[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 201 (Thursday, October 19, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 48716]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-22656]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 14859-000]
Big Chino Valley Pumped Storage LLC; Notice of Preliminary Permit
Application Accepted for Filing and Soliciting Comments, Motions To
Intervene, and Competing Applications
On September 29, 2017, Big Chino Valley Pumped Storage LLC (Big
Chino) filed an application for a preliminary permit, pursuant to
section 4(f) of the Federal Power Act, proposing to study the
feasibility of the Big Chino Valley Pumped Storage Project (project) to
be located near Chino Valley in Yavapai, Coconino, and Mohave Counties,
Arizona. 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 will be closed-loop. Water to initially fill
the reservoirs and required make-up water will be pumped from locally
available groundwater sources. The proposed project would consist of an
upper and lower reservoir, a 10.1-mile-long water conveyance system
connecting the two reservoirs, a powerhouse, and three 500-kV
transmission lines. A 2,900-foot-long, 360-foot-high rockfill,
concrete-faced dam would be constructed to form the 50-acre upper
reservoir, which would have a storage capacity of 19,739-acre-foot at
an elevation of 6,560 feet. A 2,700-foot-long, 250-foot-high rockfill,
concrete-faced dam would be constructed to form a 50-acre lower
reservoir with a storage capacity of 19,811-acre-foot at an elevation
of 5,294 feet. Water would be conveyed from the upper reservoir to the
lower reservoir via two upper reservoir inlet/outlets, two vertical
shafts, two horizontal power tunnels, two penstock manifold tunnels,
and eight 12-foot-diameter, steel-lined penstocks. The powerhouse would
contain eight pump-turbine/motor-generator units rated at 250 MW each.
From the powerhouse, water will discharge into eight, 16-foot diameter
draft tubes from each unit and then into two, 32-foot-diameter tailrace
tunnels, which will discharge into the lower reservoir through a lower
reservoir inlet/outlet structure. Project power would be transmitted
through a 30-mile-long 500-kilovolt (kV), line traversing northerly to
interconnect with the existing Arizona Public Service owned- and
operated Eldorado-Moenkopi 500-kV line or a planned and sited new Dine
Navajo Transmission Project 500-kV line from Moenkopi to Marketplace; a
54-mile long 500-kV traversing westerly to interconnect with an
existing Western Area Power Administration owned and operated 230-kV
line from Prescott to Peacock that would be upgraded to 500 kV; and a
47-mile-long 500-kV line traversing easterly to interconnect with two
Navajo Southern Transmission 500-kV lines owned by participants of the
Navajo Generating Plant and operated by Arizona Public Service.
The estimated annual generation of the project would be 4,614
gigawatt-hours.
Applicant Contact: Brian Studenka, Director, Grid Development ITC
Holdings Corp., 27175 Energy Way, Novi, MI 48377, phone (248) 946-3247;
Andrew M. Jamieson, Counsel--Regulatory & Legislative ITC Holdings
Corp., 27175 Energy Way, Novi, MI 48377, phone (248) 946-3536; Jay
Ryan, Baker Botts L.L.P., The Warner--Suite 1000, 1299 Pennsylvania
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016, phone (202) 639-7789.
FERC Contact: Kim Nguyen, (202) 502-6105.
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 http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp. Commenters can submit brief
comments up to 6,000 characters, without prior registration, using the
eComment system at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ecomment.asp. You
must include your name and contact information at the end of your
comments. For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at
[email protected], (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-
8659 (TTY). In lieu of electronic filing, please send a paper copy to:
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20426. The first page of any filing should include
docket number P-14859-000.
More information about this project, including a copy of the
application, can be viewed or printed on the eLibrary link of
Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/elibary.asp.
Enter the docket number (P-14859) in the docket number field to access
the document. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.
Dated: October 13, 2017.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-22656 Filed 10-18-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P