81 FR 44604 - Owyhee Hydro LLC; Notice of Preliminary Permit Application Accepted for Filing and Soliciting Comments, Motions To Intervene, and Competing Applications

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 131 (July 8, 2016)

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 131 (Friday, July 8, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Page 44604]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-16166]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 14786-000]


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

    On June 30, 2016, Owyhee Hydro LLC filed a revised application for 
a preliminary permit, pursuant to section 4(f) of the Federal Power Act 
(FPA), proposing to study the feasibility of the Owyhee Pumped Storage 
Project (Owyhee Project or project) to be located on Lake Owyhee near 
Adrian in Malheur County, Oregon. 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.
    The proposed project would consist of the following: (1) A new 
1,200-foot-long zoned earth and rockfill or concrete-face rockfill dam 
forming a lined upper reservoir with a surface area of 109 acres and a 
storage capacity of 4,035 acre-feet at a maximum surface elevation of 
4,320 feet mean sea level (msl); (2) an existing 833 foot-long concrete 
arch dam forming the existing Lake Owyhee (lower reservoir) with a 
surface area of 13,900 acres and a storage capacity of 1,120,000 acre-
feet at a maximum surface elevation of 2,650 msl; (3) a new 14,100 
foot-long conduit connecting the upper and lower reservoirs consisting 
of a 2,200 foot-long, 17.1 foot-diameter concrete lined low-pressure 
tunnel, a 7,100 foot-long, 17.1 foot-diameter concrete and steel-lined 
pressure shaft, and a 4,800-foot-long, 20.5 foot-diameter concrete-
lined tailrace; (4) a new 80 feet long by 280 feet wide by 120 feet 
high powerhouse containing four reversible pump-turbine units rated at 
125 megawatts (MW) each for a total capacity of 500 MW; (5) either 2.6 
or 8 miles of 500-kilovolt transmission line interconnecting with the 
Boardman-Hemingway Line, depending on design of infrastructure; and (6) 
appurtenant facilities. The estimated annual generation of the Owyhee 
Project would be 1,533,000 megawatt-hours.
    Applicant Contact: Mr. Matthew Shapiro, CEO, Gridflex Energy, LLC, 
1210 W. Franklin St., Ste. 2, Boise, Idaho 83702; phone: (208) 246-
9925.
    FERC Contact: Julia Kolberg; phone: (202) 502-8261.
    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 http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp. Commenters can submit brief 
comments up to 6,000 characters, without prior registration, using the 
eComment system at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ecomment.asp. 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, please send a paper copy to: 
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20426. The first page of any filing should include 
docket number P-14786-000.
    More information about this project, including a copy of the 
application, can be viewed or printed on the ``eLibrary'' link of 
Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/elibrary.asp. 
Enter the docket number (P-14768) in the docket number field to access 
the document. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.

    Dated: July 1, 2016.
 Kimberly D. Bose,
 Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-16166 Filed 7-7-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P