[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 81 (Tuesday, April 28, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23532-23533]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-09840]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 14201-001]


Bison Peak Pumped Storage, LLC; Notice of Preliminary Permit 
Application Accepted for Filing and Soliciting Comments, Motions To 
Intervene, and Competing Applications

    On January 2, 2015, the Bison Peak Pumped Storage, LLC., filed an 
application for a successive preliminary permit, pursuant to section 
4(f) of the Federal Power Act (FPA), proposing to study the feasibility 
of the Bison Peak Pumped Storage Project (Bison Peak Project or 
project) to be located in the Tehachapi Mountains south of Tehachapi, 
Kern County, California. The sole purpose of a preliminary permit, if 
issued, is to grant the permit holder priority to file a license 
application during the permit term. A preliminary permit does not 
authorize the permit holder to perform any land-disturbing activities 
or otherwise enter upon lands or waters owned by others without the 
owners' express permission.
    The proposed project would be a closed-loop pumped storage project 
with an upper reservoir and the applicant has proposed three 
alternatives for the placement of a lower reservoir, termed ``West,'' 
``South,'' and ``East''. Water for the initial fill of each of the 
alternatives would be obtained from local water agency infrastructure 
via a route that would be identified during studies.
    A ring dam of varying heights and a perimeter of 6,000 feet would 
form the project's upper reservoir. The upper reservoir would have a 
total storage capacity of 4,196 acre-feet and a surface area of 45.4 
acres at an elevation of 7,800 feet mean sea level (msl) and a concrete 
lined intake/tailrace facility. The upper reservoir would be connected 
to one of the three proposed lower reservoir alternatives as described 
below.
    The West lower reservoir alternative would consist of the 
following: (1) The upper reservoir; (2) a 43-acre lower reservoir at 
5,380 feet msl created by a dam with a crest height of 250 feet, crest 
length of 1,435 feet, and a storage capacity of 5,347 acre-feet; (3) 
four 10-foot diameter, 5,890-foot-long penstocks from the concrete 
lined intake/tailrace facility at the upper reservoir; (4) an 
underground powerhouse with four 250-megawatt (MW) reversible pump-
turbines; (5) an intake/tailrace facility; and (6) appurtenant 
facilities. The estimated annual generation of the Bison Peak Pumped 
Storage Project West lower reservoir alternative would be about 2,190 
gigawatt-hours.
    The South lower reservoir alternative proposal would consist of the 
following: (1) The upper reservoir; (2) a 41.8-acre lower reservoir at 
4,875 feet msl created by a dam with a crest height of 260 feet, crest 
length of up to 1,285 feet, and a storage capacity of 4,616 acre-feet; 
(3) four 10-foot diameter, 9,420-foot-long penstocks from the concrete 
lined intake/tailrace facility at the upper reservoir to; (4) an 
underground powerhouse with four 250-megawatt (MW) reversible pump-
turbines; (5) an intake/tailrace facility; and (6) appurtenant 
facilities. The estimated annual generation of the Bison Peak Pumped 
Storage Project South lower reservoir alternative would be about 2,190 
gigawatt-hours.
    The East lower reservoir alternative would consist of the 
following: (1) The upper reservoir; (2) a 47-acre lower reservoir at 
5,800 feet msl created by a dam with a crest height of 320 feet, crest 
length of 1,150 feet, and a storage capacity of 5,724 acre-feet; (3) 
three 12-foot diameter, 5,890-foot-long penstocks from the concrete 
lined intake/tailrace facility at the upper reservoir to; (4) an 
underground powerhouse with three 250-megawatt (MW) reversible pump-
turbines; (5) an intake/tailrace facility; and (6) appurtenant 
facilities. The estimated annual generation of the Bison Peak Pumped 
Storage Project East lower reservoir alternative would be about 1,642 
gigawatt-hours.
    Applicant Contact: Mario Lucchese, Bison Peak Pumped Storage, LLC. 
9795 Cabrini Dr., Ste. 206, Burbank, CA 91504; phone: (818) 767-5552.
    FERC Contact: Matt Buhyoff; phone: (202) 502-6824.
    Deadline for filing comments, motions to intervene, competing 
applications (without notices of intent), or notices of intent to file 
competing applications: 60 days from the issuance of this notice. 
Competing applications and notices of intent must meet the requirements 
of 18 CFR 4.36.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
comments, motions to intervene, notices of intent, and competing 
applications using the Commission's eFiling system at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp. Commenters can submit brief 
comments up to 6,000 characters, without prior registration, using the 
eComment system at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ecomment.asp. You 
must include your name and contact information at the end of your 
comments. For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at 
[email protected], (866)

[[Page 23533]]

208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-8659 (TTY). In lieu of electronic 
filing, please send a paper copy to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, 
DC 20426. The first page of any filing should include docket number P-
14201-001.
    More information about this project, including a copy of the 
application, can be viewed or printed on the ``eLibrary'' link of 
Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/elibrary.asp. 
Enter the docket number (P-14201) in the docket number field to access 
the document. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.

    Dated: April 14, 2015.
 Kimberly D. Bose,
 Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-09840 Filed 4-27-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P