[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 97 (Monday, May 22, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23239-23240]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-10385]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 1892-030; Project No. 1855-050; Project No. 1904-078]


Great River Hydro, LLC; Notice of Applications 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 applications have been 
filed with the Commission and are available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Applications: New Major Licenses.
    b. Project Nos.: 1892-030, 1855-050, and 1904-078.
    c. Date Filed: May 1, 2017.
    d. Applicant: Great River Hydro, LLC (Great River Hydro).
    e. Names of Projects: Wilder, Bellows Falls, and Vernon 
Hydroelectric Projects.
    f. Location: The existing projects are located on the Connecticut 
River in Orange, Windsor, and Windham Counties, Vermont, and Grafton, 
Cheshire, and Sullivan Counties, New Hampshire. There are no federal 
lands within the project boundaries.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: John Ragonese, FERC License Manager, Great 
River Hydro, LLC, One Harbour Place, Suite 330, Portsmouth, NH 03801; 
Telephone: (603) 559-5513 or [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Brandon Cherry, (202) 502-8328 or 
[email protected].
    j. These applications are not ready for environmental analysis at 
this time.
    k. Project Descriptions:

Wilder Project

    The existing Wilder Project consists of: (1) A 1,546-foot-long, 59-
foot-high, concrete dam that includes: (a) A 400-foot-long non-
overflow, earthen embankment (north embankment); (b) a 232-foot-long 
non-overflow, concrete bulkhead; (c) a 208-foot-long concrete forebay; 
(d) a 526-foot-long concrete, gravity spillway that includes: (i) six 
30-foot-high, 36-foot-long tainter gates; (ii) four 17-foot-high, 50-
foot-wide stanchion flashboards; (iii) a 15-foot-high, 20-foot-long 
skimmer gate (north gate); and (iv) a 10-foot-high, 10-foot-long 
skimmer gate (south gate); and (e) a 180-foot-long non-overflow, 
earthen embankment (south embankment); (2) a 45-mile-long, 3,100-acre 
impoundment with a useable storage volume of 13,350 acre-feet between 
elevations 380 and 385 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 
(NGVD 29); (3) four approximately 25-foot-high, 20-foot-wide trashracks 
with 5-inch clear bar spacing and one approximately 28-foot-high, 20-
foot-wide trashrack with 1.625-inch clear bar spacing; (4) a 181-foot-
long, 50-foot-wide, 50-foot-high steel frame, brick powerhouse 
containing two 16.2-megawatt (MW) adjustable-blade Kaplan turbine-
generator units and one 3.2-MW vertical Francis turbine-generator unit 
for a total project capacity of 35.6 MW; (5) three concrete draft tubes 
ranging from 9.5 to 20.5 feet in diameter; (6) 13.8-kilovolt (kV) 
generator leads that connect the turbine-generator units to two 
substation transformers; (7) an approximately 580-foot-long, 6-foot-
wide fishway; and (8) appurtenant facilities.

Bellows Falls Project

    The existing Bellows Falls Project consists of: (1) A 643-foot-
long, 30-foot-high concrete dam that includes: (a) two 18-foot-high, 
115-foot-wide steel roller gates; (b) two 13-foot-high, 121-foot-wide 
stanchion flashboards; and (c) a 13-foot-high, 100-foot-wide stanchion 
flashboard; (2) a 26-mile-long, 2,804-acre impoundment with a useable 
storage volume of 7,467 acre-feet between elevations 288.63 and 291.63 
feet NGVD 29; (3) a 1,700-foot-long, 36- to 100-foot-wide, 29-foot-deep 
stone-lined power canal; (4) a 130.25-foot-wide concrete forebay that 
includes trashracks with 4-inch clear bar spacing; (5) a 186-foot-long, 
106-foot-wide, 52-foot-high steel frame, brick powerhouse containing 
three 13.6-MW vertical Francis turbine-generator units for a total 
project capacity of 40.8 MW; (6) three approximately 20-foot-high, 31-
foot-wide concrete draft tubes; (7) a 900-

[[Page 23240]]

foot-long tailrace; (8) a 12-foot-wide, 10-foot-high ice sluice; (9) 
three 80-foot-long, 6.6-kV generator leads that connect the turbine-
generator units to two step-up transformers; (10) a 920-foot-long, 8-
foot-wide fishway; (11) a concrete fish barrier dam in the bypassed 
reach; and (12) appurtenant facilities.

Vernon Project

    The existing Vernon Project consists of: (1) a 956-foot-long, 58-
foot-high concrete dam that includes: (a) 356-foot-long section 
integral to the powerhouse; and (b) a 600-foot-long overflow spillway 
section that includes: (i) a 9-foot-high, 6-foot-wide fishway sluice; 
(ii) a 13-foot-high, 13-foot-wide trash/ice sluice; (iii) two 20-foot-
high, 50-foot-wide tainter gates; (iv) four 10-foot-high, 50-foot-wide 
tainter gates; (v) two 10-foot-high, 50-foot-wide hydraulic panel bays; 
(vi) two 10-foot-high, 50-foot-wide stanchion bays; (vii) a 10-foot-
high, 42.5-foot-wide stanchion bay; and (viii) eight 7-foot-high, 9-
foot-wide hydraulic flood gates; (2) a 26-mile-long, 2,550-acre 
impoundment with a useable storage volume of 18,300 acre-feet between 
elevations 212.13 and 220.13 feet NGVD 29; (3) eight approximately 30-
foot-high trashracks with 1.75-inch clear bar spacing and two 
approximately 30-foot-high trashracks with 3.625-inch clear bar 
spacing; (4) a 356-foot-long, 55-foot-wide, 45-foot-high reinforced 
concrete, steel, and brick powerhouse containing four 2-MW vertical 
Francis turbine-generator units, four 4-MW vertical Kaplan turbine-
generator units, and two 4.2-MW vertical Francis turbine-generator 
units for a total project capacity of 32.4 MW; (5) ten concrete draft 
tubes ranging from 16 to 27 feet in diameter; (6) a 500-foot-long, 
13.8-kV underground generator lead that connects the turbine-generator 
units to two step-up transformers; (7) a 984-foot-long, 15-foot-wide 
fishway; (8) downstream fish passage facilities; and (9) appurtenant 
facilities.
    Great River Hydro operates all three projects in coordination and 
in a peaking mode. Average annual generation is approximately 161,739; 
247,373; and 162,557 MW-hours at the Wilder, Bellows Falls, and Vernon 
Projects, respectively. Great River Hydro is not proposing any new 
project facilities or changes to operation of these projects at this 
time.
    l. Locations of the Applications: Copies of the applications are 
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). Copies are 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 these or other pending projects. For assistance, contact 
FERC Online Support.
    n. Procedural Schedule: In the final license applications, Great 
River Hydro states that it will file amended final license applications 
after it completes additional field work for two studies, conducts 
additional consultation with stakeholders on the study results, and 
models operational alternatives. After Great River Hydro completes and 
files the revised study reports and amended final license applications, 
Commission staff will issue a revised procedural schedule with target 
dates for the post-filing milestones listed below.

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                  Milestone                          Target  date
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Amended Final License Applications..........  TBD.
Notice of Acceptance/Notice of Ready for      TBD.
 Environmental Analysis.
Filing of recommendations, preliminary terms  TBD.
 and conditions, and fishway prescriptions.
Commission issues Draft Environmental Impact  TBD.
 Statement (EIS).
Comments on Draft EIS.......................  TBD.
Modified terms and conditions...............  TBD.
Commission issues Final EIS.................  TBD.
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    o. Final amendments to the applications must be filed with the 
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of the notice 
of ready for environmental analysis.

    Dated: May 15, 2017.
Kimberly D. Bose,
 Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-10385 Filed 5-19-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P