PPL Montana Friday (12/15) officially asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Friday (FERC) to renew its federal license to generate electricity at the Mystic Lake Project.
The Mystic Final License Application was the first one in the country under FERC’s new Integrated Licensing Process, which is aimed at increasing public participation, enhancing regulatory efficiency and reducing the time necessary to license projects. The process incorporates consideration of hydro operations, fisheries, wildlife, habitat, water quality, recreation, cultural resources and aesthetics around each hydroelectric facility.
“This application to FERC reflects the significant benefits of a collaborative process among all the stakeholders,” said Brad Spencer, PPL Montana’s vice president and chief operating officer. “We appreciate the time and hard work of the participants over the past three years since we began the relicensing effort.”
Although the company’s existing license to generate electricity at Mystic doesn’t expire until Dec. 31, 2009, the FERC renewal process must begin five to 5½ years ahead. Power companies that use dams to produce energy need to renew their licenses from FERC every 30 to 50 years. FERC issues and oversees operating licenses for about 2,500 hydropower dams across the country.
Built in 1925, the 12-megawatt Mystic facility is on West Rosebud Creek in the Beartooth Mountains, 75 miles southwest of Billings. A megawatt provides electricity for about 750 homes.
“FERC’s new licensing process enabled PPL Montana to engage the public, resource agencies, elected officials and tribal representatives early in the process to resolve issues and make good, informed decisions with cost-effective outcomes,” Spencer said.
Participants in the process included the U.S. Forest Service; Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks; Montana Department of Environmental Quality; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Trout Unlimited; American Whitewater Affiliates; area tribes; Beartooth Paddlers Society; and Carbon and Stillwater counties.
“PPL Montana is a responsible steward of its environmental and recreational resources, including those at Mystic Lake,” Spencer added. “We’ve committed more than $50 million through this decade for projects to improve river flow, water quality, fisheries, wildlife habitats, recreation sites and cultural resources on the Montana rivers and lakes we use to generate electric power.”
More information about the Mystic Project and Final License Application document, is available online at www.mysticlakeproject.com.
Copies of the Final License Application are available for public review at the PPL Montana Billings office by calling 406-237-6900 and at the PPL Montana Butte Office by calling 406-533-3413. It also may be reviewed at U.S. Forest Service, Red Lodge Ranger District, 6811 Highway 212, in Red Lodge, or Stillwater County Planning Office, 809 East Fourth Ave. North, Suite C, in Columbus, Montana.
PPL has 500 employees in Montana who generate and sell electricity. PPL Montana operates coal-fired power plants at Colstrip and Billings, as well as 11 hydroelectric plants along West Rosebud Creek and the Missouri, Madison, Clark Fork and Flathead rivers. It has a combined generating capacity of more than 1,200 megawatts and has offices in Billings, Butte and Helena. PPL EnergyPlus operates a trading floor in Butte that markets and sells power in the wholesale and retail energy market. PPL Montana and PPL EnergyPlus are subsidiaries of PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL). More information about PPL Montana is available at www.pplmontana.com.