Notice2024-02921
Idaho Power Company; Notice of Application Ready for Environmental Analysis and Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Terms and Conditions, and Prescriptions
Primary source
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Published
February 13, 2024
Issuing agencies
Energy DepartmentFederal Energy Regulatory Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 30 (Tuesday, February 13, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 13, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10063-10064]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-02921]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 2736-046]
Idaho Power Company; 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: New Major License.
b. Project No.: 2736-046.
c. Date filed: February 14, 2023.
d. Applicant: Idaho Power Company.
e. Name of Project: American Falls Hydroelectric Project.
f. Location: The American Falls project is located on the Snake
River in Power County, Idaho, near the city of American Falls, about 25
miles southwest of Pocatello. The project is located at the American
Falls Dam, owned and operated by the United States Bureau of
Reclamation. The project occupies 7.37 acres of United States land
administered by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in Power County, Idaho.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: Andrea L. Courtney, Hydro Licensing Leader,
Idaho Power Company, P.O. Box 70, 1221 W Idaho St., Boise, ID 83702;
(208) 388-2655; or email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a3e2e0ccd6d1d7cdc6dae3cac7c2cbccd3ccd4c6d18dc0ccce"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5b1a18342e292f353e221b323f3a33342b342c3e2975383436">[email protected]</span></a>.
i. FERC Contact: Golbahar Mirhosseini at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#73341c1f11121b12015d3e1a011b1c0000161a1d1a33151601105d141c05"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8acde5e6e8ebe2ebf8a4c7e3f8e2e5f9f9efe3e4e3caeceff8e9a4ede5fc">[email protected]</span></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#8ec8cbdccdc1e0e2e7e0ebddfbfefee1fcfacee8ebfceda0e9e1f8"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2b6d6e796864454742454e785e5b5b44595f6b4d4e5948054c445d">[email protected]</span></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:
Debbie-Anne A. Reese, Deputy Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426.
Submissions sent via any other carrier must be addressed to: Debbie-
Anne A. Reese, Deputy 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:
American Falls Project (P-2736-046).
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 American Falls dam and spillway are owned and operated by
the Bureau of Reclamation; these features are not project facilities or
contained within the project boundary. The concrete gravity dam has a
structural height of 103.5 feet and a crest length of 5,277 feet, width
of 42.5 feet and elevation of 4,366.5 feet.\1\ The spillway has a crest
elevation of 4,333 feet. Reclamation operates and manages the reservoir
for irrigation delivery, power generation, flood control, fish and
wildlife, and recreation benefits. The reservoir has a maximum storage
capacity of 2,672,590 acre-feet and 1.7 million acre-feet of usable
storage capacity. Its water surface elevation fluctuates between
4,295.7 feet and 4,354.5 feet and reservoir's maximum surface area is
58,000 acres.
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\1\ All elevations are National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929
(NGVD 29).
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Three 18-foot-diameter steel-lined penstocks begin at the dam
intake and extend 300 feet downstream to the American Falls project's
turbines. Reclamation's ownership and maintenance of the penstocks
begins at the intake and extends downstream approximately 60 feet to
the coupling pit. Idaho Power's ownership and maintenance of the
penstocks begins at the coupling pit and extends downstream to the
Project's turbines.
From the coupling pit, each of the project's 18-foot-diameter
penstocks extend approximately 240 feet downstream to each of the
project's three 22.5-megawatt (MW) Kaplan turbine-generator units
contained in a reinforced concrete powerhouse. The total installed
project capacity is 67.5 MW.\2\ Water is discharged from the powerhouse
directly to the Snake River.
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\2\ See Order Amending License, Revising Project Description,
Revising Annual Charges, and Approving Revised Exhibit M issued
September 27, 2002. Idaho Power Company, 180 FERC ] 62,170 (2022).
Following turbine maintenance that commenced in October 2022 and
will extend through 2025, each of the turbines will have a rated
hydraulic capacity of 4,705 cfs at 88 feet net head.
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Electricity generated at the powerhouse is transmitted to the
electric grid via a switchyard upstream of the powerhouse containing a
13.8/138-kilovolt (kV) step-up transformer. From there power is
transmitted over a 2,300-foot-long, 138-kV overhead transmission line
to the American Falls Switchyard. The American Falls project generates
an average of 395,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) annually.
[[Page 10064]]
Project recreation facilities include: Trenner Memorial Park,
American Falls Park, an improved fishing and access area, and the
Oregon Trail Boat Ramp (Power County Boat Ramp).
The American Falls project operates in a run-of-release mode, which
means it only uses flows released to the project by Reclamation. More
specifically, power generation is seasonally dictated as reservoir
levels and irrigation flow deliveries are set by Reclamation.
m. A copy of the application can be viewed on the Commission's
website at <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. For assistance, contact FERC Online
Support.
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.
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#07485757476162756429606871"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="511e010111373423327f363e27">[email protected]</span></a>.
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.
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, April 2024.
Recommendations, and Agency Terms and
Conditions/Prescriptions.
Licensee's Reply to REA Comments.......... May 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: February 7, 2024.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2024-02921 Filed 2-12-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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