Notice2026-12014
Copper Valley Electric Association; Notice of Application Tendered for Filing With the Commission and Soliciting Additional Study Requests and Establishing Procedural Schedule for Relicensing and a Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments
Primary source
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Published
June 16, 2026
Issuing agencies
Energy DepartmentFederal Energy Regulatory Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 115 (Tuesday, June 16, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 115 (Tuesday, June 16, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36130-36131]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-12014]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 2742-040]
Copper Valley Electric Association; Notice of Application
Tendered for Filing With the Commission and Soliciting Additional Study
Requests and Establishing Procedural Schedule for Relicensing and a
Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments
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.: 2742-040.
c. Date Filed: May 27, 2026.
d. Applicant: Copper Valley Electric Association, Inc. (CVEA).
e. Name of Project: Solomon Gulch Hydroelectric Project.
f. Location: On Solomon Lake and Solomon Gulch Creek, in the
Chugach Census Area, in Valdez, Alaska. The project occupies 440 acres
under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791 (a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: Coreen Palacios, Regulatory and Compliance
Specialist CVEA; P.O. Box 45, Mile 187 Glenn Highway, Glenallen, AK
99588; telephone at (907) 822-8301; email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#662536070a07050f0915260510030748091401"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6e2d3e0f020f0d07011d2e0d180b0f40011c09">[email protected]</span></a>.
i. FERC Contact: Lauren Townson, Project Coordinator, Northwest
Branch, Division of Hydropower Licensing; telephone at (202) 502-8572;
email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#4408253136212a6a102b332a372b2a04222136276a232b32"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="abe7caded9cec585ffc4dcc5d8c4c5ebcdced9c885ccc4dd">[email protected]</span></a>.
j. Cooperating agencies: Federal, state, local, and tribal agencies
with jurisdiction and/or special expertise with respect to
environmental issues that wish to cooperate in the preparation of the
environmental document should follow the instructions for filing such
requests described in item l below. Cooperating agencies should note
the Commission's policy that agencies that cooperate in the preparation
of the environmental document cannot also intervene. See 94 FERC ]
61,076 (2001).
k. Pursuant to section 4.32(b)(7) of 18 CFR of the Commission's
regulations, if any resource agency, Indian Tribe, or person believes
that an additional scientific study should be conducted in order to
form an adequate factual basis for a complete analysis of the
application on its merit, the resource agency, Indian Tribe, or person
must file a request for a study with the Commission not later than 60
days from the date of filing of the application, and serve a copy of
the request on the applicant.
l. Deadline for filing additional study requests and requests for
cooperating agency status: on or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on July
27, 2026.\1\
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\1\ The Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure provide
that if a filing deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday, holiday, or
other day when the Commission is closed for business, the filing
deadline does not end until the close of business on the next
business day. 18 CFR 385.2007(a)(2) (2025). Because the 60-day
filing deadline falls on a Sunday (i.e., July 26, 2026), the filing
deadline is extended until the close of business on Monday, July 27,
2026.
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The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file
additional study requests and requests for cooperating agency status
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#03454651404c6d6f6a6d66507673736c717743656671602d646c75"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b2f4f7e0f1fddcdedbdcd7e1c7c2c2ddc0c6f2d4d7c0d19cd5ddc4">[email protected]</span></a>, (866) 208-
3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-8659 (TTY). In lieu of electronic
filing, please send a paper copy via U.S. Postal Service 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: Solomon Gulch
Hydroelectric Project (P-2742-040).
m. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this
time.
n. The Solomon Gulch Project includes: (1) a reservoir with a total
drainage area of approximately 19.7 square miles with a maximum
elevation of 693.5 feet mean sea level, a surface area of 660 acres,
and a maximum storage volume at normal maximum pool elevation of 31,560
acre-feet; (2) a 400-feet-long and 115-feet-high rockfill dam with
asphaltic concrete face; (3) a 365-foot-long saddle dike, or auxiliary
dam, with a maximum height of approximately 65 feet, and a 450-foot
concrete spillway with a nominal crest elevation of 685 feet mean sea
level; (4) two 48-inch diameter intake pipes with slide gate facilities
and a trash rack; (5) two 48-inch diameter, concrete-encased steel
penstocks; (6) a 70-foot-long by 60-foot-wide powerhouse containing two
Francis-type turbine/generator units with a total rated capacity of 12
megawatts (MW); (7) a substation located on the powerhouse, connecting
to a 110-mile-long transmission line that runs from the project the
substation adjacent to Pump Station 11 near Glennallen; (8) a tailrace;
(9) two 300-feet-long pipes that supply water to the nearby Solomon
Gulch Hatchery, owned and operated by the Valdez Fisheries Development
Association (VFDA); and (10) appurtenant facilities. The project is a
conventional hydroelectric facility that generates electricity using
stored water from Solomon Lake through two Francis turbine-generator
units, with a total installed capacity of 12 MW.
The project uses stored water from Solomon Lake and is operated to
supply energy to CVEA's electrical system serving Valdez and other
communities in the Copper River Basin. The reservoir is maintained
between elevations 615 feet and 685 feet and the project is required to
maintain continuous minimum flows of 2 cubic feet per second (cfs) at
the head of the project tailrace and 2 cfs at the base of the lower
falls of Solomon Gulch Creek for the protection of fish resources.
Power generation generally follows seasonal hydrology, with increased
generation during periods of higher inflow and reduced generation
during low inflow periods. CVEA proposes to continue to operate the
project as it does currently. Additionally, CVEA proposes to remove
approximately 443 acres from the existing project boundary, including
approximately 355 acres of federal lands managed by the BLM (located at
the southern end of Solomon Lake), and approximately 91 acres of state-
managed lands. Approximately 2 acres of private land would be added to
the proposed project boundary to reflect the full extent of the
existing 100-foot-wide primary transmission line right of way to the
Petro Star Switch Building. Therefore, the proposed project boundary
would total approximately 760 acres, consisting of approximately 671
acres of state-managed lands, 85 acres of BLM-managed federal lands,
and 3 acres of private lands.
o. In addition to publishing the full text of this notice in the
Federal
[[Page 36131]]
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 (<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-8632). For
assistance, contact FERC at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#aee8ebfcede1c0c2c7c0cbfddbdedec1dcdaeec8cbdccd80c9c1d8"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="662023342529080a0f080335131616091412260003140548010910">[email protected]</span></a>, (866) 208-3676
(toll free), or (202) 502-8659 (TTY).
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.
p. 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#501f000010363522337e373f26"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="57180707173132253479303821">[email protected]</span></a>.
q. Procedural Schedule and Final Amendments: The application will
be processed according to the following preliminary schedule. Revisions
to the schedule will be made as appropriate.
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Milestone Target date
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Issue Deficiency Letter and Request July 2026.
Additional Information.
Issue Notice of Application Accepted for November 2026.
Filing.
Issue Scoping Notice.................... November 2026.
Scoping Comments Due.................... December 2026.
Issue Notice of Ready for Environmental February 2027.
Analysis.
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r. 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.
(Authority: 18 CFR 2.1)
Dated: June 10, 2026.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2026-12014 Filed 6-15-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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