83 FR 28221 - Notice of Application Tendered for Filing With the Commission and Establishing Procedural Schedule for Licensing and Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments; Georgia Power Company

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 117 (June 18, 2018)

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 117 (Monday, June 18, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28221-28222]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-12948]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 2413-124]


Notice of Application Tendered for Filing With the Commission and 
Establishing Procedural Schedule for Licensing and Deadline for 
Submission of Final Amendments; Georgia Power Company

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: New Major License.
    b. Project No.: 2413-124.
    c. Date Filed: May 31, 2018.
    d. Applicant: Georgia Power Company (Georgia Power).
    e. Name of Project: Wallace Dam Pumped Storage Project (Wallace Dam 
Project).
    f. Location: The existing project is located on the Oconee River, 
in Hancock, Putnam, Green, and Morgan Counties, Georgia. The project 
occupies about 493.7 acres of federal land administered by the U.S. 
Forest Service.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Courtenay R. O'Mara, P.E., Wallace Dam Hydro 
Relicensing Manager, Southern Company Generation, BIN 10193, 241 Ralph 
McGill Blvd. NE, Atlanta, GA 30308-3374; (404) 506-7219; 
[email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Allan Creamer at (202) 502-8365, or at 
[email protected].
    j. This application is not ready for environmental analysis (EA) at 
this time.
    k. Project Description: The Wallace Dam Project consists of: (1) A 
2,395-foot-long, 120-foot-high dam, consisting of (i) a 347-foot-long 
west earth embankment, (ii) a 300-foot-long west concrete non-overflow 
section, (iii) a 266-foot-long concrete spillway with five Tainter 
gates, each 48 feet high by 42 feet wide with a discharge capacity of 
35,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), (iv) a 531.4-foot-long powerhouse 
intake section, protected by trashracks having a clear bar spacing of 
9.5 to 10.5 inches and leading to six penstocks with a maximum diameter 
of 25.5 feet, (v) a 226-foot-long east concrete non-overflow section, 
(vi) a 725-foot-long east earth embankment, and (vii) two saddle dikes, 
located east of the dam, totaling about 900 feet in length; (2) an 
18,188-acre reservoir (Lake Oconee) at an elevation of 435.0 feet Plant 
Datum (where Plant Datum equals mean sea level (NAVD88) minus 0.20 
feet); (3) a powerhouse integral with the dam that contains six 
turbine/generator units (two conventional generating units and four 
reversible pump units, with a total installed capacity of 321.3 
megawatts; (4) a 20,000-foot-long tailrace that flows into Lake 
Sinclair, which serves as the lower reservoir for the Wallace Dam 
Project; (5) transmission facilities that consist of (i) 13.8-kilovolt 
(kV) generator leads, (ii) two 13.8/230-kV step-up transformers, (iii) 
a 230-kV substation, and (iv) a 15.67-mile-long transmission line that 
extends from Wallace Dam west to a switching station near Eatonton, 
Georgia; and (6) appurtenant facilities.
    The Wallace Dam Project is a pumped storage project, generating 
390,083 megawatt-hours of electricity annually. Water for generation at 
Wallace Dam comes from inflow, plus storage in Lake Oconee. The project 
generates during peak power demand hours to meet the electrical system 
demand. Water that is not used for generation at the downstream 
Sinclair Project (FERC No. 1951), remains in Lake Sinclair for a few 
hours before being pumped back into Lake Oconee. Pumpback operation 
occurs at night, when electrical system demand is low (off-peak hours). 
For normal day-to-day operation, Lake Oconee fluctuates between 
elevations 435.0 and 433.5 feet Plant Datum, resulting in an average 
daily fluctuation of 1.5 feet. The Wallace Dam Project discharges 
directly into Lake Sinclair, with no intervening riverine or bypassed 
reach. Generation typically is the highest during the summer months, 
where Wallace Dam generates for about 7 to 8 hours during the afternoon 
peak demand period. During the fall and winter months, generation 
typically last 5 to 6 hours.
    During drought periods, the Wallace Dam Project supports the 
minimum flow requirements of the downstream Sinclair Project. When the 
Sinclair Project's calculated inflow drops below its minimum flow 
requirement of 250 cfs, water is released from Lake Oconee to maintain 
Lake Sinclair at the minimum level necessary for safe pumpback 
operation at Wallace Dam, which is 338.2 feet Plant Datum.
    l. A copy of the application is available for review at the 
Commission in the Public Reference Room or may be viewed on the 
Commission's website at 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. For assistance, contact FERC 
Online Support at [email protected], or toll free at (866) 
208-3676, or for TTY at (202) 502-8659. A copy is also available for 
inspection and reproduction at https://www.georgiapower.com/company/energy-industry/generating-plants/wallace-dam-project.html, or the 
address in paragraph h.
    You may also register online at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/esubscription.asp to be notified via email of new filings and issuances 
related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC 
Online Support.
    m. Procedural Schedule: The application will be processed according 
to the following preliminary Hydro Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the 
schedule will be made as appropriate.

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                Milestone                           Target date
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Notice of Acceptance/Notice of Ready for   August 2018.
 Environmental Analysis.
Filing of recommendations, preliminary     October 2018.
 terms and conditions, and fishway
 prescriptions.

[[Page 28222]]

 
Commission issues EA.....................  February 2019.
Comments on EA...........................  March 2019.
Modified Terms and Conditions............  May 2019.
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    n. 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: June 11, 2018.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-12948 Filed 6-15-18; 8:45 am]
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