Whereas the Bureau of Reclamation is constructing the Grand Coulee Dam Project pursuant to authority delegated under Section a of the Act of August 30, 1935, 49 Stat. 1028, 1039, and in connection therewith will operate and maintain facilities for the generation of electrical power and energy; and Whereas the Bonneville Power Administrator is now disposing of power and energy generated at the Bonneville Project; and Whereas integration and coordination of the electrical facilities of the two projects will be facilitated by a mutual exchange of the electrical power and energy generated at the Bonneville Project and the Grand Coulee Dam Project and by marketing the power and energy from both projects through a single agency: Now, Therefore , by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States by Section a of the Act of August 30, 1935, supra, and supplementing my letter of January 29, 1936, to the Secretary of the Interior, it is hereby ordered as follows: 1. The Bonneville Power Administrator is hereby designated, under the supervision and direction of the Secretary of the Interior, as agent for the sale and distribution of electrical power and energy generated at the Grand Coulee Dam Project and not required for operation of that Project, including its irrigation features. 2. The Administrator shall construct, operate, and maintain the transmission lines and substations and appurtenant structures and facilities necessary for marketing the power and energy delivered to him from the Grand Coulee Dam Project; except that the Bureau of Reclamation may construct, operate, or maintain such transmission facilities as the Secretary of the Interior, in his discretion, deems necessary or desirable. The Bureau of Reclamation and the Administrator, with the approval of the Secretary, shall agree upon and schedule the installation of additional generators at the Grand Coulee Dam Project. 3. The Bureau of Reclamation, with the approval of the Secretary, shall provide the Administrator with a basic schedule of the power and energy to be available to him from the Grand Coulee Dam Project. The Bureau, with the Secretary's approval, may revise the schedule from time to time, except that no revision decreasing the amount of power and energy available under an existing schedule shall be effective unless agreed to by the Administrator. The Bureau will make power and energy from the Grand Coulee Dam Project available to the Administrator in accordance with these schedules. 4. The Administrator shall market the power and energy delivered to him from the Grand Coulee Dam Project at rates to be fixed by the Secretary of the Interior consistently with all applicable provisions of law and allocations of cost determined as provided thereunder. From time to time the Secretary of the Interior, consistently with all applicable provisions of law and allocations of cost made pursuant thereto, shall determine the basis on which the Administrator and the Bureau shall compute the returns to be made to the Bureau for power and energy delivered to the Administrator from the Grand Coulee Dam Project pursuant to this order. All receipts collected by the Administrator from transmission and sale of power and energy shall be deposited with the Treasurer of the United States for credit to a special account, subject to allocation by the Secretary of the Interior in accordance with the computations above provided for. Upon certification by the Secretary of the Interior, the amounts of receipts properly allocable to the Bonneville Project shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States to the credit of miscellaneous receipts subject to the provisions of section 2 of the act of August 20, 1937, 50 Stat. 731, 732. The amounts certified by the Secretary of the Interior as being allocable to the Grand Coulee Dam Project shall be covered into the Treasury for credit to the Reclamation Fund to the extent authorized by law. 5. In aid of this delegation of authority to the Secretary of the Interior, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation and the Bonneville Power Administrator shall, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior and the terms of this order, enter into any and all agreements that are necessary for the interconnection of the Bonneville Project and the Grand Coulee Dam Project and to carry out the provisions of this order. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, August 26, 1940.
Executive Order 8526—Coordinating the Electrical Facilities of Grand Coulee Dam Project and Bonneville Project
Executive Brief • At a Glance
The Bonneville Power Administrator is hereby designated, under the supervision and direction of the Secretary of the Interior, as agent for the sale and distribution of electrical power and energy generated at the Grand Coulee Dam Project and not required for operation of that Project, including its irrigation features. 2.
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 26, 1940, this order concerns Coordinating the Electrical Facilities of Grand Coulee Dam Project and Bonneville Project. The Bonneville Power Administrator is hereby designated, under the supervision and direction of the Secretary of the Interior, as agent for the sale and distribution of electrical power and energy generated at the Grand Coulee Dam Project and not required for operation of that Project, including its irrigation features. 2.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
The Bonneville Power Administrator is hereby designated, under the supervision and direction of the Secretary of the Interior, as agent for the sale and distribution of electrical power and energy generated at the Grand Coulee Dam Project and not required for operation of that Project, including its irrigation features. 2.
The Administrator shall construct, operate, and maintain the transmission lines and substations and appurtenant structures and facilities necessary for marketing the power and energy delivered to him from the Grand Coulee Dam Project; except that the Bureau of Reclamation may construct, operate, or maintain such transmission facilities as the Secretary of the Interior, in his discretion, deems necessary or desirable.
The Bureau of Reclamation and the Administrator, with the approval of the Secretary, shall agree upon and schedule the installation of additional generators at the Grand Coulee Dam Project. 3.
The Bureau of Reclamation, with the approval of the Secretary, shall provide the Administrator with a basic schedule of the power and energy to be available to him from the Grand Coulee Dam Project.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
Policy Areas & Topics
The Framers' Constitutional Council
1787 PrismEvaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.
"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."
James Madison
Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy
"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)
Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.
Alexander Hamilton
The Energetic Executive & Unified Command
"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)
Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.
George Mason
Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment
"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)
The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.
Due Process & Individual Rights
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)
Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 8526 (Aug. 26, 1940), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-8526-coordinating-the-electrical-facilities-grand-coulee-dam-project-and.