The Clean Power Alliance on June 28 approved a 10-year contract for generation from the 12-MW Isabella hydroelectric project in Kern County, beginning in December 2020. Read More
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FERC Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur will leave the agency at the end of August after serving since 2010. Although her current five-year term expired June 30, commissioners may continue serving after term expiration until a successor has been seated. Once she leaves, FERC will be down to three m… Read More
The Bonneville Power Administration has taken the next step in deciding whether to join the Western Energy Imbalance Market, issuing a letter to the region on June 20 describing the business case and legal authority for doing so. Read More
Now that spring spill under the multiparty flexible spill agreement has ended, agencies are beginning to analyze whether the objectives for fish, power generation and operational feasibility were met. Read More
A federal judge has denied a request from three environmental groups to order additional drawdowns and spills at Willamette Valley projects, saying they were unable to show that irreparable harm to Endangered Species Act-listed fish would occur without a preliminary injunction. Read More
Federal agencies say a turbine with a new design has been installed, tested and is now operating at Ice Harbor Dam. Read More
Two major hydropower-related bills died for this year in the California Legislature as May 31 marked the deadline for bills to pass out of their houses of origin. Read More
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is now proposing underwater construction instead of a one- to two-year drawdown to build a water temperature control tower and fish collection structure at Detroit Dam on the North Santiam River southeast of Salem, Ore. Read More
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released an update May 17 which provides many new details about the five alternatives in the upcoming draft environmental impact statement for operating 14 dams on the Snake and Columbia rivers. Read More
FERC staff in a in a draft environmental impact statement recommended relicensing the 84.8 MW Bucks Creek hydroelectric project in California’s Plumas County. Read More
Idaho Power received water quality certifications from the states of Idaho and Oregon in its quest to relicense the Hells Canyon Complex, a step that the company is calling “a huge milestone” toward earning a new license to operate the three hydroelectric projects on the Snake River. Read More
Oregon State University on May 30 submitted the final license application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for PacWave South [P-14616], a proposed grid-connected test facility for wave energy conversion devices. Read More
The U.S. Department of Energy on June 13 opened the first stage of its $2.5 million Waves to Water Prize program that aims to accelerate the development of wave-energy powered desalination systems. Read More