[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 120 (Wednesday, June 22, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36527-36528]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-15526]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[ Project No. 349-150]
Alabama Power Company (Alabama Power); Notice of Application
Tendered for Filing With the Commission and Establishing Procedural
Schedule for Licensing and 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.: 349-150.
c. Date Filed: June 8, 2011.
d. Applicant: Alabama Power Company (Alabama Power).
e. Name of Project: Martin Dam Hydroelectric Project.
f. Location: The existing Martin Dam Project is located on the
Tallapoosa River in northeast Alabama, in Tallapoosa, Coosa, and Elmore
Counties, Alabama, near the cities of Alexander City and Dadeville,
Alabama. The project would occupy 1.36 acres of Federal lands.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: Theodore J. McCullough, Senior Vice President
and Senior Production Officer, Alabama Power Company, 600 North 18th
Street, P.O. Box 2641, Birmingham, AL 35291, telephone (205) 257-8180;
James F. Crew, Manager, Hydro Services, Alabama Power Company, 600
North 18th Street, P.O. Box 2641, Birmingham, AL 35291, telephone (205)
257-4265.
i. FERC Contact: Jennifer Adams, (202) 502-8087 or
[email protected].
j. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this
time.
k. The Project Description: Martin Dam is located at river mile
420.0 on the Tallapoosa River near the cities of Alexander City and
Dadeville, Alabama. Martin Dam impounds about 31 miles of the
Tallapoosa River, forming Martin Reservoir (or Lake Martin), a 40,000-
acre reservoir with (a) 700 miles of shoreline, (b) a gross storage
capacity of 1,622,000 acre-feet, and (c) active storage of 1,381,077
acre-feet at a 45.5-foot drawdown.
The existing Martin Dam Project consists of: (1) A concrete gravity
dam and an earth dike section, totaling about 2,000 feet in length with
a maximum height of 168 feet, and includes (a) A 720-foot-long gated
spillway section with 20 vertical lift spillway gates, each measuring
30 feet wide by 16 feet high; (b) a 250-foot-long concrete gravity
intake structure, (c) a 255-foot-long concrete gravity non-overflow
section, and (d) an approximately 1,000-foot-long earth embankment; (2)
a reservoir with a surface area of 40,000 acres at the normal full pool
elevation of 491 feet mean sea level (msl); (3) headworks containing
four steel penstocks and 12 intake gates, each fitted with trash racks;
(4) a brick and concrete, steel-frame powerhouse, 307 feet long, 58
feet wide, and 99 feet high; (5) four vertical Francis turbines that
power four generating units with a total installed capacity of 182.5
MW; (6) two 450-foot-long transmission lines; and (7) appurtenant
facilities. The project generates about 33,000,000 megawatt-hours (MWh)
annually.
The Martin Dam Project operates as a peaking project using a
multipurpose storage reservoir (Lake Martin), in which the water levels
fluctuate seasonally. Under its normal peaking operations, the project
operates between elevations 481 and 491 feet msl. Flows from the dam
vary from leakage during periods of non-generation to 17,900 cubic feet
per second (cfs) during generation. The Martin Dam Project typically
generates Monday through Friday for eight hours per day. Releases from
Martin Dam are made directly into Alabama Power's Yates and Thurlow
Hydroelectric Project (FERC Project No. 2407). The Thurlow Dam is
required to release a minimum flow of 1,200 cfs. Releases from Martin
Dam are often necessary to maintain the 1,200-cfs minimum flow
requirement.
Alabama Power uses three guide curves for the Martin Dam Project:
(1) A flood control guide; (2) an operating guide; and (3) a drought
contingency curve. The flood control guide maximizes lake elevations
for flood control purposes. The operating guide limits fluctuations in
Lake Martin to water levels that stakeholders deemed acceptable during
the previous relicensing process for the Martin Dam Project. The area
between the flood control guide and operating guide represents the
range that Alabama Power operates the project under normal inflow
conditions.
[[Page 36528]]
l. Locations of the Application: A copy of the application is
available for review at the Commission in the Public Reference Room or
may be viewed on the Commission's Web site at 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. A copy is
also available for inspection and reproduction at the address in item
(h) above.
m. You may also register online at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/esubscription.asp to be notified via e-mail of new filings and
issuances related to this or other pending projects. For assistance,
contact FERC Online Support.
n. Procedural Schedule:
The application will be processed according to the following
preliminary Hydro Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the schedule may be
made as appropriate.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Milestone Target date
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notice of Acceptance/Notice of Ready for August 7, 2011
Environmental Analysis.
Filing of recommendations, preliminary October 6, 2011.
terms and conditions, and fishway
prescriptions.
Commission issues Draft EIS............... April 3, 2012.
Comments on Draft EIS..................... June 2, 2012.
Modified Terms and Conditions............. August 1, 2012.
Commission Issues Final EIS............... October 30, 2012.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
o. 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.
Dated: June 15, 2011.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011-15526 Filed 6-21-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P