[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 10, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Page 1258]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-00282]



[[Page 1258]]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 14850-000]


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

    On July 3, 2017, the Covington Mountain Hydro, 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 
Bison Peak Pumped Storage Project (Bison Peak Project or project) to be 
located in the Tehachapi Mountains south of Tehachapi, Kern County, 
California. 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 be a closed-loop pumped storage project 
with an upper reservoir and the applicant has proposed three 
alternatives for the placement of a lower reservoir, termed South, Law, 
and Horsethief. Water for the initial fill of either of the 
alternatives would be obtained from local water agency infrastructure 
via a route that would be identified during studies.
    A 35-foot ring dam and a perimeter of 4,900 feet would form the 
project's upper reservoir. The upper reservoir would have a total 
storage capacity of 1,300 acre-feet and a surface area of 20 acres at 
an elevation of 7,890 feet mean sea level (msl). The upper reservoir 
would be connected to one of the three proposed lower reservoir 
alternatives as described below.
    The South lower reservoir alternative would consist of the 
following: (1) The upper reservoir; (2) a 19-acre lower reservoir at 
4,920 feet msl created by a dam with a crest height of 160 feet, crest 
length of 610 feet, and a storage capacity of 1,300 acre-feet; (3) a 
9.1-foot diameter, 9,700-foot-long penstock from the upper reservoir 
that bifurcates creating an additional 6.5-foot diameter, 700-foot-long 
penstock; (4) an underground powerhouse with three 120-megawatt (MW) 
reversible pump-turbines and a surface powerhouse with a single 120-MW 
Pelton turbine; (5) an intake/tailrace facility; and (6) appurtenant 
facilities. The estimated annual generation of the South lower 
reservoir alternative would be about 1,051 gigawatt-hours.
    The Law lower reservoir alternative would consist of the following: 
(1) The upper reservoir; (2) a 19-acre lower reservoir at 5,370 feet 
msl created by a dam with a crest height of 145 feet, crest length of 
750 feet, and a storage capacity of 1,300 acre-feet; (3) a 9.5-foot 
diameter, 9,900-foot-long penstock from the upper reservoir that 
bifurcates creating an additional 6.7-foot diameter, 1,300-foot-long 
penstock; (4) an underground powerhouse with three 110-MW reversible 
pump-turbines and a surface powerhouse with a single 110-MW Pelton 
turbine; (5) an intake/tailrace facility; and (6) appurtenant 
facilities. The estimated annual generation of the Law lower reservoir 
alternative would be about 963 gigawatt-hours.
    The Horsethief lower reservoir alternative would consist of the 
following: (1) The upper reservoir; (2) a 18-acre lower reservoir at 
5,940 feet msl created by a dam with a crest height of 150 feet, crest 
length of 750 feet, and a storage capacity of 1,300 acre-feet; (3) a 
9.5-foot-diameter, 9,000-foot-long penstock from the upper reservoir; 
(4) a mostly underground powerhouse with two 180-MW reversible pump-
turbines; (5) an intake/tailrace facility; and (6) appurtenant 
facilities. The estimated annual generation of the Horsethief lower 
reservoir alternative would be about 788.4 gigawatt-hours.
    All alternatives would include a 220-kilovolt transmission line 
with a length of 10 to 12 miles.
    Applicant Contact: Matthew Shapiro, Covington Mountain Hydro, LLC., 
1210 West Franklin St., #2, Boise, ID 83702; phone: (208) 246-9925.
    FERC Contact: Jim Fargo; phone: (202) 502-6095.
    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: 
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426. The first page of any filing 
should include docket number P-14850-000.
    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 http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/elibrary.asp. 
Enter the docket number (P-14850) in the docket number field to access 
the document. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.

    Dated: January 4, 2018.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-00282 Filed 1-9-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


