On January 24, 2017, Advanced Hydropower, Inc. 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 McNary Dam Advanced Hydropower Project (project) to be located at U.S. Corps of Engineer's (Corps) McNary Dam near Plymouth in Benton County, Washington and Umatilla in Umatilla County, Oregon. The 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 use the Corps' existing spillway bays 1 and 2 at the McNary Dam, and would consist of the following new facilities: (1) A 110-foot-wide, 440-foot-high intake channel with gates and trash racks from the existing spillway bays 1 and 2 of the McNary Dam spillway; (2) a 38-foot-wide, 40-foot-high, 50-foot-long concrete penstock; (3) a 49-megawatt Alden turbine; (4) a draft tube discharging flows to the existing tailrace; (5) a 1.5-mile-long, 13.8- or 23-kilovolt transmission line interconnecting with the existing McNary Dam switchyard; and (6) appurtenant facilities.^[1] The estimated annual generation of the project would be 190 gigawatt-hours.

Applicant Contact: Mr. Kurt Ross, Advanced Hydropower, Inc., 925 Fairgrounds Road, Goldendale, Washington 98620; phone: (509) 773-5650.

FERC Contact: Kim Nguyen; phone: (202) 502-6105.

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 FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, (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-14837-000.

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-14837) in the docket number field to access the document. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.