Notice2026-02358
Lewis Ridge Pumped Storage, LLC; Notice of Application Ready for Environmental Analysis and Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Terms and Conditions, and Prescriptions
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Published
February 6, 2026
Issuing agencies
Energy DepartmentFederal Energy Regulatory Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 25 (Friday, February 6, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 25 (Friday, February 6, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5459-5460]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-02358]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 15249-002]
Lewis Ridge Pumped Storage, LLC; 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: Original Major License.
b. Project No.: 15249-002.
c. Date Filed: June 13, 2025.
d. Applicant: Lewis Ridge Pumped Storage, LLC (Lewis Ridge LLC).
e. Name of Project: Lewis Ridge Pumped Storage Project (Lewis Ridge
Project).
f. Location: The Lewis Ridge Project is located near the towns of
Blackmont, Tejay, Balkan, and Callaway, in Bell County, Kentucky.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791 (a)-825 (r).
h. Applicant Contact: Sandy Slayton, Rye Development, 1455 SW
Broadway Street, Suite 290, Portland, Oregon 97201; (503) 341-1425;
email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a2d1c3ccc6dbe2d0dbc7c6c7d4c7cecdd2cfc7ccd68cc1cdcf"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c4b7a5aaa0bd84b6bda1a0a1b2a1a8abb4a9a1aab0eaa7aba9">[email protected]</span></a>.
i. FERC Contact: Sarah Salazar at (202) 502-6863, or email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ddaebcafbcb5f3aebcb1bca7bcaf9dbbb8afbef3bab2ab"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3a495b485b5214495b565b405b487a5c5f4859145d554c">[email protected]</span></a>.
j. Deadline for filing comments, recommendations, terms and
conditions, and prescriptions: on or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on
April 3, 2026; reply comments are due on or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern
Time on May 18, 2026.
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 10,000
characters, without prior registration, using the eComment system at
<a href="https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.aspx">https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.aspx</a>. For assistance, please
contact FERC Online Support at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#33757661707c5d5f5a5d56604643435c414773555641501d545c45"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="eaacafb8a9a5848683848fb99f9a9a85989eaa8c8f9889c48d859c">[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, 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, 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: Lewis Ridge Pumped Storage Project (P-15249-002).
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 ready for
environmental analysis at this time.
l. Project Description: The proposed project boundary would enclose
about 148 acres of privately owned land, primarily owned by Asher Land
and Mineral, LLLP, on which it used previously for surface and
underground coal mining. About 16 additional parcels of privately owned
property would be included in the project boundary, primarily along the
transmission line and water intake conduit extending from the
Cumberland River to the lower reservoir. These lands are identified in
Exhibit G of the license application (Project Boundary Drawing).
The proposed Lewis Ridge Project would consist of a 48.2-acre upper
reservoir created by an 8,241-foot-long, 50-foot-high rocky earth-fill
dam with an integrated emergency overflow spillway passing flows to the
Pound Mill Branch and into Puckett Creek. The upper reservoir would
have an active storage of about 2,602 acre-feet between normal maximum
elevation 2,150 feet and normal minimum elevation 2,076 feet.\1\ An
intake in the upper reservoir would pass flows to a 3,134-foot-long,
16-foot-diameter above-ground penstock. The penstock would connect to a
powerhouse located 267 feet below ground, containing two 154-megawatt
(MW) reversible pump-turbines with a total rated capacity of 308 MW.
Flows from the powerhouse would pass through two 249-foot-long, 12-
foot-diameter draft tubes to a 110-foot-long water intake located at
the lower reservoir. The 51.6-acre lower reservoir would be created by
a 1,120-foot-long, 138-foot-high earth-fill dam and have an integrated
emergency overflow spillway passing flows to the Cumberland River. The
lower reservoir would have a gross storage of 3,486 acre-feet and
active storage of about 2,602 acre-feet, between a normal maximum
elevation 1,134 feet and normal minimum elevation 1,034 feet.
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\1\ Elevations are based on the North American Vertical Datum of
1988 (NAVD 88).
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A permanent intake would be located on the Cumberland River to
provide initial fill flows and maintenance flows. The intake would
consist of 6 screened inlets which connect to a removable/mobile
pumping station. Flows from the pumping station would pass through
three parallel 4,724-foot-long, 24-inch-diameter buried pipelines which
would direct flows to a stilling basin at the lower reservoir.
Lewis Ridge LLC would develop about 7.1 miles of permanent roads
for project access and maintenance, and 4 miles of temporary roads for
construction. Lewis Ridge LLC would use two disposal sites to deposit
excess spoil material (excavated soil and rocks). After construction is
completed,
[[Page 5460]]
these sites would be seeded and revegetated.
The project would include a 2.5-mile-long, 161-kilovolt overhead
transmission line and two switching stations, connecting the project
powerhouse to the grid at the existing Pineville-Harlan #1 transmission
line. Under normal operation, the project would have the capacity to
produce about 717,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of peak energy annually.
The Lewis Ridge Pumped Storage Project would use flows from the
Cumberland River and Tom Fork River for the initial fill and periodic
recharge of the reservoirs. The project would require about 2,808 acre-
feet of water for the initial fill and 149 acre-feet annually to
replace water that would be lost to evaporation and seepage. All flows
in the Tom Fork River above 2.8 cubic feet per second (cfs) would be
available for initial fill and maintenance flows. About 10% of the mean
monthly flow in the Cumberland River would be used for initial fill and
to supplement Tom Fork River flows for maintenance when needed.
The lower reservoir would inundate part of the 1.8-mile-long Tom
Fork River. The lower reservoir dam would include a low-level outlet,
which would be used for emergency releases, as well as providing
approximately 2.8 cfs (the estimated mean annual flow) to the lower
section of the Tom Fork River.
The proposed project would pump water from the lower reservoir to
the upper reservoir during periods of low electrical demand (i.e., off-
peak energy) and generate energy by passing the water from the upper to
the lower reservoir through the generating units during periods of high
electrical demand (i.e., peak energy). Water surface elevations in the
upper reservoir would fluctuate about 74 feet under normal operation.
The water surface elevation in the lower reservoir would fluctuate 100
feet. The project would produce 266 MW of energy for an 8-hour
generation cycle and take 8.8 hours to return water from the lower
reservoir to the upper reservoir. The return cycle would require 340 MW
of power.
Under an original license, in addition to constructing, operating,
and maintaining the project as described above, Lewis Ridge LLC would
implement the following measures: (1) additional geo-technical
analyses; (2) an Erosion and Sediment Control Plan; (3) a Water Quality
Monitoring Plan; (4) a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan; (5) a
Hazardous Substances Spill Prevention and Cleanup Plan; (6) a
Groundwater Protection Plan; (7) fish exclusion measures; (8) a mussel
relocation program; (9) a Wildlife Management Plan; (10) a Vegetation
Management Plan; and (11) a Historic Properties Management Plan.
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
(P-15249). 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 applicants. 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.
For public inquiries and assistance with making filings such as
interventions, comments, or requests for rehearing, contact the Office
of Public Participation at (202) 502-6595, or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#410e111101272433226f262e37"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3c736c6c7c5a594e5f125b534a">[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 license applicant must file the following on or before 5:00
p.m. Eastern Time April 3, 2026: (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.
o. Final amendments to the application must be filed with the
Commission on or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on March 4, 2026.
(Authority: 18 CFR 2.1)
Dated: February 2, 2026.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2026-02358 Filed 2-5-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on February 6, 2026.
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