[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 73 (Friday, April 15, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22528-22529]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-08128]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 2420-059]


PacifiCorp; Notice of Application Tendered for Filing With the 
Commission and Establishing Procedural Schedule for Relicensing and 
Deadline for Submission ff Final Amendments

    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.: 2420-059.
    c. Date Filed: March 28, 2022.
    d. Applicant: PacifiCorp.
    e. Name of Project: Cutler Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: The existing project is located on the Bear River in 
Box Elder and Cache Counties, Utah. The project does not occupy any 
federal land or tribal land.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Eve Davies, Cutler Relicensing Project 
Manager, PacifiCorp, 1407 West North Temple, Suite 210, Salt Lake City, 
UT 84116; (801) 220-2245.
    i. FERC Contact: Khatoon Melick, (202) 502-8433 or 
[email protected].
    j. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    k. The Cutler Hydroelectric Project consists of: (1) A concrete 
gravity arch dam with a total length of 545 feet and a structural 
height of 126 feet with an approximately 30-foot-long gated-overflow 
spillway with crest elevation at 4,394.5 feet; (2) a 2,476-acre 
reservoir with a gross storage volume of 8,563 acre-feet and a normal 
maximum operating elevation of 4,407.5 feet above mean sea level 
(USGS); (2)(3) a 1,157-foot-long, 18-foot-diameter steel flowline; (4) 
an 81-foot-high, 45-foot-diameter Johnson Differential surge tank; (5) 
two 118-foot-long, 14-foot-diameter steel penstocks that bifurcate from 
the surge tank into the powerhouse; (6) a 74-foot by 130-foot brick 
powerhouse; (7) two General Electric 15,000 kilowatt generators with a 
total installed capacity of 30 megawatts; (8) two 300-foot-long, 7.2- 
and 6.9-kilovolt transmission lines that extend from the powerhouse's 
bus bar to step-up transformers located in the Cutler substation; and 
(9) appurtenant facilities. The estimated normal gross head of the 
project is 127.5 feet. The estimate average annual generation of the 
project from 1991 to 2020 is 75,052 megawatt-hours.
    The project is the furthest downstream of the five PacifiCorp 
hydroelectric developments on the Bear River system. The Bear River 
system is collectively operated by PacifiCorp and is a coordinated 
operation of storage reservoirs, diversion dams, canals, and 
hydroelectric plants located within a 3,500-square-mile area of the 
lower Bear River Basin in Idaho and Utah. Water is diverted from the 
Bear River into Bear Lake, which is a natural lake via the Rainbow 
Canal. Outside of the irrigation season, Bear Lake flood control 
releases, along with winter and spring Bear River drainage natural 
water flows, create the base for generation at the Cutler Project. In 
southern Cache Valley, there are local drainage basins that also 
contribute significant inflows to the project. From mid-June to mid-
October, nearly all the natural flow from the Bear River is diverted 
for irrigation. Supplemental flow comes from water stored in Bear Lake. 
Given that during the irrigation season most of the inflow into the 
project is sent to the irrigation canals and the reservoir must 
maintain certain elevations, generation at the powerhouse is virtually 
nonexistent from approximately mid-May to the end of September, unless 
water is available in higher flow years.
    PacifiCorp proposes to continue to operate the project in a run-of-
river mode and maintain the current upper operating limit elevation on 
the reservoir, with a modest expansion to the tolerance. PacifiCorp 
also proposes expanding the range of the lower operating limit outside 
the irrigation season, both to increase operational flexibility. 
Increasing the operating range is to support variable (e.g., wind and 
solar) energy generation needs and would not increase the volume of 
water available for energy generation.
    l. A copy of the application can 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 (P-2420). For assistance, contact 
[email protected], or call toll-free, (866) 208-3676 or (202) 
502-8659 (TTY).
    m. You may also register online at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx to be notified via email of new filings and issuances 
related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC 
Online Support.
    n. Procedural Schedule: The application will be processed according

[[Page 22529]]

to the following preliminary Hydro Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the 
schedule may be made as appropriate.

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               Milestone                           Target date
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Issue Deficiency Letter (if necessary).  April 2022.
Request Additional Information (if       June 2022.
 necessary).
Notice of Acceptance/Notice of Ready     September 2022.
 for Environmental Analysis.
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    o. 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: April 11, 2022.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-08128 Filed 4-14-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


