crisis. He was named to the post in January, 2002, but had served as acting administrator since November, 2000.

“Steve has done an outstanding job leading BPA through challenging times,” said U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who praised the reappointment, along with BPA’s work in integrating energy from wind power into the region’s electrical grid.

BPA markets the electricity from federal hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River and its tributaries, and a nuclear plant at Hanford

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