Hydropower resources at risk: The status of hydropower regulation and development - 1997

Technical Report · Mon Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1997

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/561243· OSTI ID:561243

Hunt, R T; Hunt, J A ^[1]

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1. Richard Hunt Associates, Inc., Annapolis, MD (United States)

This report documents today`s hydropower licensing and development status based on published data as follows: (a) Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) databases, maintained by FERC`s Office of Hydropower Licensing, of: (1) operating FERC-regulated projects, federal projects, and known unlicensed projects; (2) surrendered licenses; and, (3) recent licensing and relicensing actions; (b) Energy Information Administration (EIA) data on installed capacity and generation from 1949 through 1995 for the various resources used to produce electricity in the U.S.; and, (c) FERC licensing orders, and environmental assessments or environmental impact statements for each individual project relicensed since 1980. The analysis conducted to prepare this paper includes the effects of all FERC hydropower licensing actions since 1980, and applies those findings to estimate the costs of hydropower licensing and development activity for the next 15 years. It also quantifies the national cost of hydropower regulation. The future estimates are quite conservative. The are presented in 1996 dollars without speculating on the effects of future inflation, license surrenders, conditions imposed through open-ended license articles, license terms greater than 30 years, or low water years. Instead, they show the most directly predictable influences on licensing outcomes using actual experiences since ECPA (after 1986).

• Research Organization: USDOE Idaho Operations Office, Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC07-94ID13223
• OSTI ID: 561243
• Report Number(s): DOE/ID--10603; ON: DE98050318
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

13 HYDRO ENERGY
CAPACITY
COST
FORECASTING
HYDROELECTRIC POWER
LICENSING
REGULATIONS
RESOURCE ASSESSMENT