Ketchikan Public Utilities; Notice of Application Ready for Environmental Analysis and Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Terms and Conditions, and Prescriptions

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October 16, 2023

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Energy DepartmentFederal Energy Regulatory Commission

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 198 (Monday, October 16, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 198 (Monday, October 16, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71350-71351]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-22757]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 1922-052]

Ketchikan Public Utilities; Notice of Application Ready for
Environmental Analysis and Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Terms
and Conditions, and Prescriptions

Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
a. Type of Application: Subsequent Minor License.
b. Project No.: 1922-052.
c. Date filed: October 27, 2022.
d. Applicant: Ketchikan Public Utilities (KPU).
e. Name of Project: Beaver Falls Hydroelectric Project (project).
f. Location: On Beaver Falls Creek in Ketchikan Gateway Borough,
Alaska. The project currently occupies 478.4 acres of United States
lands administered by U.S. Forest Service.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: Jennifer Holstrom, Senior Project Engineer,
Ketchikan Public Utilities, 1065 Fair Street, Ketchikan, Alaska 99901;
(907) 228-4733; or email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3d57585353545b584f557d564953105c5613484e">[email&#160;protected]</a>.
i. FERC Contact: Golbahar Mirhosseini at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#65220a0907040d04174b280c170d0a1616000c0b0c25030017064b020a13">[email&#160;protected]</a>.
j. Deadline for filing comments, recommendations, terms and
conditions, and prescriptions: 60 days from the issuance date of this
notice; reply comments are due 105 days from the issuance date of this
notice.
The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file
comments, recommendations, terms and conditions, and prescriptions
using the Commission's eFiling system at <a href="https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx">https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx</a>. Commenters can submit brief comments up to 6,000
characters, without prior registration, using the eComment system at
<a href="https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.aspx">https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.aspx</a>. You must include your
name and contact information at the end of your comments. For
assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5b1d1e091814353732353e082e2b2b34292f1b3d3e2938753c342d">[email&#160;protected]</a>, (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-
8659 (TTY). In lieu of electronic filing, you may submit a paper copy.
Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service must be addressed to:
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888
First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via
any other carrier must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville,
Maryland 20852. All filings must clearly identify the project name and
docket number on the first page: Beaver Falls Hydroelectric Project (P-
1922-052).
The Commission's Rules of Practice require all intervenors filing
documents with the Commission to serve a copy of that document on each
person on the official service list for the project. Further, if an
intervenor files comments or documents with the Commission relating to
the merits of an issue that may affect the responsibilities of a
particular resource agency, they must also serve a copy of the document
on that resource agency.
k. This application has been accepted and is now ready for
environmental analysis.
l. The existing Beaver Falls Project consists of two developments,
Silvis and Beaver Falls. Beaver Falls Creek first flows into a 300-acre
project reservoir known as Upper Silvis Lake which has approximately
38,000 acre-feet of gross storage capacity and 22,000 acre-feet of
usable capacity and is impounded by Upper Silvis Lake Dam, a 60-foot-
high, 135-foot-long, 22-foot-wide concrete-face, rock-filled dam with a
crest elevation of 1,164 feet msl.\1\ Water passes downstream of Upper
Silvis Lake and dam via two primary methods: (1) via spill over a weir
into an open channel that discharges to Lower Silvis Lake; or (2) via
discharges through the Silvis Powerhouse into Lower Silvis Lake. Both
the spillway weir and the intake to the power tunnel leading to Silvis
powerhouse are located approximately 450 feet south and east of the
dam. The Upper Silvis spillway consists of an ungated concrete-
encapsulated composite rockfill weir with a 54-foot-long and 16-foot
high crest at an elevation of 1,154 feet that passes water into an 800-
foot-long, 20-foot-wide, 8-foot-deep excavated rock spillway channel
leading from Upper Silvis Lake to Lower Silvis Lake. The Upper Silvis
intake consists of a 3-foot by 4-foot manually operated sluice gate
approximately 200 feet downstream of the power tunnel entrance which is
at an invert elevation of 1,050 msl. Water entering the intake passes
through trash racks containing two rack bars 10-inches off center and
spaced 30 feet apart and enters the 980-foot-long underground power
tunnel connecting to a 375-foot-long, 36-inch-diameter steel penstock
that conveys water to a 30 feet by 40 feet by 25-feet-high Silvis
powerhouse. The Silvis powerhouse contains a single Francis-type
turbine with a rated capacity of 2.1 megawatts. Water exiting the
Silvis powerhouse enters a 150-foot-long trapezoidal shaped channel
tailrace that discharges into Lower Silvis Lake. There is also a
penstock bypass gate valve that can be used to bypass the powerhouse
and discharge water from the penstock into the spillway channel that
runs parallel to the penstock and a powerhouse bypass valve that allows
water entering the powerhouse to bypass the turbine and discharge
directly into Lower Silvis Lake. Power from the Silvis powerhouse is
transmitted through a 2,900-foot-long, 5-kilovolt submarine cable
beneath Lower Silvis Lake which connects to a 2,500 Kilovolt-ampere
(kVA), 34.5-4.16 kV transformer located near Lower Silvis Lake Dam.
From the transformer, power is transmitted via a 7,000-foot-long, 34.5-
kilovolt aerial transmission line to the Beaver Falls substation/
switchyard.
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\1\ All elevations are in mean sea level (msl). The conversion
to North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88) at the project is
msl minus 8.07 feet.
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Water passing downstream of Upper Silvis Lake enters a 67.5-acre
project reservoir known as Lower Silvis Lake which begins the Beaver
Falls development portion of the project. Lower Silvis Lake has a gross
storage capacity of approximately 8,052 acre-feet and usable storage
capacity of 1,600 acre-feet and is impounded by Lower Silvis Dam which
is a 32-foot-high, 140-foot-long concrete-face, rock-filled dam with a
crest elevation of 835 feet. Water either spills over the Lower Silvis
Dam and spillway into Beaver Falls Creek or enters the Lower Silvis
intake structure and power tunnel system. A spillway composed of a
reinforced concrete ungated control weir approximately 3-foot-high,
140-foot-long and 4-foot-wide with a crest elevation of 827 feet
extends from the left abutment of Lower Silvis Lake Dam and discharges
water into Beaver Falls Creek via a 50-foot-wide spillway discharge
channel. Beaver Falls Creek then flows for approximately 0.66-miles to
a 3-foot-high, 40-foot-long concrete Beaver Falls Creek Diversion Dam.
At this point, water can either enter an intake leading to a penstock
that supplies Unit 1 in the Beaver Falls powerhouse, or pass over the
diversion dam spillway and flow an

[[Page 71351]]

additional 0.85-mile before discharging into George Inlet. The Beaver
Falls Diversion Dam intake consists of a steel settling box and
concrete shelter house with angled trash racks 81-inches-wide with
1.25-inches clear bar spacing and a manually operated gate that leads
to a 4,170-foot-long above ground steel penstock that conveys water
from the Beaver Falls Creek diversion dam east to the Beaver Falls
powerhouse and supplies Unit 1 in the powerhouse. Rather than spilling
over the Lower Silvis Lake Dam and spillway into Beaver Falls Creek,
water in Lower Silvis Lake can also enter an intake structure located
south of the Lower Silvis Lake Dam. The intake contains a 10-foot by
32-foot steel intake trash rack, with 0.25-inch by 2.5-inch deep bars
spaced 1.75-inches apart. Water from the intake leads to a 3,800-foot-
long underground power tunnel connecting to a 3,610-foot-long above
ground steel penstock that supplies water to Units 3 and 4 in the
powerhouse. A 225-foot-long, 20-inch-diameter ``adit'' (i.e., steel
pipe) taps into the 3,800-foot-long underground power tunnel and can be
used by KPU to divert up to 60 cfs of water from the power tunnel to
supplement flow in Beaver Falls Creek. The adit discharges water into
an open drainage ditch that runs along the Silvis Lakes Trail for
approximately 550 feet and connects to an approximately 50-foot-long
return culvert running under the trail that discharges water into
Beaver Falls Creek just upstream of the Beaver Falls Diversion Dam
described earlier. The project penstocks convey water to a 30 feet by
147 feet by 25-feet-high Beaver Falls powerhouse containing three
horizontal Pelton generating units with a total installed capacity of 5
MW (Units 1, 3 and 4 are operational; Unit 2 is decommissioned).\2\
Water exiting the powerhouse enters a 60-foot-long open tailrace
channel (Units 1 and 2 have separate tailrace channels each 9-feet-wide
while Units 3 and 4 have separate 10-foot-wide channels which merge 30
feet downstream of the powerhouse into a single 20-foot-wide channel).
KPU states there are no transmission lines associated with the Beaver
Falls powerhouse as the powerhouse interconnects to the adjacent Beaver
Falls substation/switchyard, which is also serves as interconnection
point for the Silvis transmission line described earlier. Between both
powerhouses, the Beaver Falls Project generates an average of 45,877
megawatt-hours (MWh) annually.
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\2\ The 5 MW total capacity for the Beaver Falls Powerhouse
consists of 1 MW generated from Unit 1, 2 MW generated from Unit 3,
and 2 MW generated from Unit 4. Unit 1 operates at a minimum
hydraulic capacity of 7 cfs and maximum hydraulic capacity of 33
cfs. Unit 3 operates at a minimum hydraulic capacity of 8 cfs and a
maximum hydraulic capacity of 55 cfs. Unit 4 operates at a minimum
hydraulic capacity of 9 cfs and a maximum hydraulic capacity of 56
cfs. Therefore, the minimum capacity of the Beaver Falls Powerhouse
is 7 cfs while the combined maximum hydraulic capacity for the
Beaver Falls powerhouse is 144 cfs.
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KPU operates the project in peaking mode utilizing a combination of
river inflow and storage in the reservoirs to meet the power demands of
the City of Ketchikan (particularly in the summer). Upper Silvis Lake
provides the primary storage for the project. KPU proposes to continue
operating the project in peaking mode with no new developments or
modifications to its existing facilities or operation. KPU also
proposes to remove 77 acres of land from the Beaver Falls project
boundary to more closely align with the footprint of its facilities and
maintenance needs. KPU's proposed Beaver Falls project boundary would
include 408.8 acres of land within Tongass National Forest, and
approximately 14.2 acres of Federal lands subject to FPA Section 24,
for a total of 423 acres.
m. A copy of the application is available for review via the
internet through the Commission's Home Page (<a href="http://www.ferc.gov">http://www.ferc.gov</a>),
using the ``eLibrary'' link. Enter the docket number, excluding the
last three digits in the docket number field, to access the document.
At this time, the Commission has suspended access to the Commission's
Public Reference Room. For assistance, contact FERC at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3b7d7e697874555752555e684e4b4b54494f7b5d5e4958155c544d">[email&#160;protected]</a> or call toll free, (886) 208-3676 or TTY
(202) 502-8659.
You may also register online at <a href="https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx">https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx</a> to be notified via email of new filings and issuances
related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC
Online Support.
The Commission's Office of Public Participation (OPP) supports
meaningful public engagement and participation in Commission
proceedings. OPP can help members of the public, including landowners,
environmental justice communities, Tribal members and others, access
publicly available information and navigate Commission processes. For
public inquiries and assistance with making filings such as
interventions, comments, or requests for rehearing, the public is
encouraged to contact OPP at (202) 502-6595 or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#cc839c9c8caaa9beafe2aba3ba">[email&#160;protected]</a>.
All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title
``COMMENTS,'' ``REPLY COMMENTS,'' ``RECOMMENDATIONS,'' ``TERMS AND
CONDITIONS,'' or ``PRESCRIPTIONS;'' (2) set forth in the heading the
name of the applicant and the project number of the application to
which the filing responds; (3) furnish the name, address, and telephone
number of the person submitting the filing; and (4) otherwise comply
with the requirements of 18 CFR 385.2001 through 385.2005. All
comments, recommendations, terms and conditions or prescriptions must
set forth their evidentiary basis and otherwise comply with the
requirements of 18 CFR 4.34(b). Agencies may obtain copies of the
application directly from the applicant. Each filing must be
accompanied by proof of service on all persons listed on the service
list prepared by the Commission in this proceeding, in accordance with
18 CFR 4.34(b) and 385.2010.
n. The applicant must file no later than 60 days following the date
of issuance of this notice: (1) a copy of the water quality
certification; (2) a copy of the request for certification, including
proof of the date on which the certifying agency received the request;
or (3) evidence of waiver of water quality certification. Please note
that the certification request must comply with 40 CFR 121.5(b),
including documentation that a pre-filing meeting request was submitted
to the certifying authority at least 30 days prior to submitting the
certification request. Please also note that the certification request
must be sent to the certifying authority and to the Commission
concurrently.
o. Procedural schedule: The application will be processed according
to the following schedule. Revisions to the schedule will be made as
appropriate.

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Milestone Target date
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Deadline for Filing Comments, December 2023.
Recommendations, and Agency Terms and
Conditions/Prescriptions.
Licensee's Reply to REA Comments.......... January 2024.
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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 this notice.

Dated: October 10, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-22757 Filed 10-13-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P

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