2027 NWHA Annual Conference

Join us for the 46th Annual NWHA Conference, February 22–25, 2027, at the Hilton Portland Downtown. It is the premier gathering for Northwest hydropower professionals. Each year, the conference brings together utilities, regulators, consultants, technology providers, project developers, and nonprofit and agency partners for technical content, policy discussion, peer exchange, and networking that helps shape the future of hydropower in our region.

What You’ll Experience

You’ll choose from parallel tracks, panels, roundtables, deep dives, and case studies, plus co-located workshops. This year’s program covers:

• Licensing, relicensing & regulatory: legal and regulatory updates, mandatory license conditions, settlement strategy, decommissioning, and preparing for relicensing on lesser-known topics,
• Compliance: practical approaches to tracking and managing license compliance
• Fish & aquatic species: the full picture of salmon survival, Pacific lamprey passage and conservation, and how vendors are responding to aquatic invasive species
• Dam safety & asset management: a dam safety roundtable on what’s driving priorities, and when to repair, refurbish, replace, or reinvent
• Innovation & technology: AI applications in hydropower, and what the national labs can do for you
• Funding & project delivery: success stories with grants, and risk management through alternative project delivery
• Climate resilience: responding to wild weather, including wildfire, drought, flood management, and debris
• Lessons from the field: case studies on overcoming unexpected events

You’ll hear from seasoned industry leaders, utility executives, regulators, project developers, and technology innovators. The discussions will explore how hydropower can navigate today’s regulatory, financial, and technical challenges and help shape the energy transition.

Networking & Highlights

For many attendees, the connections with peers, collaborators, and future partners are the most valuable part of the NWHA Annual Conference. Featured events include:

• Hydropower Connections (formerly Hydropower Primer) on February 22: a day-long workshop for professionals new to the industry or looking for cross-training. Expert-led sessions cover an introduction to hydropower, hydrology, licensing and regulation, dam safety and security, and license implementation. 
  
  
• Networking Breaks: coffee, informal meetups, and exhibit hall mingling throughout the conference
• Exhibit Hall: meet the vendors, suppliers, and manufacturers who support NWHA members and attendees
• Waterpower Workforce & Career Fair on February 24: companies and utilities attending the conference are invited to table at our on-site career fair.  
• Women in Hydropower Luncheon: featuring a special guest speaker
• New Professionals Networking Breakfast: a chance to connect for those new to the industry