[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 246 (Tuesday, December 22, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 83550-83551]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-28249]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 1892-030]
Great River Hydro, LLC; Notice Establishing Procedural Schedule
for Licensing and Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments
Take notice that the following amended hydroelectric application
has been filed with the Commission and is available for public
inspection.
a. Type of Application: New Major License.
b. Project No.: 1892-030.
c. Date Material Amendments Filed: December 7, 2020.
d. Applicant: Great River Hydro, LLC (Great River Hydro).
e. Name of Project: Wilder Hydroelectric Project.
f. Location: The existing project is located on the Connecticut
River in Orange and Windsor Counties, Vermont, and Grafton County, New
Hampshire. There are no federal lands within the project boundary.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: John Ragonese, FERC License Manager, Great
River Hydro, LLC, 40 Pleasant Street, Suite 202, Portsmouth, NH 03801;
(603) 498-2851 or jragonese@greatriverhydro.com.
i. FERC Contact: Steve Kartalia, (202) 502-6131 or
stephen.kartalia@ferc.gov.
j. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this
time.
k. Great River Hydro filed an application for a new license for the
Wilder Hydroelectric Project No. 1892 on May 1, 2017. In the license
application, Great River Hydro stated that it could not develop a
complete licensing proposal for the project since many of the required
environmental studies were not complete as of May 1, 2017. Great River
Hydro indicated that it would amend the license application after
completing additional field work, consultation, and analyses on the
required studies. Great River Hydro filed material amendments to the
final license application on December 7, 2020.
l. Project Description: The existing Wilder Project consists of:
(1) A 1,546-foot-long, 59-foot-high, concrete dam that includes: (a) A
400-foot-long non-overflow, earthen embankment (north embankment); (b)
a 232-foot-long non-overflow, concrete bulkhead; (c) a 208-foot-long
concrete forebay; (d) a 526-foot-long concrete, gravity spillway that
includes: (i) Six 30-foot-high, 36-foot-long tainter gates; (ii) four
17-foot-high, 50-foot-wide stanchion flashboards; (iii) a 15-foot-high,
20-foot-long skimmer gate (north gate); and (iv) a 10-foot-high, 10-
foot-long skimmer gate (south gate); and (e) a 180-foot-long non-
overflow, earthen embankment (south embankment); (2) a 45-mile-long,
3,100-acre impoundment with a useable storage volume of 13,350 acre-
feet between elevations 380 and 385 feet National Geodetic Vertical
Datum of 1929 (NGVD 29); (3) four approximately 25-foot-high, 20-foot-
wide trashracks with 5-inch clear bar spacing and one approximately 28-
foot-high, 20-foot-wide trashrack with 1.625-inch clear bar spacing;
(4) a 181-foot-long, 50-foot-wide, 50-foot-high steel frame, brick
powerhouse containing two 16.2-megawatt (MW) adjustable-blade Kaplan
turbine-generator units and one 3.2-MW vertical Francis turbine-
generator unit for a total project capacity of 35.6 MW; (5) three
concrete draft tubes ranging from 9.5 to 20.5 feet in diameter; (6)
13.8-kilovolt generator leads that connect the turbine-generator units
to two substation transformers; (7) an approximately 580-foot-long, 6-
foot-wide fishway; and (8) appurtenant facilities.
Great River Hydro operates the project in coordination with its
downstream Bellows Falls Project No. 1855 and Vernon Project No. 1904
and in a peaking mode. Average annual generation is approximately
156,303 MW-hours. Great River Hydro is proposing changes to project
operation
[[Page 83551]]
that would reduce impoundment fluctuations and increase the stability
of downstream flow releases relative to current project operation,
including targeted water surface elevation levels and flow ramping
rates. Great River Hydro proposes several protection, mitigation, and
enhancement measures for aquatic, terrestrial, cultural, and recreation
resources, and threatened and endangered species. The specific proposed
changes are described in the amended application.
m. In addition to publishing the full text of this notice in the
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an
opportunity to view and/or print the contents of this notice, as well
as other documents in the proceeding (e.g., license application) via
the internet through the Commission's Home Page (http://www.ferc.gov)
using the ``eLibrary'' link. Enter the docket number excluding the last
three digits in the docket number field to access the document (P-
1892). At this time, the Commission has suspended access to the
Commission's Public Reference Room due to the proclamation declaring a
National Emergency concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)
issued by the President on March 13, 2020. For assistance, contact FERC
at FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or call toll-free, (866) 208-3676 or
(202) 502-8659 (TTY).
n. You may also register online at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx to be notified via email of new filings and issuances
related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC
Online Support.
o. Procedural Schedule: The application will be processed according
to the following preliminary Hydro Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the
schedule may be made as appropriate.
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Milestone Target date
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Commission issues letter identifying January 2021.
application deficiencies and requesting
additional information.
Notice of Acceptance/Notice of Ready for May 2021.
Environmental Analysis.
Filing of recommendations, preliminary terms July 2021.
and conditions, and fishway prescriptions.
Reply Comments due........................... August 2021.
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p. Final amendments to the application must be filed with the
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of the notice
of ready for environmental analysis.
Dated: December 16, 2020.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-28249 Filed 12-21-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P