[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 239 (Thursday, December 12, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67938-67939]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-26764]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 10853-022]


Otter Tail Power Company; 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.: 10853-022.
    c. Date Filed: November 27, 2019.
    d. Applicant: Otter Tail Power Company.

[[Page 67939]]

    e. Name of Project: Otter Tail River Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: The Otter Tail River Hydroelectric Project consists of 
five developments on the Otter Tail River that starts in the Township 
of Friberg, Minnesota and extends downstream (south) of the City of 
Fergus Falls, Minnesota. The project does not occupy federal land.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Michael Olson, Natural Gas Turbine Operations 
and NERC Compliance, Otter Tail Power Company, 215 South Cascade 
Street, Fergus Falls, Minnesota 56537; (218) 739-8411; 
[email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Patrick Ely at (202) 502-8570 or email at 
[email protected].
    j. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    k. The Otter Tail River Project consists of the following five 
existing developments listed upstream to downstream: (1) Friberg 
development; (2) Hoot development; (3) Central development; (4) Pisgah 
development; and (5) Dayton Hollow development.
    The Friberg development consists of: (1) A reservoir with a surface 
area of 340 acres, and negligible storage capacity, at a normal water 
surface elevation of 1,299 feet mean sea level (msl); (2) a 341-foot-
long dam which contains a 31-foot-high and 61-foot-long spillway with 
seven bays, an 80-foot-long and 36-foot-high east earthfill dike, and a 
200-foot-long and 36-foot-high west earthfill dike; (3) a power canal; 
(4) a 194-foot-long, 9-foot-diameter penstock; (5) a 27-foot-wide and 
27-foot-long reinforced concrete powerhouse; (6) a vertical turbine 
rated at 900 horsepower (hp) under a head of 35 feet, connected to a 
560-kilowatt (kW) generator; (7) a tailrace; (8) a 75-foot-long, 2.4-
kilovolt (kV) transmission line; and (9) appurtenant facilities.
    The Hoot development facilities include: (1) A reservoir with a 
negligible surface area and storage capacity (dam diverts river flow) 
at a normal water surface elevation of 1,256 feet msl; (2) a 150-foot-
long, 9-foot-high dam which contains a concrete spillway with six 
stoplogged openings with the two outer openings 5 feet 4 inches wide 
and the other four openings 11 feet 4 inches wide; (3) a 500-foot-long, 
90-inch-diameter concrete tunnel (Hoot Lake); (4) a 20-foot-wide, 700-
foot-long channel between Hoot Lake and Wright Lake; (5) a 20-foot-
wide, 300-foot-long channel leading to the intake structure; (6) a 
1,050-foot-long, 8-foot-square concrete tube; (7) a surge tank; (8) an 
89-foot-long, 6-foot-diameter steel penstock; (9) a reinforced concrete 
powerhouse; (10) a horizontal turbine rated at 1,260 hp under a head of 
68 feet connected to a 1,000-kw generator; (11) a tailrace; (12) a 200-
foot-long, 2.4-kV transmission line; (13) a nature-like fishway; and 
(14) appurtenant facilities.
    The Central development consists of: (1) A reservoir having a 
surface area of 15 acres and a storage capacity of 400 acre-feet, at a 
normal water surface elevation of 1,181 feet msl; (2) a 107-foot-long 
and 25-foot-high dam which contains a 70-foot-long and 25-foot-high 
spillway; (3) an intake structure; (4) a 30-foot-wide and 40-foot-long 
brick masonry powerhouse; (5) a vertical turbine rated at 720 hp under 
a head of 22 feet, connected to a 400-kW generator; (6) a tailrace; (7) 
a 40-foot-long, 2.4-kV transmission line; and (8) appurtenant 
facilities.
    The Pisgah development consists of: (1) A reservoir having a 
surface area of 70 acres and storage capacity of 250 acre-feet at a 
normal water surface elevation of 1,156 feet msl; (2) a 493-foot-long 
concrete gravity and earthfill dam ranging in height from 21 feet to 38 
feet which has (a) an earthfill dike, (b) a 123-foot-long and 38-foot-
high concrete wing wall, (c) six spillway bays, (d) a 150-foot-long and 
21-foot-high south earthfill embankment, and (e) a 220-foot-long and 
38-foot-high north earthfill embankment; (3) an intake; (4) a 22-foot-
wide and 32-foot-long reinforced concrete and brick masonry powerhouse; 
(5) a vertical turbine rated at 850 hp under a head of 25 feet, 
connected to a 520-kW generator; (6) a tailrace; (7) a 330-foot-long, 
2.4-kV transmission line; and (8) appurtenant facilities.
    The Dayton Hollow development consists of: (1) A reservoir having a 
surface area of 230 acres and a storage capacity of 5,000 acre-feet at 
a normal water surface elevation of 1,107 feet msl; (2) a 265-foot-long 
concrete and earthfill dam varying in height from 11 feet to 40 feet 
which contains (a) an 80-foot-long and 40-foot-high concrete spillway 
section, (b) a 95-foot-long and 11-foot-high east earthfill embankment, 
and (c) a 90-foot-long and 22-foot-high west earthfill embankment; (3) 
an intake structure; (4) a 22-foot-wide and 32-foot-long reinforced 
concrete and masonry powerhouse; (5) a vertical turbine rated at 800 hp 
under a head of 35 feet, connected to a 520-kW generator and a 
horizontal 650 hp turbine connected to a 450-kW generator; (6) a 
tailrace; (7) an 80-foot-long, 2.4-kV transmission line; and (8) 
appurtenant facilities.
    The Otter Tail River Project is operated in a run-of-river mode 
with an estimated annual energy production of approximately 22,323 
megawatt hours. Otter Tail Power Company proposes to continue operating 
the project as a run-of-river facility and does not propose any new 
construction or modifications to the project.
    l. 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 website 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, 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 schedule. Revisions to the schedule will 
be made as appropriate.

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                Milestone                           Target date
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Notice of Acceptance/Notice of Ready for  April 2020.
 Environmental Analysis.
Filing of recommendations, preliminary    June 2020.
 terms and conditions, and fishway
 prescriptions.
Commission issues Environmental           November 2020.
 Assessment (EA).
Comments on EA..........................  December 2020.
Modified terms and conditions...........  February 2021.
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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: December 6, 2019.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-26764 Filed 12-11-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P