[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 146 (Tuesday, July 30, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45918-45919]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-18241]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[OE Docket No. PP-387]


Application for Presidential Permit; Soule River Hydroelectric 
Project

AGENCY: Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of application.

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SUMMARY: Soule Hydro, LLC (Soule Hydro) has applied for a Presidential 
permit to construct, operate, maintain, and connect an electric 
transmission line across the United States border with Canada.

DATES: Comments, protests, or motions to intervene must be submitted on 
or before August 29, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Comments, protests, or motions to intervene should be 
addressed as follows: Brian Mills, Office of Electricity Delivery and 
Energy Reliability (OE-20), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Mills (Program Office) at 202-
586-8267 or via electronic mail at [email protected], or Katherine 
L. Konieczny (Attorney-Adviser) at 202-586-0503 or via electronic mail 
at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The construction, operation, maintenance, 
and connection of facilities at the international border of the United 
States for the transmission of electric energy between the United 
States and a foreign country is prohibited in the absence of a 
Presidential permit issued pursuant to Executive Order (EO) 10485, as 
amended by EO 12038.
    On March 18, 2013, Soule Hydro filed an application with the Office 
of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability of the Department of 
Energy (DOE) for a Presidential Permit. Soule Hydro is a limited 
liability corporation, organized and existing in the State of Delaware. 
Alaska Power & Telephone Company (AP&T) is the parent company and sole 
shareholder for Soule Hydro.
    Soule Hydro proposes to construct and operate a high-voltage 
alternating current (HVAC) hydroelectric transmission line that is to 
originate on the Soule River, on Portland Canal in Southeast Alaska, 
and continue to the BC Hydro Stewart Substation on the north side of 
Stewart, British Columbia. It would occupy federal land administered by 
the Ketchikan-Misty Fjords Ranger District of the U.S. Forest Service 
(Forest Service). The proposed Soule River Hydroelectric Project (the 
``Project'') would be capable of transmitting up to 77.4 megawatts (MW) 
of power.
    The Alaska portion of the Project would be an 8-mile long, 138 
kilovolt (kV) HVAC 3-phase submarine cable that would be laid on the 
floor of Portland Canal off the community of Hyder, Alaska, waterfront 
before it would cross the international boundary and extend 
approximately 2 miles to land at Stewart, B.C. Arrow Dock.
    The transmission line would eventually transition to overhead and 
terminate at the BC Hydro Stewart Substation approximately 2.5 miles 
from the cable landing.
    Soule Hydro represents that the Project's precise final route would 
be subject to a number of factors, including resource issues, 
permitting, land acquisition, and stakeholder agreement. The 
approximately 8-mile-long portion of the Project located within the 
United States as well as the approximately 4.5 miles of transmission 
infrastructure in Canada would be owned and operated by Soule Hydro.
    Since the restructuring of the electric industry began, resulting 
in the introduction of different types of competitive entities into the 
marketplace, DOE has consistently expressed its policy that cross-
border trade in electric energy should be subject to the same 
principles of comparable open access and non-discrimination that apply 
to transmission in interstate commerce. DOE has stated that policy in 
export authorizations granted to entities requesting authority to 
export over international transmission facilities. Specifically, DOE 
expects transmitting utilities owning border facilities to provide 
access across the border in accordance with the principles of 
comparable open access and non-discrimination contained in the Federal 
Power Act and articulated in Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
(FERC) Order No. 888 (Promoting Wholesale Competition Through Open 
Access Non-Discriminatory Transmission Services by Public Utilities; 
FERC Stats. & Regs. ]31,036 (1996)), as amended. In furtherance of this 
policy, DOE invites comments on whether it would be appropriate to 
condition any Presidential permit issued in this proceeding on 
compliance with these open access principles.
    Procedural Matters: Any person may comment on or protest this 
application by filing such comment or protest at the address provided 
above in accordance with Rule 211 of FERC's Rules of Practice and 
Procedure (18 CFR 385.211). Any person seeking to become a party to 
this proceeding must file a

[[Page 45919]]

motion to intervene at the address provided above in accordance with 
Rule 214 of FERC's Rules of Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.214). 
Fifteen copies of each comment, protest, or motion to intervene should 
be filed with DOE on or before the date listed above.
    Additional copies of such comment, protest, or motion to intervene 
should also be filed directly with: Mr. Robert S. Grimm, CEO/President, 
Soule Hydro, LLC, c/o Alaska Power & Telephone Company, 193 Otto 
Street, P.O. Box 3222, Port Townsend, WA 98368.
    Before a Presidential permit may be issued or amended, DOE must 
determine that the proposed action is in the public interest. In making 
that determination, DOE considers the environmental impacts of the 
proposed project pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, determines the project's impact on electric reliability by 
ascertaining whether the proposed project would adversely affect the 
operation of the U.S. electric power supply system under normal and 
contingency conditions, and considers any other factors that may also 
be relevant to the public interest. DOE must obtain the concurrences of 
the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense before taking final 
action on a Presidential permit application.
    Copies of this application will be made available, upon request, 
for public inspection and copying at the address provided above, by 
accessing the program Web site at http://www.oe.energy.gov/permits_pending.htm, or by emailing Angela Troy at [email protected].

    Issued in Washington, DC, on July 24, 2013.
Brian Mills,
Director, Permitting and Siting, Office of Electricity Delivery and 
Energy Reliability.
[FR Doc. 2013-18241 Filed 7-29-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P