[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 5 (Friday, January 7, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 954-955]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-00088]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 15245-000]


PacifiCorp; Notice of Preliminary Permit Application Accepted for 
Filing and Soliciting Comments, Motions To Intervene, and Competing 
Applications

    On October 13, 2021, PacifiCorp filed an application for a 
preliminary permit, pursuant to section 4(f) of the Federal Power Act, 
proposing to study the feasibility of the Saddle Mountains Pumped 
Storage Project (Saddle Mountains Project or project) to be located 
near Crab Creek and the Columbia River in Grant County, Washington. The 
sole purpose of a preliminary permit, if issued, is to grant the permit 
holder priority to file a license application during the permit 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.
    Two alternatives are being considered for the Saddle Mountains 
Project. Alternative 1 would consist of the following new facilities: 
(1) An upper reservoir located approximately 7 miles east of Beverly, 
Washington, with a surface area of 312 acres and a storage volume of 
approximately 4,750 acre-feet created by a 1,300-foot-long, 25-foot-
high embankment dam; (2) a lower reservoir with a surface area of 115 
acres and a storage volume of approximately 4,000 acre-feet created by 
a 6,775-foot-long, 75-foot-high embankment dam; (3) a 1.5-mile-long 
steel penstock with a diameter of 23-feet (if only one generating unit 
is used) or trifurcating into three separate 13.25-foot-diameter 
segments (if three generating units are used) connecting the upper 
reservoir with the powerhouse/pump station; (4) a 150-foot-long, 50-
foot-wide concrete powerhouse/pump station located on the lower 
reservoir shoreline containing up to three generating/pumping units for 
a total generating capacity of 500 megawatts (MW); (5) an approximate 
9.0-mile, 230-kilovolt (kV) transmission line interconnecting to a new 
substation west and north of the project reservoirs and adjacent to the 
existing Vantage BPA substation that would interconnect to the regional 
transmission grid; (6) an approximately 10-mile-long underground 
pipeline diverting water for construction, initial fill, and annual 
maintenance fill (i.e., water would be sourced west and north of the 
project reservoirs from one or more of the following: Surface water, 
the Columbia River and/or its tributaries, groundwater, or storage 
water); and, (7) appurtenant facilities.
    The majority of the facilities for Alternative 2 (i.e., project 
reservoirs, penstock, and powerhouse, etc.) would be located 
approximately 3 miles east of their counterparts under Alternative 1. 
Alternative 2 would consist of the following new facilities: (1) An 
upper reservoir with a surface area of 100 acres and a storage volume 
of approximately 3,300 acre-feet created by a 2,370-foot-long, 190-
foot-high embankment dam; (2) a lower reservoir with a surface area of 
84 acres and a storage volume of approximately 4,000 acre-feet created 
by a 8,450-foot-long, 60-foot-high embankment dam; (3) a 0.6-mile-long 
steel penstock with a diameter of 23-feet (if only one generating unit 
is used) or trifurcating into three separate 13.25-foot-diameter 
segments (if three generating units are used) connecting the upper 
reservoir with the powerhouse/pump station; (4) a 150-foot-long, 50-
foot-wide concrete powerhouse/pump station located on the lower 
reservoir shoreline containing up to three generating/pumping units for 
a total generating capacity of 500 MW; (5) an approximate 12.7-mile, 
230-kV transmission line interconnecting to the same substation under 
Alternative 1; (6) an approximately 10-mile-long underground pipeline 
diverting water for construction, initial fill, and annual maintenance 
fill (i.e., water would be sourced west of the project reservoirs and 
south of the source location for Alternative 1 from one or more of the 
following: Surface water, the Columbia River and/or its tributaries, 
groundwater, or storage water); and, (7) appurtenant facilities.
    The estimated annual generation of the Saddle Mountains Project 
would be 1,460 gigawatt-hours.
    Applicant Contact: Tim Hemstreet, Managing Director, Renewable 
Energy Development, PacifiCorp, 825 NE Multnomah, Suite 1800, Portland, 
OR 97232; email: [email protected]; phone: (503) 813-6170.
    FERC Contact: Michael Tust; email: [email protected]; phone: 
(202) 502-6522.
    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. The first page of any filing should include docket 
number P-15245-000.
    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. 
Enter the docket number (P-15245) in the docket number field to access 
the document. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.


[[Page 955]]


    Dated: January 3, 2022.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-00088 Filed 1-6-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P