Guide for assessing relicensing risk for hydropower projects. Final report
- Richard Hunt Associates, Annapolis, MD (United States)
In the years since enactment of the Electric Consumers` Protection Act of 1986 (ECPA), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has become more exacting, special interests have become more potent, applicants are less willing to propose new development, and the process has become longer and more risky as measured in the following ways: (1) Is relicensing measurably more difficult since 1986? Yes. Since 1986, the time required for FERC to process an application is longer, particularly for projects over 3 MW. The FERC noted deficiencies or requested additional information from virtually every project whose license expired in 1993 (the {open_quotes}Class of 1993{close_quotes}). Every project over 3 MW had multiple commenters and interveners. Competition for relicenses was rare because of the difficulty and cost of the process. More relicenses were completed in court because of more frequent challenges of FERC`s ultimate authority to balance resources. (2) Is there increased risk for post-1986 relicensing applicants? Yes. While there is little chance that a project filing a relicense application will not ultimately receive a relicense, nearly two-thirds of recently relicensed projects lost generation and output. By 1991, 100 percent of the relicenses issued had reopener articles or open-ended requirements, indicating unresolved issues. (3) Is there measurable increased cost for post-1986 relicenses? Yes. The cost of relicensing a hydropower project is strongly related to the time spent in the process. Processing time for relicenses has more than doubled in the past four years, greatly increasing the administrative and refinancing costs of relicensing. (4) What is the relicensing risk for your project? This section provides very specific guidance to allow self-assessment of risk by those who are considering whether or not to relicense their projects.
- Research Organization:
- Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (United States); Hunt (Richard) Associates, Annapolis, MD (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 10195014
- Report Number(s):
- EPRI-TR-103284; ON: UN94003129; TRN: 93:004543
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Nov 1993
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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