PORTLAND, OR (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Washington state leaders say the region’s electrical grid is at risk after the Trump administration cut hundreds of jobs from a major supplier.

Oregon Public Broadcasting reports the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is cutting roughly 430 jobs at the behest of the Trump administration.

BPA provides over a quarter of the Pacific Northwest’s electric power and operates three-quarters of the region’s power grid. The firings represent roughly 15% of the agency’s total workforce.

Sen. Patty Murray told congress that the cuts included everyone from electricians and engineers to dispatchers and cybersecurity experts.

“These are literally the people who keep the lights on, ” Murray said. “And now they’re being fired on a whim because [Donald] Trump and Elon Musk do not have a clue about what they do and why it’s important, and you know what? They don’t care to learn.”

Murray added that the cuts won’t save taxpayers a single cent, since BPA is entirely self-funded.

“They [Trump and Musk] don’t even seem to understand actually that these positions are funded by ratepayers, by all of us who live in the Northwest,” Murray said. “They are not from federal funding.”

Gov. Bob Ferguson chimed in as well, calling the firings “dangerous” and says that they’ll increase the risk of blackouts in the region.

It comes as high-speed winds caused thousands of residents in the region to lose power on Monday.