| Regulations & policy
Public power Earlier in the year, the American Public Power
Association (APPA) suggested that the US should make full use of its hydropower resources to ensure its grid remains reliable and resilient, and allow utilities to meet emission reduction goals. At a hearing on 8 March 2023, called “Benefits and Access: The Necessity for Multiple Use of Water Resources” and held by the House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries, APPA also highlighted the benefits of the federal power marketing administrations (PMAs) - the Bonneville Power Administration, Western Area Power Administration, Southwestern Area Power Administration and Southeastern Power Administration. In accordance with federal law, PMA rates are set at the levels needed to recover the costs of the initial federal investment, plus interest, in the hydropower and transmission facilities. The PMAs annually review their rates to ensure full cost recovery but none of the costs are borne by taxpayers, APPA noted. Power rates also help to cover the costs of other activities authorised by these multipurpose projects, such as navigation, flood control, water supply, environmental programmes, and recreation. Scott Corwin, Executive Director, Northwest Public Power Association, noted that although it makes up only 7% of energy capacity nationally, hydropower provides almost 60% of the capacity in the Northwest and almost 90% of the capacity used by Northwest Public Power Association members that have contracts with the federal power marketing administrations.
He said that non-federal hydropower is “subject to
an often arduous and lengthy licensing and permitting process” involving multiple federal agencies and other interests while the average time to license a project is seven years and costs three and a half million dollars in paperwork – not counting any environmental or safety or other upgrades. Corwin pointed out that it took less time to renew
Energy Northwest’s licence for its 1200MW nuclear plant than it did for an Energy Northwest 27MW hydro project. “Without change to these unpredictable timelines and costs there is very serious risk of abandonment of projects,” he said. “We support legislative proposals that would
improve the hydropower permitting process and we also support creating a level playing field in tax policy for existing hydropower to receive the treatment similar to other renewable generation,” Corwin added. “The bottom line is we need hydropower because it is efficient, clean, reliable and relatively low cost and, most importantly, because it’s flexible – it can be adjusted quickly to changes in demand.”
Improvement act Jointly introduced in May 2023 by US Senators Steve
Daines and Maria Cantwell, the Community and Hydropower Improvement Act is currently working its way through the US legislative committees. Proposing amendments to the Federal Power Act which was originally enacted in 1920 and authorises the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to issue licences to build, operate, and maintain hydropower facilities, the new act aims to streamline and modernise the hydropower licensing and re-licensing process.
The proposed updates include: Expediting the licensing process by directing FERC to establish a two-year process to grant licences for hydropower additions to non-powered dams and a three-year process for lower-impact closed-loop and off-stream pumped storage projects. Improving coordination between FERC, federally recognised tribes, and resource agencies in the hydropower licensing, relicensing, and licence surrender processes
Shifts Federal Power Act mandatory conditioning authority from the US Department of the Interior to a federally recognised Tribe for any project located on land held in trust within the exterior boundaries of a Tribal reservation. Clarifying the scope of environmental effects that may be considered in hydropower relicensing and ensuring that mandatory conditions submitted by certain federal agencies address effects of the licensed project. Improving the processes for surrendering licenses and removing non-operating dams. Coordinating federal decision-making by directing FERC to convene a conference between agencies with conditioning authority and establish a joint schedule, allowing for the timely completion of all federal authorisation decisions.
“The Community and Hydropower Improvement Act is a landmark bipartisan bill that will protect and expand critical hydropower resources by streamlining and expediting the FERC licensing process and improving inter-agency coordination,” said Malcolm Woolf, CEO and President of the National Hydropower Association. “The current permitting process is bogged down with high costs and delays, leading to uncertainty and threatening 17 gigawatts of carbon-free, flexible energy currently on our grid. This strategic package proposes practical improvements to the hydropower permitting process, and with nearly half of the non-federal fleet coming up for relicensing, today’s hearing is a step in the right direction to protecting these vital hydropower resources and ensuring a clean energy future.” Back in May, the US government also expressed support for hydropower permitting reform, including it on the administration’s priority sheet for clean energy. “We’ve got to fix the cost and delays that are bogging down the licensing process for hydropower projects. Hydro supplies 37% of zero-carbon power and more than thirty percent of all the non-federal hydropower licences in the US are set to expire by 2030,” said John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation. “It’s time to reform the process so we can keep this crucial energy source online.”
Stanford study Droughts in Western states have resulted in higher
carbon emissions and pose a threat to human health as hydropower is replaced by fossil fuels, according to research conducted by Stanford University. When rivers and reservoirs in the American West experience low water levels due to droughts, utilities resort to coal, oil, or natural gas power plants to meet the increased demand for electricity, and it is this switch to fossil fuels which is particularly problematic as heat waves often accompany droughts, leading to higher energy usage, mainly for air conditioning.
www.waterpowermagazine.com | October 2023 | 43
Below: Switching from hydropower to fossil fuels during droughts has led to higher carbon emissions in the US and cost 11 Western states tens of billions of dollars over the past two decades, a new study by Stanford University finds
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