[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 93 (Monday, June 11, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7458-S7459]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BYRD (for himself and Mr. Rockefeller):
  S. 1590. A bill to provide for the reintatement of a license for a 
certain Federal Energy Regulatory Commission project; to the Committee 
on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, my colleague from West Virginia, Senator 
Rockefeller, and I have joined together today to introduce legislation 
that would allow for the construction of a hydroelectric facility near 
the the City of Grafton, located in north central West Virginia. A 
companion measure is being introduced in the U.S.I House of 
Representatives by Congressman Alan Mollohan. The proposed hydro 
facility, to be constructed on an existing dam, would supply power to 
Grafton and surrounding area while also providing a significant 
economic benefit to the city.
  Our legislation, which was passed by the Senate late last year but 
did not clear the House of Representatives before the end of the 
session, would reinstate a license from the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, FERC, for a new hydroelectric facility on the Tygart Valley 
River. The City of Grafton has been considering the hydroelectric 
facility for many years, and first received a license for the project 
in 1989. However, that license lapsed in 1999 without the city making 
progress on the effort. The Byrd-Rockefeller-Mollohan measure would 
reinstate the license and allow Grafton to move ahead with the 20-
megawatt hydroelectric facility.
  The City of Grafton is working with a private contractor to develop 
the hydro project. With a new FERC license, the contractor believes 
that the project could be in operation as early as 2008. It is expected 
that the new hydroelectric facility would generate about $300,000 in 
annual revenues for Grafton, while creating 200 construction jobs in 
the process.
  In 1938, the Tygart dam became the first flood control project to be 
completed in the Pittsburgh District of the Army Corps of Engineers 
under the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1935. It remains one of the most 
expensive and extensive construction projects in the history of West 
Virginia. I recognize that the hydroelectric project has been delayed 
numerous times, but the Congressional Budget Office found that 
implementing the project will pose zero negative impact to the Federal 
budget. In fact, it will generate roughly $200,000 in annual licensing 
fees for the U.S. Treasury. Approval of our legislation will yield a 
return on this previous significant investment by the American taxpayer 
by leveraging new value out of old infrastructure.
  Clean, hydroelectric power generation from an expensive dam 
previously used only for flood control, at no cost to the Federal 
Government, is the type of cost-effective, progressive action that we 
should facilitate and applaud at every chance. It is the right thing to 
do for the communities and public utilities in the rural Appalachian 
counties where the existing dam and lake are located. It is the right 
thing to do for the West Virginians all along the Tygart and 
Monongahela Rivers. And it is the right thing to do for the taxpaying 
citizens of this Nation. I respectfully request that my colleagues 
support our

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legislation, the bill that makes these positive results possible.

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