Council welcomes Margaret Hoffmann and Chuck Sams as new Oregon Members

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council will welcome two new Oregon Members at its March 11-12 meeting: Margaret (Margi) Hoffmann and Chuck Sams. Gov. Tina Kotek appointed Hoffmann and Sams, and the Oregon Senate has confirmed their appointments to the Council. They replace Council Members Louie Pitt and Ginny Burdick, who served from 2021-2025. Hoffmann and Sams started working in their roles as Council Members on March 3.

Formed after Congress passed the Northwest Power Act in 1980, the Council is an interstate compact agency representing Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana in regional planning for the Northwest power grid, as well as fish and wildlife mitigation in the Columbia River Basin. Throughout 2025 and 2026, the Council will be developing its Ninth Northwest Power Plan to ensure that the Northwest continues to enjoy a power system that is adequate, efficient, economical, and reliable. The Council is also in the process of updating its Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program, which protects, mitigates, and enhances fish and wildlife impacted by the operation of the Columbia River hydropower system. Bonneville Power Administration funds the Fish and Wildlife Program to fulfill its mitigation responsibilities under the Power Act. The Council is accepting public recommendations for the next Fish and Wildlife Program until April 17.

Sams is a Pendleton resident who grew up on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. He is Cayuse and Walla Walla and an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Sams served on the Council in 2021 before he was appointed as director of the National Parks Service, a role he held until January 2025.

“The Council’s power plans ensure that we have reliable energy for all of our needs in the Pacific Northwest, while we continue to make progress mitigating for fish and wildlife in the Columbia River Basin that are impacted by the hydropower system,” Sams said. “The next two years are a critical juncture for planning for the future of the region’s power system and the future of fish and wildlife in the Columbia Basin. I look forward to representing in Oregon in crucial regional decision-making that will help chart the path the Northwest takes.”

At an Oregon Senate Committee hearing on his appointment, Sams testified that his father worked for both Umatilla Electric Cooperative and PacifiCorp, which helped teach him the importance of regional power planning in the Northwest.

Hoffmann is a Bend resident who worked most recently as the Oregon State Director for USDA Rural Development. She has also served as Energy Policy Advisor to Oregon Govs. John Kitzhaber and Kate Brown, and as the Governor's office liaison to the Oregon Public Utility Commission and Oregon Department of Energy.

“Since 1980, the Council has helped make the Northwest a national leader in energy resilience, which has created tremendous savings and benefit to residents, businesses, and industries,” Hoffmann said. “The Fish and Wildlife Program has deployed innovative, ambitious strategies to protect and enhance salmon and steelhead abundance in an ecosystem the size of France. It’s achieved impressive progress while significant ongoing challenges remain. I’m honored to be a Council Member, and to bring my years of experience working for Oregonians to the Council’s regional planning efforts.”

At February’s Council meeting, Chair Mike Milburn of Montana thanked outgoing Oregon Members Ginny Burdick and Louie Pitt for their service. Burdick and Pitt began their tenure on the Council in November 2021, and both helped finalize and approve the Council’s 2021 Power Plan. Burdick served on the Council’s Power Committee, while Pitt served on the Fish and Wildlife Committee and was Chair of the Public Affairs Committee.