Subject: New Comprehensive Federal Hydro legislation introduced with bi-partisan support.

Bipartisan energy legislation submitted to the U.S. Senate yesterday includes an extensive section that explicitly defines hydroelectric power as a renewable, while also improving on existing hydropower regulation.

 

Introduced by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the "Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015" includes a number of measures for both the conventional, and marine and hydrokinetics (MHK) sectors.

For conventional hydroelectric power, Section 3001 of the proposed legislation:

  • Designates the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) as the lead agency to set a binding schedule and coordinate all needed federal authorizations in order to address hydropower permitting backlogs. Further authorizes the Chairman of CEQ to resolve any interagency disputes to ensure timely participation and decision making by the resource agencies;
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  • Sets forth a Sense of Congress that hydropower is a renewable resource for purposes of all federal programs;
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  • Amends the federal purchasing requirement in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPA) to include all forms of hydropower and raises the federal purchase requirement for renewable energy from 7.5% to 15%;
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  • Requires a resource agency's mandatory condition or prescription to have a "clear and direct nexus" to the actual project works;
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  • Extends preliminary permit terms from three years to four years, and lengthens the subsequent potential FERC extension from two years to four years;
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  • Directs FERC to compile and make public a comprehensive collection of studies and data; to use existing studies in individual licensing proceedings, and to ensure that studies required for federal authorizations are not duplicated;
  • Requires the concurrent preparation of biological opinions and starts the clock for water quality certifications when the request for certification is determined to be complete;
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  • Requires FERC to maintain an official consolidated record of a licensing proceeding, including the contributions made by other federal agencies
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  • Requires a resource agency to demonstrate, in writing, that it has met the "equal consideration" requirement when imposing mandatory conditions or prescriptions;
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  • Makes a number of improvements to the Trial-Type Hearing (TTH) process, including requiring FERC's existing Administration Law Judges (ALJ) to handle the TTG;
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  • Extends the time limit for a TTH from 90 to 120 days, and allows an ALJ to stay the TTF for 120 days for settlement discussions; and
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  • Directs FERC to establish a voluntary pilot program covering at least one region to consider a region-wide approach to hydropower licensing.

Meanwhile, Section 3002 would extend the incentives for hydroelectric production and efficiency improvements contained in EPA through Fiscal Year 2025.

 

Further stipulations in the 357-page bill increase support for ocean, tidal and wave energy by amending both EPA and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) to authorize the National Marine Renewable Energy Research, Development and Demonstration Centers to participate in demonstration projects, support in-water testing, support arrays of technology and serve as information clearinghouses.”    HYDROWORLD

 

 

Frank J. Heller, MPA

KATAHDIN ENERGY WORKS

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Comment by Pineo Girl on August 2, 2015 at 1:15pm

Sounds great - Its about time - We have abundant hydro - Why not use it - It needs to be classified as a class 1 renewable!

 

Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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