[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 111 (Friday, June 9, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30532-30533]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-14205]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Fossil Energy
[Docket No. EA-101-A]


Application To Amend Electricity Export Authorization, Washington 
Water Power Company

AGENCY: Office of Fossil Energy, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of Application.

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SUMMARY: Washington Water Power Company (WWP) has submitted a request 
to amend its existing authorization to export electric energy to Canada 
pursuant to section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act.

DATES: Comments, protests or requests to intervene must be submitted on 
or before July 10, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments, protests or requests to intervene should be 
addressed as follows: Office of Coal & Electricity (FE-52), Office of 
Fuels Programs, Office of Fossil Energy, Department of Energy, 1000 
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Xavier Puslowski (Program Office) 202-
586-4708 or Michael Skinker (Program Attorney) 202-586-6667.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Exports of electricity from the United 
States to a foreign country are regulated and require authorization 
under section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act (FPA).
    WWP is currently authorized to export electric energy to Canada 
pursuant to two separate export authorizations. On September 2, 1994, 
the Office of Fossil Energy (FE) of the Department of Energy (DOE) 
issued an order in Docket EA-98 authorizing WWP and 21 other members of 
the Western Systems Power Pool (WSPP) to export electric energy to 
British Columbia Hydro & Power Authority (B.C. Hydro), and other future 
Canadian members of the WSPP, under the terms and conditions of WSPP's 
pooling agreement and service schedules approved by the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission (FERC). A condition of the WSPP agreement is that 
all transactions among WSPP members must be no longer than one year in 
duration and in accordance with one of four service schedules on file 
with FERC. The facilities to be utilized for these exports are the 
international transmission facilities owned and operated by the 
Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), also a WSPP member. These 
facilities consist of two 500-kilovolt (kV) lines located at Blaine, 
Washington, one 230-kV line at Nelway, British Columbia, and one 230-kV 
transmission line connecting to West Kootenay Power, Limited, at 
Nelway, British Columbia. The construction and operation of these 
international transmission facilities were previously authorized by 
Presidential Permits PP-10, PP-46, and PP-36, respectively. Exports 
under this order are authorized through September 2, 1996.
    On October 17, 1994, FE issued an order in Docket EA-101 
authorizing WWP to export through BPA's Nelway facilities (Presidential 
Permit PP-36 1) up to 100 megawatts (MW) of firm capacity and 
associated energy to West Kootenay Power, Limited, for only the months 
of November, December, January, and February. This authorization 
expires in February 1999.

    \1\ In the electricity export authorization issued to Washington 
Water Power on October 17, 1994, in FE Docket EA-101, Order EA-101, 
the DOE misidentified the Presidential permit to be used to execute 
the transfer of electric energy to West Kootenay Power, Limited. The 
correct Presidential permit number is PP-36, not PP-46.
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    On May 12, 1995, WWP applied to DOE to amend the export 
authorization issued in Docket EA-101 by: (1) Increasing the authorized 
export limit to 400 MW; (2) authorizing exports for all months of the 
calendar year; (3) removing the expiration date of the export 
authorization; and (4) adding the BPA facilities authorized by 
Presidential Permits PP-10 and PP-46 to the list of facilities that WWP 
may use for export.
    WWP asserts that amending the export authorization will allow it to 
more readily respond to the competitive changes taking place in the 
electric utility industry and that the limits in the existing export 
authorization create a significant barrier to meeting competitive 
market opportunities. WWP is seeking an export authorization that will 
allow it to negotiate contracts for transactions that occur during any 
month over a period of years. Specifically WWP is requesting 
authorization to enter into multiple contracts in order to export not 
more than 400 megawatts of electricity to Canada annually.

Procedural Matters

    Any person desiring to be heard or to protest this application 
should file a petition to intervene or protest at the address provided 
above in accordance with Secs. 385.211 or 385.214 of the Rules of 
Practice and Procedures (18 CFR 385.211, 385.214).
    Any such petitions and protests should be filed with DOE on or 
before the date listed above. Additional copies of such petitions to 
intervene or protests also should be filed directly with: Charles M. 
Goligoski, Power Resource Analyst, Washington Water Power, East 1411 
Mission, P.O. Box 3727, Spokane, Washington 99220-3727.
    Pursuant to 18 CFR 385.211, protests and comments will be 
considered by the DOE in determining the appropriate action to be 
taken, but will not serve to make protestants parties to the 
proceeding. Any person wishing to become a part must file a petition to 
intervene under 18 CFR 385.214. Section 385.214 requires that a 
petition to intervene must state, to the extent known, the position 
taken by the petitioner and the petitioners interest in sufficient 
factual detail to demonstrate either that the petitioner has a right to 
participate because it is a State Commission; that it has or represents 
an interest which may be directly affected by the outcome of the 
proceeding, including any interest as a consumer, customer, competitor, 
or a security holder of a party to the proceeding; or that the 
petitioner's participation is in the public interest.
    A final decision will be made on this application after the DOE 
determines whether the proposed action would impair the sufficiency of 
electric supply within the United States or would impede or tend to 
impede the coordination in the public interest of facilities as 
required by Section 202(e) of FPA.
    Before an export authorization may be issued, the environmental 
impacts of the proposed DOE action (i.e., granting the export 
authorization, with any conditions and limitations, or denying it) must 
be evaluated pursuant to the National Environment Policy Act of 1969 
(NEPA).
    Copies of this application will be made available, upon request, 
for public [[Page 30533]] inspection and copying at the address 
provided above.

    Issued in Washington, DC, June 2, 1995.
Anthony J. Como,
Director, Office of Coal & Electricity, Office of Fuels Programs, 
Fossil Energy.
[FR Doc. 95-14205 Filed 6-8-95; 8:45 am]
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