[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 76 (Wednesday, April 20, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22128-22130]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-9540]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR


Notice of Intent To Accept Proposals, Select One Lessee, and 
Contract for Hydroelectric Power Development at the Granby Dam Outlet, 
a Feature of the Colorado-Big Thompson (C-BT) Project, Colorado

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: Promoting responsible development of renewable energy and 
moving the Nation toward a clean energy future is a top priority of the 
Department of the Interior. The Department signed a Memorandum of 
Understanding in March 2010 intended to focus on opportunities for 
development of environmentally sustainable hydropower at existing 
Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) facilities. The Department, acting 
through Reclamation, will consider proposals for non-Federal 
development of hydroelectric power at Granby Dam Outlet of the C-BT, 
Colorado. Reclamation is considering such hydroelectric power 
development under a lease of power privilege. No Federal funds will be 
available for such hydroelectric power development. The Department will 
prioritize projects that appropriately balance increased energy 
generation with consideration of environmental impacts. The Western 
Area Power Administration (Western) would have the first opportunity to 
purchase and/or market the power that would be generated by such 
development under a lease of power privilege. The C-BT is a Reclamation 
project. This Notice presents background information, proposal content 
guidelines, information concerning selection of one or more non-Federal 
entities to develop hydroelectric power at Granby Dam Outlet, and power 
purchasing and/or marketing considerations. Interested entities are 
invited to submit a proposal on this project.

DATES: A written proposal and seven copies must be submitted on or 
before 1 p.m. (MDT), on August 19, 2011. A proposal will be considered 
timely only if it is received in the office of the Lease of Power 
Privilege Coordinator by or before 1 p.m. (MDT) on the designated date. 
Interested entities are cautioned that delayed delivery to this office 
due to failures or misunderstandings of the entity and/or of mail, 
overnight, or courier services will not excuse lateness and, 
accordingly, are advised to provide sufficient time for delivery. Late 
proposals will not be considered.

ADDRESSES: Written proposals and seven copies should be sent to Mr. 
George Gliko, Lease of Power Privilege Coordinator (GP-2200), Bureau of 
Reclamation, Great Plains Regional Office (GP-2200), P.O. Box 36900, 
Billings, MT 59107-6900.
    Information related to Western's purchasing and/or marketing the 
power may be obtained at Western Area Power Administration, Rocky 
Mountain Region, Attn: Dave Neumayer, Power Marketing Manager, 5555 
East Crossroads Blvd., Loveland, Colorado 80538, Telephone: (970) 461-
7322.
    Information related to the operation and maintenance of Granby Dam 
and Reservoir may be obtained at Northern Colorado Water Conservancy 
District, 220 Water Avenue, Berthoud, Colorado 80513, Telephone: (970) 
532-7700.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. George Gliko at (406) 247-7651.
    Reclamation will be available to meet with interested entities only 
upon written request to the Lease of Power Privilege Coordinator at the 
above address. Reclamation reserves the right to schedule a single 
meeting and/or visit to address at one time, the questions of all 
entities that have submitted questions or requested site visits.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The C-BT, located in central Colorado, was 
authorized for construction, including hydroelectric power, by the 
Department of the Interior Appropriations Act, 1938 (1938 Act), Public 
Law 75-249, 50 Stat. 564 (August 9, 1937). Specifically, the 1938 Act 
appropriates funds for the Project's ``construction in accordance with 
the plan described in Senate Document No. 80, Seventy-fifth Congress, 
First Session * * * '' 50 Stat. 595. As part of the C-BT, the United 
States constructed Granby Dam. The Northern Colorado Water Conservancy 
District (District), under its contracts with the United States, has 
certain operation, maintenance, replacement, and repayment 
responsibilities and obligations concerning the C-BT, which includes 
such responsibility for Granby Dam and Reservoir. Reclamation recently 
released its Hydropower Resource Assessment (March 2011), which 
estimated that hydropower at Granby Dam is economically feasible to 
develop (benefit-cost ratio 1.16, including green incentives), and that 
there is a potential capacity of 484 kW. The Assessment may be viewed 
in its entirety at http://www.usbr.gov/power/.
    Reclamation is considering hydroelectric power development at 
Granby Dam Outlet through a lease of power privilege. A lease of power 
privilege is a congressionally authorized alternative to Federal 
hydroelectric power development. A lease of power privilege grants to a 
non-Federal entity the right to utilize C-BT for non-Federal electric 
power generation and sale, consistent with project purposes. Leases of 
power privilege have terms not to exceed 40 years. The general 
authority for lease of power privilege under Reclamation law includes, 
among others, the Town Sites and Power Development Act of 1906 (43 
U.S.C. 522) and the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 (43 U.S.C. 485h(c)) 
(1939 Act). Reclamation will be the lead Federal agency for ensuring 
compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of any 
lease of power privilege considered in response to this Notice. Leases 
of power privilege may be issued only when Reclamation, upon completion 
of the NEPA process, determines that the affected hydroelectric power 
sites are environmentally acceptable. Any lease of power privilege at 
Granby Dam Outlet must accommodate existing contractual commitments 
related to operation and maintenance of such existing facilities, and 
must meet the requirements of applicable law.
    Western would have the first opportunity to purchase and/or market 
the power that would be generated under any lease of power privilege. 
Under this process, Western would either purchase and market the power 
as Loveland Area Power power or market the power independently by first 
offering it to preference entities and secondly to non-preference 
entities.
    All costs incurred by the United States related to development and

[[Page 22129]]

operation and maintenance under a lease of power privilege, including 
but not limited to NEPA compliance, development of the lease of power 
privilege, design reviews, construction oversight, and any other 
associated documents, would be the expense of the lessee.
    Proposal Content Guidelines: Interested parties should submit one 
or more proposals explaining in as precise detail as is practicable how 
the hydropower potential at each site would be developed. Factors which 
proposals should consider and address include, but are not limited to, 
the following:
    1. Provide all information relevant to the qualifications of the 
proposing entity to plan and implement such a project, including, but 
not limited to, information about preference status, type of 
organization, length of time in business, experience in funding, design 
and construction of similar projects, industry rating(s) that indicate 
financial soundness and/or technical and managerial capability, 
experience of key management personnel, history of any reorganizations 
or mergers with other companies, safety record, and any other 
information that demonstrates the interested entity's organizational, 
technical and financial ability to perform all aspects of the work. 
Include a discussion of past experience in operating and maintaining 
similar facilities and provide references as appropriate. The term 
preference entity, as applied to a lease of power privilege, means an 
entity qualifying for preference under Section 9(c) of the 1939 Act, as 
a municipality, public corporation or agency, or cooperative or other 
nonprofit organization financed in whole or in part by loans made 
pursuant to the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, as amended.
    2. Provide geographical locations and describe principal structures 
and other important features of the proposed development including 
roads and transmission lines. Estimate and describe installed capacity 
and the capacity of the power facilities under dry, average, and wet 
hydrological conditions. Also describe seasonal or annual generation 
patterns. Include estimates of the amount of electrical energy that 
would be produced from each facility for each month of average, dry and 
wet water years. If capacity and energy can be delivered to another 
location, either by the proposing entity or by potential wheeling 
agents, specify where capacity and energy can be delivered. Include 
concepts for power sales and contractual arrangements, involved parties 
and the proposed approach to wheeling if required.
    3. Indicate title arrangements and the ability to acquire title to 
or the right to occupy and use lands necessary for the proposed 
development, including such additional lands as may be required during 
construction.
    4. Identify water rights applicable to the operation of the 
proposed development, the holder of such rights, and how these rights 
would be acquired or perfected.
    5. Discuss any studies necessary to adequately define impacts on 
the C-BT and the environment required by the development. Describe any 
significant environmental issues associated with the development and 
the proposing entity's approach for gathering relevant data and 
resolving such issues to protect and enhance the quality of the 
environment. Explain any proposed use of the hydropower development for 
conservation and utilization of the available water resources in the 
public interest.
    6. Describe anticipated contractual arrangements with the entity or 
entities having operation and maintenance responsibility for the C-BT 
feature(s) that are proposed for utilization in the hydropower 
development under consideration. Define how the hydropower development 
would operate in harmony with the C-BT, not impact C-BT operations, 
existing applicable contracts related to operation and maintenance of 
C-BT feature(s) that are proposed for utilization in the hydropower 
development under consideration, and any other applicable water-related 
contracts.
    7. Identify the organizational structure planned for the long-term 
operation and maintenance of any proposed hydropower development.
    8. Provide a management plan to accomplish such activities as 
planning, NEPA compliance, lease of power privilege development, 
design, construction, facility testing, and start of hydropower 
production. Prepare schedules of these activities as applicable. 
Describe what studies are necessary to accomplish the hydroelectric 
power development and how the studies would be implemented.
    9. Estimate development cost. This cost should include all 
investment costs such as the cost of studies to determine feasibility, 
NEPA compliance, design, construction, associated bonding and financing 
as well as the amortized annual cost of the investment; also, the 
annual operation, maintenance, and replacement expense for the 
hydropower development; lease payments to the United States; and 
expenses that may be associated with the C-BT. If there are additional 
transmission or wheeling expenses associated with the development of 
the hydropower development, these should be included. Identify proposed 
methods of financing and hydropower development. An economic analysis 
should be presented that compares the present worth of all benefits and 
costs of the hydropower development.
    Selection of Lessee: Reclamation will evaluate proposals received 
in response to this published notice.
    Reclamation will give more favorable consideration to proposals 
that (1) are well-adapted to developing, conserving, and utilizing the 
water and natural resources, (2) clearly demonstrate that the offeror 
is qualified to develop the hydropower facility and provide for long-
term operation and maintenance, and (3) develop the hydropower 
potential economically. Credit will be given to those proposals that 
demonstrate development of power in an environmentally-friendly manner. 
While all developments will be required to perform NEPA analysis, 
proposals should include information as to how the proposer will 
minimize environmental impact during construction, maintenance and 
operation. Proposers should also include design characteristics and 
methods that will be used to minimize environmental impacts and improve 
the environmental attributes of the facility. Any work the developer is 
proposing to do to enhance the ecosystem should also be explained in 
the proposal. A proposal will be deemed unacceptable if it is 
inconsistent with C-BT purposes, as determined by Reclamation. 
Reclamation will give preference to those entities that qualify as 
preference entities (as defined under Proposal Content Guidelines, item 
1.) provided that their proposal is at least as well-adapted to 
developing, conserving, and utilizing the water and natural resources 
as other submitted proposals and that the preference entity is well 
qualified. Preference entities would be allowed 90 days to improve 
their proposals, if necessary, to be made at least equal to a proposal 
that may have been submitted by a non-preference entity.
    Power Purchasing and/or Marketing Considerations: Western would 
have the first opportunity to purchase and/or market the power that 
would be generated by the project under a lease of power privilege. 
Western will consult with Reclamation on such power purchasing and/or 
marketing considerations.
    In the event Western elects to not purchase and/or market the power 
generated by the hydropower development or such a decision cannot

[[Page 22130]]

be made prior to execution of the lease of power privilege, the lessee 
would be responsible for marketing the power generated by the project 
with priority given to preference entities as heretofore defined in 
Proposal Content Guidelines, item 1.).
    Notice and Time Period to Enter Into Lease of Power Privilege: 
Reclamation will notify, in writing, all entities submitting proposals 
of Reclamation's decision regarding selection of the potential lessee. 
The selected potential lessee will have 2 years from the date of such 
notification to enter into a lease of power privilege for the site or 
sites identified in the proposal. Such leases of power privilege will 
state whether and how Western will be involved in purchasing and/or 
marketing the power. Any excessive delay resulting from compliance with 
the provisions of Federal environment laws or administrative review by 
a Federal agency, pertaining to the project, may extend the 2 year time 
period for a period equal to that of the delay. This period may only be 
extended by mutual, written consent of the potential lessee and the 
United States.

    Dated: April 14, 2011.
Michael J. Ryan,
Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 2011-9540 Filed 4-19-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P