Copper Valley Electric Association; Notice of Application Tendered for Filing With the Commission and Soliciting Additional Study Requests and Establishing Procedural Schedule for Relicensing and a Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments

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Copper Valley Electric Association; Notice of Application Tendered for Filing With the Commission and Soliciting Additional Study Requests and Establishing Procedural Schedule for Relicensing and a Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments
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This PDF is FR Doc. 2026-12014 as it appeared on Public Inspection on
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Published Document: 2026-12014 (91 FR 36130)
This document has been published in the Federal Register. Use the PDF linked in the document sidebar for the official electronic format.
Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
a.
Type of Application:
New Major License.
b.
Project No.:
2742-040.
c.
Date Filed:
May 27, 2026.
d.
Applicant:
Copper Valley Electric Association, Inc. (CVEA).
e.
Name of Project:
Solomon Gulch Hydroelectric Project.
f.
Location:
On Solomon Lake and Solomon Gulch Creek, in the Chugach Census Area, in Valdez, Alaska. The project occupies 440 acres under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
g.
Filed Pursuant to:
Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791 (a)-825(r).
h.
Applicant Contact:
Coreen Palacios, Regulatory and Compliance Specialist CVEA; P.O. Box 45, Mile 187 Glenn Highway, Glenallen, AK 99588; telephone at (907) 822-8301; email at
CPalacios@cvea.org.
i.
FERC Contact:
Lauren Townson, Project Coordinator, Northwest Branch, Division of Hydropower Licensing; telephone at (202) 502-8572; email at
Lauren.Townson@ferc.gov.
j.
Cooperating agencies:
Federal, state, local, and tribal agencies with jurisdiction and/or special expertise with respect to environmental issues that wish to cooperate in the preparation of the environmental document should follow the instructions for filing such requests described in item l below. Cooperating agencies should note the Commission's policy that agencies that cooperate in the preparation of the environmental document cannot also intervene.
See
94 FERC ¶ 61,076 (2001).
k. Pursuant to section 4.32(b)(7) of 18 CFR of the Commission's regulations, if any resource agency, Indian Tribe, or person believes that an additional scientific study should be conducted in order to form an adequate factual basis for a complete analysis of the application on its merit, the resource agency, Indian Tribe, or person must file a request for a study with the Commission not later than 60 days from the date of filing of the application, and serve a copy of the request on the applicant.
l.
Deadline for filing additional study requests and requests for cooperating agency status:
on or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on July 27, 2026.[1]
The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file additional study requests and requests for cooperating agency status using the Commission's eFiling system at
https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx.
Commenters can submit brief comments up to 10,000 characters, without prior registration, using the eComment system at
https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.aspx.
For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at
FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov,
(866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-8659 (TTY). In lieu of electronic filing, please send a paper copy via U.S. Postal Service to: Debbie-Anne A. Reese, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via any other carrier must be addressed to: Debbie Anne A. Reese, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852. All filings must clearly identify the project name and docket number on the first page: Solomon Gulch Hydroelectric Project (P-2742-040).
m. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this time.
n.
The Solomon Gulch Project includes:
(1) a reservoir with a total drainage area of approximately 19.7 square miles with a maximum elevation of 693.5 feet mean sea level, a surface area of 660 acres, and a maximum storage volume at normal maximum pool elevation of 31,560 acre-feet; (2) a 400-feet-long and 115-feet-high rockfill dam with asphaltic concrete face; (3) a 365-foot-long saddle dike, or auxiliary dam, with a maximum height of approximately 65 feet, and a 450-foot concrete spillway with a nominal crest elevation of 685 feet mean sea level; (4) two 48-inch diameter intake pipes with slide gate facilities and a trash rack; (5) two 48-inch diameter, concrete-encased steel penstocks; (6) a 70-foot-long by 60-foot-wide powerhouse containing two Francis-type turbine/generator units with a total rated capacity of 12 megawatts (MW); (7) a substation located on the powerhouse, connecting to a 110-mile-long transmission line that runs from the project the substation adjacent to Pump Station 11 near Glennallen; (8) a tailrace; (9) two 300-feet-long pipes that supply water to the nearby Solomon Gulch Hatchery, owned and operated by the Valdez Fisheries Development Association (VFDA); and (10) appurtenant facilities. The project is a conventional hydroelectric facility that generates electricity using stored water from Solomon Lake through two Francis turbine-generator units, with a total installed capacity of 12 MW.
The project uses stored water from Solomon Lake and is operated to supply energy to CVEA's electrical system serving Valdez and other communities in the Copper River Basin. The reservoir is maintained between elevations 615 feet and 685 feet and the project is required to maintain continuous minimum flows of 2 cubic feet per second (cfs) at the head of the project tailrace and 2 cfs at the base of the lower falls of Solomon Gulch Creek for the protection of fish resources. Power generation generally follows seasonal hydrology, with increased generation during periods of higher inflow and reduced generation during low inflow periods. CVEA proposes to continue to operate the project as it does currently. Additionally, CVEA proposes to remove approximately 443 acres from the existing project boundary, including approximately 355 acres of federal lands managed by the BLM (located at the southern end of Solomon Lake), and approximately 91 acres of state-managed lands. Approximately 2 acres of private land would be added to the proposed project boundary to reflect the full extent of the existing 100-foot-wide primary transmission line right of way to the Petro Star Switch Building. Therefore, the proposed project boundary would total approximately 760 acres, consisting of approximately 671 acres of state-managed lands, 85 acres of BLM-managed federal lands, and 3 acres of private lands.
o. In addition to publishing the full text of this notice in the
Federal
( printed page 36131)
Register
, the Commission provides all interested persons an opportunity to view and/or print the contents of this notice, as well as other documents in the proceeding (
e.g.,
license application) via the internet through the Commission's Home Page (
http://www.ferc.gov) using the “eLibrary” link. Enter the docket number excluding the last three digits in the docket number field to access the document (P-8632). For assistance, contact FERC at
FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov,
(866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-8659 (TTY).
You may also register online at
https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx
to be notified via email of new filings and issuances related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.
p. For public inquiries and assistance with making filings such as interventions, comments, or requests for rehearing, contact the Office of Public Participation at (202) 502-6595 or
OPP@ferc.gov.
q.
Procedural Schedule and Final Amendments:
The application will be processed according to the following preliminary schedule. Revisions to the schedule will be made as appropriate.
r. Final amendments to the application must be filed with the Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of the notice of ready for environmental analysis.
1.
The Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure provide that if a filing deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday, holiday, or other day when the Commission is closed for business, the filing deadline does not end until the close of business on the next business day. 18 CFR 385.2007(a)(2) (2025). Because the 60-day filing deadline falls on a Sunday (
i.e.,
July 26, 2026), the filing deadline is extended until the close of business on Monday, July 27, 2026.