[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 246 (Tuesday, December 22, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 83550-83551]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-28249]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 1892-030]


Great River Hydro, LLC; Notice Establishing Procedural Schedule 
for Licensing and Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments

    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.: 1892-030.
    c. Date Material Amendments Filed: December 7, 2020.
    d. Applicant: Great River Hydro, LLC (Great River Hydro).
    e. Name of Project: Wilder Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: The existing project is located on the Connecticut 
River in Orange and Windsor Counties, Vermont, and Grafton County, New 
Hampshire. 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: John Ragonese, FERC License Manager, Great 
River Hydro, LLC, 40 Pleasant Street, Suite 202, Portsmouth, NH 03801; 
(603) 498-2851 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. Great River Hydro filed an application for a new license for the 
Wilder Hydroelectric Project No. 1892 on May 1, 2017. In the license 
application, Great River Hydro 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 May 1, 2017. Great River 
Hydro indicated that it would amend the license application after 
completing additional field work, consultation, and analyses on the 
required studies. Great River Hydro filed material amendments to the 
final license application on December 7, 2020.
    l. Project Description: 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 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.
    Great River Hydro operates the project in coordination with its 
downstream Bellows Falls Project No. 1855 and Vernon Project No. 1904 
and in a peaking mode. Average annual generation is approximately 
156,303 MW-hours. Great River Hydro is proposing changes to project 
operation

[[Page 83551]]

that would reduce impoundment fluctuations and increase the stability 
of downstream flow releases relative to current project operation, 
including targeted water surface elevation levels and flow ramping 
rates. Great River Hydro proposes several protection, mitigation, and 
enhancement measures for aquatic, terrestrial, cultural, and recreation 
resources, and threatened and endangered species. 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-
1892). 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 
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.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Milestone                           Target date
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commission issues letter 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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. 2020-28249 Filed 12-21-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P