[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 17 (Thursday, January 26, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 4997]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-01488]



[[Page 4997]]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 15272-000]


Premium Energy Holdings, LLC; Notice of Preliminary Permit 
Application Accepted for Filing and Soliciting Comments, Motions To 
Intervene, and Competing Applications

    On March 31, 2022, Premium Energy Holdings, 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 
Whale Rock Pumped Storage Hydro Project to be located approximately 0.5 
miles east of Cayucos, California in San Luis Obispo County. 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 closed-loop project would consist of the following: 
(1) a new upper reservoir with a normal maximum operating elevation of 
1,788 feet average mean sea level, a surface area of 87 acres, and a 
total storage capacity of 4,780 acre-feet; (2) an existing lower 
reservoir (Whale Rock Reservoir completed in 1961); (3) a 0.68-mile-
long headrace tunnel, 0.16-mile-long vertical shaft, 4.76-mile-long 
horizontal tunnel, 0.07-mile-long penstock, and 0.99-mile-long tailrace 
tunnel with a maximum head of 1,558 feet connecting the reservoirs to 
the powerhouse; (4) a new powerhouse located on land owned by the State 
of California that would house 4 new pump-turbines rated at 150 
megawatts each; (5) a new substation constructed on the southern shore 
of Lake Nacimiento near the powerhouse connected to the regional 
electrical utility with either, (6) 7 miles of existing line 
(upgraded), interconnecting the Morro--Solar 230-kilovolt (kV) 
transmission line, or 7 miles of existing line (upgraded), 
interconnecting the Morro--Diablo 230-kV transmission line and 0.5 
miles of new right-of-way south of the Baywood substation for the new 
tap interconnection; and (7) appurtenant facilities. The estimated 
annual power generation at the Whale Rock Pumped Storage Project would 
be 1,200,000 megawatt-hours.
    Applicant Contact: Victor M. Rojas, Managing Director, Premium 
Energy Holdings, LLC. 355 South Lemon Ave., Suite A, Walnut, California 
91789; phone: (909) 595-5314; [email protected].
    FERC Contact: Benjamin Mann; email: [email protected]; phone: 
(202) 502-8127.
    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 https://ferconline.ferc.gov/eFiling.aspx. Commenters can submit brief comments 
up to 6,000 characters, without prior registration, using the eComment 
system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.aspx. You must 
include your name and contact information at the end of your comments. 
For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support. In lieu of 
electronic filing, you may submit a paper copy. Submissions sent via 
the U.S. Postal Service must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, 
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, 
Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via any other carrier 
must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852. 
The first page of any filing should include docket number P-15272.
    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-15272) in the docket number field to access 
the document. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.

    Dated: January 19, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-01488 Filed 1-25-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


