[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 232 (Tuesday, December 7, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69233-69234]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-26475]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[OE Docket No. PP- 481-2]


Application To Amend Presidential Permit; CHPE LLC

AGENCY: Office of Electricity, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of application.

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SUMMARY: CHPE LLC (the Applicant) has filed an application to amend 
Presidential Permit No. PP-481-1. CHPE LLC is requesting the amendment 
to clarify the maximum electric transmission capacity of the previously 
permitted facilities.

DATES: Comments, protests, or motions to intervene must be submitted on 
or before December 22, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Comments or motions to intervene should be addressed to 
Christopher Lawrence, [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher Lawrence (Program Office) 
at (202) 586-5260 or by email to [email protected], or 
Christopher Drake (Attorney-Adviser) at (202) 586-2919 or by email to 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The construction, operation, maintenance, 
and connection of facilities at the international border of the United 
States for the transmission of electric energy between the United 
States and a foreign country is prohibited in the absence of a 
Presidential permit issued pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 10485, as 
amended by E.O. 12038.
    On November 24, 2021, CHPE LLC filed an application with the Office 
of Electricity of the Department of Energy (DOE), as required by 
regulations at 10 CFR 205.320 et seq., requesting that DOE amend 
Presidential Permit No. PP-481-1 to clarify the maximum electric 
transmission capacity of the previously permitted facilities.
    On October 6, 2014, DOE issued Presidential Permit No. PP-362, 
authorizing Champlain Hudson Power Express, Inc. (CHPEI) to construct, 
operate, maintain, and connect the Champlain Hudson Power Express 
Project (Project). As described in PP-362, the Project is a 1,000-
megawatt (MW), high-voltage direct current (HVDC), underground and 
underwater merchant transmission system that will cross the United 
States-Canada international border underwater near the Town of 
Champlain, New York, extend approximately 336 miles south through New 
York State, and interconnect to facilities located in Queens County, 
New York, owned by the Consolidated Edison Company of New York. The 
aquatic segments of the transmission line will primarily be buried in 
sediments of Lake Champlain and the Hudson, Harlem, and East rivers. 
The terrestrial portions of the transmission line will primarily be 
buried within existing road and railroad rights-of-way (ROW). On July 
21, 2020, DOE issued Presidential Permit PP-481 transferring the 
facilities authorized in PP-362 to CHPE LLC at the request of CHPEI and 
CHPE LLC.
    On April 30, 2021, DOE issued Presidential Permit No. PP-481-1, 
amending CHPE LLC's permit to incorporate proposed revisions to the 
Project route and authorizing the increase in the Project's capacity 
from 1,000 MW to 1,250 MW.
    In its Supplemental Request for authorization to increase the 
Project's capacity from 1,000 MW to 1,250 MW in PP-481-1, CHPE LLC 
noted that it had ``submitted an application request (NYISO Queue 
Position #887) for an additional 250 MW injection at the Point of 
Interconnection at the New York Power Authority's Astoria Annex 345 kV 
substation.'' The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) 
evaluated the request via an ``Interconnection System Reliability 
Impact Study for the NYISO Q887: CH Uprate Project'' (Interconnection 
Study) and provided the Interconnection Study to DOE. To gauge the 
reliability impact of the additional 250 MW injection at the Astoria 
Annex Substation, the Interconnection Study modeled 1,298 MW of Project 
withdrawal at the Hertel Substation in Canada to account for expected 
transmission line losses. In other words, an assumption in the 
Interconnection Study was that the transmission rate at the U.S.-Canada 
border would have to be 1,298 MW for 1,250 MW to be injected at the 
Astoria Annex Substation more than 300 miles away.
    Article 3 of PP-481-1 states, in part, that the ``maximum non-
simultaneous rate of transmission over the permitted facilities shall 
not exceed 1,250 MW.'' On its face, this language limits the Project's 
authorized capacity such that the Project cannot transmit at a rate 
greater than 1,250 MW anywhere between the border crossing and the 
Astoria Annex Substation, and therefore is prohibited from withdrawing 
approximately 1,298 MW at the Hertel Substation in order to inject 
1,250 MW at the Astoria Annex Substation. CHPE LLC requests that DOE 
amend the Presidential Permit to explicitly state that the Project is 
authorized to inject 1,250 MW at the point of interconnection at the 
Astoria Annex Substation. This amendment would account for anticipated 
line losses and is consistent with the reliability analysis conducted 
by NYISO. The requested capacity increase to allow 1,250 MW injection 
at the Astoria Annex Substation is the only requested amendment; no 
other changes to the permitted facilities as described or analyzed in 
PP-481-1 are contemplated.
    Comments and other filings concerning this application should be 
clearly marked with OE Docket No. PP-481-2. Consideration of comments 
is limited to those addressing the subject of the proposed amendment; 
comments on any part of PP-481-1 will not be considered. Additional 
copies are to be provided directly to Mr. Donald Jessome, Chief 
Executive Officer, Transmission Developers Inc., Pieter Schuyler 
Building, 600 Broadway, Albany, New York 12207-2283, 
[email protected], and Jay Ryan, Baker Botts 
LLP, 700 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20001, [email protected].
    Before a Presidential permit may be issued or amended, DOE must 
determine that the proposed action is in the public interest. In making 
that determination, DOE will consider the environmental impacts of the 
proposed action (i.e., granting the Presidential permit or amendment, 
with any conditions and limitations, or denying the permit), determine 
the proposed project's impact on electric reliability by ascertaining 
whether the proposed project would adversely affect the operation of 
the U.S. electric power supply system under normal and contingency 
conditions, and weigh any other factors that DOE may also consider 
relevant to the public interest. DOE also must obtain the favorable 
recommendation of the Secretary of

[[Page 69234]]

State and the Secretary of Defense before taking final action on a 
Presidential permit application.
    This application may be reviewed or downloaded electronically at 
https://www.energy.gov/oe/pending-applications.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on December 2, 2021.
Christopher Lawrence,
Management and Program Analyst, Electricity Delivery Division, Office 
of Electricity.
[FR Doc. 2021-26475 Filed 12-6-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P