[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6721-6722]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-02087]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 15270-000]


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 
Santa Margarita Pumped Storage Hydro Project to be located 
approximately 10 miles southeast of Lan Luis Obispo, 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 project would consist of the following: (1) an 
existing upper reservoir (Santa Margarita Lake) at an elevation of 
1,300 feet above average mean sea level, with a surface area of 1,100 
acres and a total storage capacity of 23,840 acre-feet; (2) an existing 
lower reservoir (Lopez Lake) at an elevation of 560 feet above average 
mean sea level, with a surface area of 950 acres and a storage capacity 
of 49,900 acre-feet; (3) 0.84-mile-long headrace tunnel, 0.19-mile-long 
vertical shaft, 5.86-mile-long horizontal tunnel, 0.09-mile-long 
penstock, and 1.22-mile-long tailrace tunnel to connect the powerhouse 
to the reservoirs; (4) a new powerhouse that would house 4 new pump-
turbines rated at 150 megawatts each; (5) a new substation constructed 
in the western shore of Lake Lopez near the powerhouse, interconnected 
to the regional electrical utility network with either; (6) a new 2.5-
mile-long 500-kilovolt (kV) transmission line from the powerhouse to a 
new switchyard located 1.3 miles south of the Lopez dam that will 
connect with PG&E's 500-kV line, or a new 4.5-mile-long 500-kV line 
that will connect the powerhouse to PG&E's 500-kV line at a new 
switchyard located 0.5 miles from Talley Vineyard using Lopez road as 
an existing right-of-way; and (7) appurtenant facilities. The estimated 
annual power generation at the Santa Margarita 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

[[Page 6722]]

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-15270.
    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-15270) in the docket number field to access 
the document. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.

    Dated: January 26, 2023.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-02087 Filed 1-31-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


