[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 92 (Tuesday, May 12, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27994-27995]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-10149]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Availability of Guidance and Application for 
Hydroelectric Incentive Program

AGENCY: Water Power Technologies Office, Office of Energy Efficiency 
and Renewable Energy, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability of guidance and open application period.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) gives notice of updated 
guidance for the Energy Policy Act of 2005 program. The guidance 
describes the hydroelectric incentive payment requirements and explains 
the type of information that owners or authorized operators of 
qualified hydroelectric facilities must provide DOE when applying for 
hydroelectric incentive payments. This incentive is available for 
electric energy generated and sold for a specified 10-year period as 
authorized under the Energy Policy Act of 2005. In Congressional 
appropriations for Federal fiscal year 2020, DOE received funds to 
support this hydroelectric incentive program. At this time, DOE is only 
accepting applications from owners and authorized operators of 
qualified hydroelectric facilities for hydroelectricity generated and 
sold in calendar year 2019.

DATES: DOE is currently accepting applications from May 12, 2020 
through July 13, 2020. Applications must be sent to 
[email protected] by midnight EDT, July 13, 2020, or they will 
not be considered timely filed for calendar year 2019 incentive 
payments.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are to submit applications electronically 
to [email protected]. DOE's May 2020 Guidance is available at: 
https://www.energy.gov/eere/water/water-power-funding-opportunities.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions may be addressed to Corey 
Vezina, U.S. Department of Energy, Golden Field Office, 15013 Denver 
West Parkway, Golden, CO 80401, (240) 562-1382 or by email at 
[email protected]. Further instruction can be found in the May 
2020 Guidance posted at https://www.energy.gov/eere/water/water-power-funding-opportunities. Electronic communications are recommended for 
correspondence and required for submission of application information.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 
2005; Pub. L. 109-58), Congress established a new program to support 
the expansion of hydropower energy development at existing dams and 
impoundments through an incentive payment procedure. Under Section 242 
of EPAct 2005, the Secretary of Energy is directed to provide incentive 
payments to the owner or authorized operator of qualified hydroelectric 
facilities for energy generated and sold by a qualified hydroelectric 
facility for a specified 10-year period (See 42 U.S.C. 15881). The 2020 
Further Consolidated Appropriations Act authorized funding for the 
Section 242 program for conventional hydropower under EPAct 2005. In FY 
2020, DOE allocated $7M for this purpose.
    Recently DOE made minor updates to clarify its Guidance for the 
Energy Policy Act of 2005 Section 242. The May 2020 Guidance is 
available at: https://www.energy.gov/eere/water/water-power-funding-opportunities. Each application will be reviewed based on the Guidance. 
The Guidance changes were minor and involved edits to clarify the 
incentive period examples and to add a fourth incentive period example 
in Section V.
    DOE notes that applicants that received incentive payments for 
prior calendar years must submit a full application addressing all 
eligibility requirements for hydroelectricity generated and sold in 
calendar year 2019. DOE will not consider previously submitted 
application materials. Applications that refer to previous application 
materials or statements in lieu of submitting current information will 
not be considered. As authorized under Section 242 of EPAct 2005, and 
as explained in the Guidance, DOE also notes that it will only accept 
applications from qualified hydroelectric facilities that began 
operations at an existing dam or conduit during the inclusive period 
beginning October 1, 2005, and ending on September 30, 2015. Therefore, 
although DOE is accepting applications for full calendar year 2019 
production, the qualified hydroelectric facility must have begun 
operations starting October 1, 2005, through September 30, 2015, for 
DOE to consider the application.
    When submitting information to DOE for Section 242 program, it is 
recommended that applicants carefully read and review the completed 
content of the Guidance for this process. When reviewing applications, 
DOE may corroborate the information provided with information that DOE 
finds through FERC e-filings, contact with power off-taker, and other 
due diligence measure carried out by reviewing officials. DOE may 
require the applicant to conduct and submit an independent audit at its 
own expense, or DOE may

[[Page 27995]]

conduct an audit to verify the number of kilowatt-hours claimed to have 
been generated and sold by the qualified hydroelectric facility and for 
which an incentive payment has been requested or made.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on May 5, 
2020, by David Solan, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Renewable Power, 
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, pursuant to delegated 
authority from the Secretary of Energy. That document with the original 
signature and date is maintained by DOE. For administrative purposes 
only, and in compliance with requirements of the Office of the Federal 
Register, the undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer has been 
authorized to sign and submit the document in electronic format for 
publication, as an official document of the Department of Energy. This 
administrative process in no way alters the legal effect of this 
document upon publication in the Federal Register.

    Signed in Washington, DC on May 7, 2020.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2020-10149 Filed 5-11-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P