[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 185 (Wednesday, September 23, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59780-59781]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-20981]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 15031-000]


Nevada PSH Energy Storage LLC; Notice of Preliminary Permit 
Application Accepted for Filing and Soliciting Comments, Motions To 
Intervene, and Competing Applications

    On April 27, 2020, the Nevada PSH Energy Storage LLC, filed an 
application for a preliminary permit, and resubmitted on June 18, 2020, 
pursuant to section 4(f) of the Federal Power Act (FPA), proposing to 
study the feasibility of the Ruby Hill Pumped Hydro Energy Storage 
Project to be located in Eureka, Nevada. The sole purpose of a 
preliminary permit, if issued, is to grant the permit holder priority 
to file a license application during the permit

[[Page 59781]]

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 located at the existing Ruby Hill 
Mine an existing open pit mine with the pump storage utilizing and 
existing deep open pit mine for the lower reservoir and an earthen dam 
for the upper reservoir. The project consist of the following new 
facilities: (1) A 3,474-foot-long, 30-meter-high earthen dam (Upper 
Reservoir) with a surface area of 20 acres; and a total storage 
capacity of 1,941 acre-feet at a normal maximum surface elevation of 
1,231 feet average mean sea level (msl); (2) an existing open pit mine 
(Lower Reservoir) that will not require a dam with a maximum surface 
elevation of 1,707 average msl, and a storage capacity of 2,000 acre-
feet; (3) two 4,760-foot-long, 10-foot-diameter steel penstocks; (4) an 
underground powerhouse housing four 50-megawatt pump turbine units at 
an approximate elevation of 1,670 msl, the final dimension is to be 
determined; (5) a single 15-foot-diameter low pressure draft tube that 
will extend approximately 80 feet from the powerhouse to the Lower 
Reservoir; (6) the initial fill water would come from water purchased 
from existing water right holders, with an estimated 100-gallons per 
minute (gpm) from Eureka wastewater treatment plant to be used as a 
make-up water source; (7) a 200-mega volt amp substation for converting 
the 20-kilovolt (kV), generator/motor voltage to 230- kV, a new 230- 
kV, 13,000-foot-long transmission lines that connect the new substation 
to the existing 230-kV transmission lines at Machacek substation, and 
(8) appurtenant facilities. The estimated annual power generation at 
the Ruby Hill Pumped Hydro Energy Storage Project would be 730 
gigawatt-hours.
    Applicant Contact: Mr. Michael Werner, Managing Director, Nevada 
PSH Energy Storage LLC. 7425 East Columbia Drive, Spokane, Washington 
99212, [email protected].
    FERC Contact: Ousmane Sidibe; Phone: (202) 502-6245.
    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 https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx. Commenters can submit brief 
comments up to 6,000 characters, without prior registration, using the 
eComment system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.aspx. 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) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-
8659 (TTY). In lieu of electronic filing, you may submit a paper copy. 
Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service must be addressed to: 
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via 
any other carrier must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852.
    In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the 
Federal Register, more information about this project, including a copy 
of the application, can be viewed or printed on the ``eLibrary'' link 
of Commission's website at https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/elibrary/overview. Enter the docket number (P-15031) in the docket number field 
to access the document. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.

    Dated: September 17, 2020.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-20981 Filed 9-22-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P