The Klamath River
Renewal Corporation
(KRRC) will file
Friday two
applications with
the Federal Energy
Regulatory
Commission (FERC) to
decommission four
dams on the Klamath
River.
According to a press
release from the
KRRC, one
application, filed
jointly with
PacifiCorp, asks
FERC to transfer
PacifiCorp’s
licenses to operate
the four dams in
California and
Oregon to the KRRC.
The second
application asks for
FERC to approve dam
decommissioning and
removal.
Under the agreement,
the KRRC would
oversee dam removal
which, if approved,
would begin in 2020.
PacifiCorp will
continue to operate
the dams until they
are decommissioned,
the release said.
FERC and other
regulatory agencies
will conduct public
hearings on the
applications. In
these hearings, the
public will be
encouraged to
participate and
comment for
consideration in the
final decisions.
“Filing these
applications is an
initial milestone
outlined in the 2016
Klamath
Hydroelectric
Settlement Agreement
(KHSA). The KHSA, as
amended in April
2016, provides the
roadmap for the
decommissioning and
removal of four
hydroelectric dams
on the 373-mile
Klamath River and
calls for the
creation of the KRRC
to oversee the
process,” the
release said.
“A diverse set of
stakeholders have
agreed to a shared
vision of the future
of the Klamath
basin: to date, the
2016 KHSA has been
signed by the United
States Department of
the Interior and the
Department of
Commerce, the states
of California and
Oregon, the Karuk
and Yurok Tribes,
PacifiCorp, nine
conservation and
fishing groups, and
other interested
parties. When
complete, the KRRC’s
efforts will result
in the largest dam
removal project in
U.S. history.
There is also
opposition to dam
removal, both in
Klamath and Siskiyou
counties. Both
county commissions
are on record
opposing the
removal.
Mike Carrier, president of the KRRC board said, “The KRRC’s FERC filings are an important step towards realizing the vision of a restored Klamath River. Today’s actions bring the vast environmental benefits that will stem from dam removal closer to reality.”
“The KRRC is now up and running and through the FERC regulatory process, the KRRC will demonstrate it has the legal, financial, and technical capacity to become the licensee for four Klamath hydroelectric dams and oversee decommissioning activities,” said Lester Snow, vice president of the KRRC Board.
Sarah Kamman, vice president and general counsel of Pacific Power, a division of PacifiCorp said in the press release, “PacifiCorp looks forward to working with the KRRC and our other settlement partners to implement this important agreement. We continue to believe the KHSA is a fair way forward and in the interest of our electricity customers.”
The four PacifiCorp dams on the Klamath River are operated for hydroelectric power generation. Federal environmental agencies recommended that the dams need to be retrofitted to provide fish passage for salmon, steelhead, and other fish. The Oregon and California public utility commissions found that decommissioning the dams via the KHSA was a prudent alternative for PacifiCorp’s customers.
More information and copies of the applications may be found at the KRRC’s website: www.klamathrenewal.org