[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 180 (Wednesday, September 17, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55787-55788]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-22102]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[ Project No. 2503-154]


Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC; 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.: 2503-154.
    c. Date Filed: August 27, 2014.
    d. Applicant: Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC.
    e. Name of Project: Keowee-Toxaway Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: The existing Keowee-Toxaway Project is located on the 
Toxaway, Keowee, and Little Rivers in Oconee County and Pickens County, 
South Carolina and Transylvania County, North Carolina. The Keowee-
Toxaway Project occupies no federal lands.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S. C. 791 (a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Jennifer Huff, Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC, 
526 S. Church Street, Charlotte, NC 28202; Telephone (980) 373-4392.
    i. FERC Contact: Stephen Bowler, (202) 502-6861 or 
[email protected]
    j. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    k. The Project Description:
    The Keowee-Toxaway Project consists of two developments: The 
upstream, 710.1-MW Jocassee Development and the downstream, 157.5-
megawatt (MW) Keowee Development owned by Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC. 
The Jocassee Development includes: A 385-foot-high, 1,800-foot-long 
main earthfill dam with top elevation at 1,125 feet above mean sea 
level (msl); two circular intake structures passing water to two water 
conveyance tunnels leading to four turbines; two saddle dikes (825 feet 
and 500 feet in length); a partially-open powerhouse just downstream of 
the dam containing four reversible pump-turbine units authorized for an 
installed capacity of 177.5 MW each; a 50-foot-wide, concrete, ogee-
type spillway with two Taintor gates; a 230-kilovolt (kV) transmission 
system; and appurtenant facilities. The maximum hydraulic capacity is 
36,200 cfs.
    The Jocassee Development is operated as a pumped-storage project, 
with the pump-turbines used for generating power during peak demand 
periods (typically during the day), and for pumping water back through 
the tunnels to Lake Jocassee (typically during the night). The pumps 
have a capacity of 32,720 cfs. The Jocassee Development is also the 
lower lake for the 1,065 MW Bad Creek Hydroelectric Project No. 2740, 
which is also owned by Duke, but is not part of this relicensing.
    The Keowee Development includes: a 165-foot-high, 3,500-foot-long 
earthfill dam impounding the Keowee River, and a 165-foot-high, 1,800-
foot-long earthfill dam impounding the Little River; four saddle dikes 
(1,900 feet, 225 feet, 350 feet, and 650 feet in length); an intake 
dike at the Oconee Nuclear Station; a 176-foot wide, concrete, ogee-
type spillway with four Taintor gates; a concrete intake structure 
leading to two penstocks; a concrete powerhouse at the base of Keowee 
dam containing two Francis-type, mixed flow turbine-generator units 
authorized for an installed capacity of 78.8 MW each; a 150-foot by 
500-foot concrete tailrace; a 230-kV transmission system; and 
appurtenant facilities. The maximum hydraulic capacity is 24,920 cfs.
    Duke and several stakeholders signed a relicensing agreement 
(settlement), which resolves all issues to relicensing the project 
among the signatories.
    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, please contact FERC Online Support at 
[email protected], (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-
8659 (TTY).
    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 email 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.

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              Milestone                           Target date
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Notice of Acceptance/Notice of Ready   October 26, 2014.
 for.
Environmental Analysis...............
Filing of recommendations,             December 25, 2014.
 preliminary terms and conditions,
 and fishway prescriptions.
Commission issues Draft EA...........  June 23, 2015.
Comments on Draft Environmental        July 23, 2015.
 Assessment (EA).

[[Page 55788]]

 
Modified terms and conditions........  September 21, 2015.
Commission issues Final EA...........  December 20, 2015.
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    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: September 10, 2014.
 Kimberly D. Bose,
 Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-22102 Filed 9-16-14; 8:45 am]
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