[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 62 (Monday, April 3, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 16177]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-06487]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[OE Docket No. PP-435]


Application for Presidential Permit; Houlton Water Company

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

ACTION: Notice of application.

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SUMMARY: Houlton Water Company (Houlton) 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 or motions to intervene must be submitted on or before 
May 3, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Comments or motions to intervene should be addressed as 
follows: 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: Christopher Lawrence (Program Office) 
at 202-586-5260 or via electronic mail at 
[email protected], Rishi Garg (Program Attorney) at 202-
586-0258.

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 (E.O.) 10485, as 
amended by E.O. 12038.
    On January 13, 2017, Houlton filed an application with the Office 
of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability of the Department of 
Energy (DOE) for a Presidential permit. Houlton Water Company has its 
principal place of business in Houlton, Maine. Houlton Water Company is 
the municipal utility owned by the Town of Houlton, Maine.
    Houlton proposes to construct and operate the U.S. portion of the 
Houlton/New Brunswick Power Interconnection (the Project). In total, 
the project would be an approximately 11.8 mile overhead transmission 
system originating at the Woodstock, New Brunswick substation in Canada 
and terminate in the town of Houlton, Maine. From the Woodstock 
Substation, a 69kV transmission line would run approximately 9.3 miles 
to a new substation near the Canadian/U.S. border in Canada. From that 
substation, a 38kV line would run less than a mile to the U.S. border. 
From there a 1.5 mile, 38kV transmission line would extend from the 
U.S. border to connect into the Houlton, Maine electric distribution 
system.
    The U.S. portion of the proposed project would cross the U.S.-
Canada border near 67 degrees--46 min--52.48 sec W.; and 46 degrees--7 
min--58.16 sec N.
    The Project will be operated in accordance with mandatory 
reliability standards enforced by the North American Electric 
Reliability Corporation (NERC).
    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.
    Procedural Matters: Any person may comment on this application by 
filing such comment at the address provided above. Any person seeking 
to become a party to this proceeding must file a 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). Two copies of each comment 
or motion to intervene should be filed with DOE on or before the date 
listed above.
    Additional copies of such motions to intervene also should be filed 
directly with: John Clark, General Manager, Houlton Water Company, 21 
Bangor Street, Houlton, ME 04730 AND Greg Sherman, Assistant General 
Manager, Houlton Water Company, 21 Bangor Street, Houlton, ME 04730 AND 
Greg Williams, Temco Legal, LLC, 5060 Amesbury Drive, Columbia, MD 
21044.
    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 any other factors that DOE may also 
consider relevant to the public interest. Also, 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://energy.gov/oe/services/electricity-policy-coordination-and-implementation/international-electricity-regulatio-2.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on January 31, 2017.
Christopher A. Lawrence,
Electricity Policy Analyst, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy 
Reliability.
[FR Doc. 2017-06487 Filed 3-31-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P