[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 246 (Tuesday, December 22, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 83544-83545]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-28247]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 2485-071]


Northfield Mountain LLC; Notice Establishing Procedural Schedule 
for Licensing and Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments

(December 16, 2020)

    Take notice that the following amended hydroelectric application 
has been filed with the Commission and is available for public 
inspection.
    a. Type of Application: New Major License.
    b. Project No.: 2485-071.
    c. Date Material Amendments Filed: December 4, 2020.
    d. Applicant: Northfield Mountain LLC (Northfield).
    e. Name of Project: Northfield Mountain Pumped Storage Project.
    f. Location: The existing project is located on the Connecticut 
River in Windham County, Vermont, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, and 
Franklin County, Massachusetts. There are no federal lands within the 
project boundary.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Justin Trudell, Vice President, 
Operations, Northfield Mountain LLC, 111 South Bedford Street, Suite 
103, Burlington, MA 01803; (781) 653-4247 or 
[email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Steve Kartalia, (202) 502-6131 or 
[email protected].
    j. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    k. FirstLight Hydro Generating Company (FirstLight) filed an 
application for a new license for the Northfield Mountain Pumped 
Storage Project No. 2485 (project) on April 29, 2016. In the license 
application, FirstLight stated that it could not develop a complete 
licensing proposal for the project since many of the required 
environmental studies were not complete as of April 29, 2016. 
FirstLight indicated that it would amend the license application after 
completing additional field work, consultation, and analyses on the 
required studies. On July 11, 2019, Commission staff approved the 
transfer of the license for the project from FirstLight to Northfield 
Mountain LLC. Northfield Mountain LLC filed material amendments to the 
final license application on December 4, 2020.
    l. Project Description: The existing Northfield Mountain Pumped 
Storage Project consists of: (1) A 1-mile-long, 30-foot-wide, 30- to 
140-foot-high main dam that includes: (i) An intake structure with two 
7-foot-wide, 9-foot-high sluice gates and an 8-foot-diameter outlet 
pipe; and (ii) a 589-foot-long, 2-foot-diameter low-level outlet pipe; 
(2) a 425-foot-long, 25-foot-high dike (North dike); (3) a 2,800-foot-
long, 45-foot-high dike (Northwest dike); (4) a 1,700-foot-long, 40-
foot-long dike (West dike); (5) a 327-foot-long, 10- to 20-foot-high 
gravity dam; (6) an ungated 550-foot-long, 6-foot-high spillway 
structure with a 20-foot-long notch at an elevation of 1,005.0 feet 
National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD 29); (7) a 286-acre 
impoundment (upper reservoir) with a useable storage volume of 12,318 
acre-feet between elevations 938.0 feet and 1,000.5 feet NGVD 29; (8) a 
2,110-acre impoundment (lower reservoir or Turners Falls impoundment); 
(9) a 1,890-foot-long, 130-foot-wide intake channel with a 63-foot-
long, 9-foot-high submerged check dam and two 6-foot-wide, 2.75-foot-
high sluice gates and two 18-foot-wide stoplogs; (10) a 200-foot-long, 
55-foot-wide, 80-foot-high pressure shaft; (11) an 853-foot-long, 31-
foot-diameter penstock; (12) two 22-foot-diameter, 100- to 150-foot-
long penstocks; (13) four 340-foot-long, 9.5- to 14-foot-diameter 
penstocks; (14) a 328-foot-long, 70-foot-wide powerhouse that contains 
four reversible pump turbine-generator units with a total installed 
capacity of 1,166.8 megawatts (MW); (15) four 25-foot-long, 11-foot-
diameter draft tubes that transition to a 20-foot-long, 17-foot-
diameter draft tube; (16) a 5,136-foot-long, 33-foot-wide, 31-foot-high 
horseshoe-shaped tailrace tunnel; (17) 35-foot-long, 40-foot-high 
trapezoid-shaped stoplogs with 74.3- to 99.5-foot-wide, 48-foot-high 
trashracks with 6-inch clear-bar spacing; (18) four 26-foot-long, 13.8-
kilovolt (kV) generator leads that connect the turbine-generator units 
to four transformers; (19) two 3,000-foot-long, 345-kV transmission 
lines; and (20) (21) appurtenant facilities.
    The existing Northfield Mountain Pumped Storage Project generally 
operates in pumping mode when electricity demand is low and generating 
mode when electricity demand is high. In the summer and winter, the 
project generally operates in a peaking mode in the morning and late 
afternoon. In the spring and fall, the project may operate in a peaking 
mode one or two times a day depending on electricity demand. The 
existing license requires maintaining the upper reservoir between 
elevations 938.0 feet and 1,000.5 feet NGVD 29 (i.e., a maximum 
reservoir drawdown of 62.5 feet). Average annual generation at the 
Northfield Mountain Project from 2011-2019 was 889,845 MW-hours, and 
average annual energy consumption for pumping from 2011 to 2019 was 
1,189,640 MW-hours.
    Northfield proposes three changes to the current project boundary: 
(1) Remove 0.2 acre of land associated with residential property; (2) 
remove 8.1 acre of land referred to as ``Fuller Farm'' that includes 
residential and agricultural structures; and (3) add 135.5 acres of 
land that includes recreation trails.
    Northfield proposes to increase the maximum water surface elevation 
of the upper reservoir to 1,004.5 feet NGVD 29 and decrease the minimum 
water surface elevation of the upper reservoir to 920.0 feet NGVD 29 
(i.e., a maximum reservoir drawdown of 84.5 feet) year-round. 
Northfield proposes to install a barrier net in the lower impoundment 
to prevent fish entrainment. Northfield also proposes to periodically 
dredge the upper reservoir and to construct new recreation access 
trails. The specific proposed changes are described in the amended 
application.
    m. In addition to publishing the full text of this notice in the 
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an 
opportunity to view and/or print the contents of this notice, as well 
as other documents in the proceeding (e.g., license application) via 
the internet through the Commission's Home Page (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 (P-
2485). At this time, the Commission has suspended access to the 
Commission's Public Reference Room due to the proclamation declaring a 
National Emergency concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) 
issued by the President on March 13, 2020. For assistance, contact FERC 
at [email protected] or call toll-free, (866) 208-3676 or 
(202) 502-8659 (TTY).
    n. You may also register online at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx to be notified via email of new filings and issuances

[[Page 83545]]

related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC 
Online Support.
    o. Procedural Schedule: The application will be processed according 
to the following preliminary Hydro Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the 
schedule may be made as appropriate.

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                  Milestone                           Target date
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Commission issues letters identifying          January 2021.
 application deficiencies and requesting
 additional information.
Notice of Acceptance/Notice of Ready for       May 2021.
 Environmental Analysis.
Filing of recommendations, preliminary terms   July 2021.
 and conditions, and fishway prescriptions.
Reply Comments due...........................  August 2021.
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    p. 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 16, 2020.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-28247 Filed 12-21-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P