[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 8 (Wednesday, January 12, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Page 2144]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-84]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 2149-119]


Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County; Notice of 
Settlement Agreement and Application for Approval of Contract for the 
Sale of Power for a Period Extending Beyond the Term of the License, 
and Soliciting Comments

January 5, 2005.
    Take notice that on November 23, 2004, Public Utility District No. 
1 of Douglas County, Washington (Douglas PUD), the Confederated Tribes 
of the Colville Reservation (Tribe), and the Wells Power Purchasers 
(Puget Sound Energy, Inc., Portland General Electric Company, 
PacificCorp, and Avista Corporation, collectively) filed with the 
Commission: (1) A request for approval of a settlement agreement 
between Douglas PUD and the Tribe resolving all claims involving annual 
charges under Section 10(e) of the Federal Power Act (FPA), 16 U.S.C. 
803(e), for use of Indian land for Douglas PUD's Wells Project No. 
2149; and (2) an application for approval of a contract for the sale of 
power from the project extending beyond the term of the project 
license, which expires on May 31, 2012. The project is located on the 
Columbia River in Chelan, Douglas, Kittitas, Grant, Yakima, and Benton 
Counties, Washington.
    Under the settlement agreement Douglas PUD and the Tribe agree to a 
lump-sum payment to the Tribe, in the form of cash and real property 
and a share in the power output of project in fulfillment of all annual 
charge obligations to the Tribe for the term of the current license and 
any new license for the Wells Project issued to Douglas PUD. The 
settlement agreement by its terms would terminate if Douglas PUD is not 
granted a new license for the project. Both parties assert that the 
settlement is fair and serves the public interest by satisfying the 
purposes of section 10(e) of the FPA without the necessity of time-
consuming and costly litigation over annual charge claims.
    Section 22 of the FPA, 16 U.S.C. 815, provides that contracts for 
the sale and delivery of power for periods extending beyond the 
termination date of a license may be entered into upon the joint 
approval of the Commission and the appropriate state public service 
Commission or other similar authority in the state in which the sale or 
delivery of power is made. Douglas PUD and the Tribe have pursuant to 
the settlement agreement submitted for Commission approval a power 
sales contract providing the Tribe a share of the project's output that 
would extend beyond the term of the current project license. The tribe 
would acquire 4.5 percent of the output of the project through 2018 and 
5.5 percent thereafter for as long as Douglas PUD holds any license for 
the Wells Project. The power would be bought by the Tribe at cost. The 
parties assert that approval of the submitted contract is in the public 
interest because the contract is part of the global settlement of 
issues addressed by the settlement and because of the special 
relationship of the Tribe to the Wells Project as result of the 
geographic proximity of the Tribe's reservation to the project.
    Comments on the settlement agreement and the request for approval 
of the power sales contract or motions to intervene may be filed with 
the Commission no later than January 19, 2005, and replies to comments 
no later than January 25, 2005. 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.
    All documents (an original and eight copies) must be filed with: 
Magalie R. Salas, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426. Please put the project name 
``Wells Project No. 2149'' on the first page of all documents.
    Comments may be filed electronically via the Internet in lieu of 
paper. The Commission strongly encourages electronic filings. See 18 
CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the Commission's Web 
site http://www.ferc.gov under the ``e-Filing'' link.
    A copy of the settlement agreement is available for review in the 
Commission's Public Reference Room or may be viewed on the Commission's 
Web site http://www.ferc.gov 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 at [email protected] or toll-free at 1-866-208-3676, 
or for TTY, (202) 502-8659.
    You may also register online at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/esubscription.asp to be notified via email of new filings and issuances 
related to this project or other pending projects. For assistance, 
contact FERC Online Support.
    Comment Date: January 19, 2005.
    Replies to Comments: January 25, 2005.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5-84 Filed 1-11-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P