82 FR 11569 - Merchant Hydro Developers, 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 82, Issue 36 (February 24, 2017)

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 36 (Friday, February 24, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11569-11570]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-03592]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 14824-000]


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

    On January 18, 2017, Merchant Hydro Developers, LLC, filed an 
application for a preliminary permit, pursuant to section 4(f) of the 
Federal Power Act (FPA), proposing to study the feasibility of the 
Girard Estate Pumped Storage Hydro Project to be located near Zerbe 
Township in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. 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 
upper reservoir with a surface area of 90 acres and a storage capacity 
of 1,350 acre-feet at a surface elevation of approximately 1,400 feet 
above mean sea level (msl) created through construction of a new 
roller-compacted concrete or rock-filled dam; (2) a new lower 
reservoir, including an existing abandoned mine pit, with a surface 
area of 25 acres and a storage capacity of 1,620 acre-feet at a surface 
elevation of 1,000 feet msl; (3) a new 2,242-foot-long, 48-inch-
diameter penstock connecting the upper and lower reservoirs; (4) a new 
150-foot-long, 50-foot-wide, 25-foot-high powerhouse containing two 
turbine-generator units with a total rated capacity of 44 megawatts; 
(5) a new 10,000-foot-long transmission line connecting the powerhouse 
to the Sunbury-Eldred-Frackville 230-kilovolt circuit owned by PPL 
Corporation; and (6) appurtenant facilities. The proposed project would 
have an annual generation of 161,587 megawatt-hours.
    Applicant Contact: Adam Rousselle, Merchant Hydro Developers, LLC, 
5710 Oak Crest Drive, Doylestown, PA 18902; phone: 267-254-6107.
    FERC Contact: Woohee Choi; phone: (202) 502-6336.
    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-14824-000.
    More information about this project, including a copy of the 
application, can

[[Page 11570]]

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-14824) in the docket number field to access the document. For 
assistance, contact FERC Online Support.

    Dated: February 17, 2017.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-03592 Filed 2-23-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P