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[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 12 (Tuesday, January 20, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2685-2686]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-00781]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Wind and Water Power Program: Guidance and Application for 
Hydroelectric Incentive Payments

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of 
Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability of guidance and open application period.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is publishing Guidance for 
the EPAct 2005 Section 242 Program. The guidance describes the 
hydroelectric incentive payment requirements and explains the type of 
information that owners or authorized operators of qualified 
hydroelectric facilities can provide DOE when applying for 
hydroelectric incentive payments. This incentive is available for 
electric energy generated and sold for a specified 10-year period as 
authorized under section 242 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. In 
Congressional appropriations for Federal fiscal year 2014, DOE received 
funds to support this hydroelectric incentive program for the first 
time. At this time, DOE is only accepting applications from owners and 
authorized operators of qualified hydroelectric facilities for 
hydroelectricity generated and sold in calendar year 2013.

DATES: DOE is currently accepting applications from January 20, 2015 
through February 19, 2015. Applications information must be sent to 
hydroincentive@ee.doe.gov by midnight EDT, February 19, 2015, or they 
will not be considered timely filed for calendar year 2013 incentive 
payments.

ADDRESSES: Written correspondence may be sent to the Office of Energy 
Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EE-4), by email at 
hydroincentive@ee.doe.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to Mr. Steven Lindenberg, Office of Energy 
Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EE-4), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121, (202) 586-2783, 
hydroincentive@ee.doe.gov. Electronic communications are recommended 
for correspondence and required for submission of application 
information.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 
2005; Pub. L. 109-58), Congress established a new program to support 
the expansion of hydropower energy development at existing dams and 
impoundments

[[Page 2686]]

through an incentive payment procedure. Under section 242 of EPAct 
2005, the Secretary of Energy is directed to provide incentive payments 
to the owner or authorized operator of qualified hydroelectric 
facilities for electric energy generated and sold by a qualified 
hydroelectric facility for a specified 10-year period (See 42 U.S.C. 
15881). The conference report to the Fiscal Year 2014 Omnibus 
Appropriations bill includes $3,600,000 for conventional hydropower 
under section 242 of EPAct 2005.
    In response, DOE developed and announced draft guidance intended to 
describe the application process and the information necessary for DOE 
to make a determination of eligibility under section 242. See 79 FR 
37733 (July 2, 2014). The final guidance is available at: http://energy.gov/eere/water/water-power-program.
    DOE accepted public comments on the guidance on two separate 
occasions in July and October 2014. In response to these comments, DOE 
developed a summary of comments and DOE's response which can be found 
with the final guidance, which is available at: http://energy.gov/eere/water/water-power-program.
    When submitting information to DOE for the Section 242 program, it 
is recommended that applicants carefully read and review the complete 
content of the Guidance for this process. The terms defined in the 
Guidance shall apply without regard to the hydroelectric kilowatt 
capacity of the facility concerned, without regard to whether the 
facility uses a dam owned by a governmental or non-governmental entity, 
and without regard to whether the facility began operation on or after 
October 1, 2005.
    As an aid to supporting the hydropower industry, DOE has developed 
the following checklist for application related to calendar year 2013 
power production. This checklist is provided to aid the applicant and 
does not necessarily include all requirements stated in the Guidance.

Applicant Checklist

Administrative Requirements

--The application must be received by DOE between January 20, 2015 and 
February 19, 2015. The application must be sent to 
hydroincentive@ee.doe.gov by midnight, February 19, 2015, or it will 
not be considered for calendar year 2013 incentive payments.
--The application must include all information required in the 
Application Requirements, ``Sec. V'', in the Guidance.
--An owner or authorized operator must be applying on behalf of: (a) A 
FERC-jurisdictional hydroelectric facility as the holder of a license 
or exemption issued by FERC, or (b) a non-FERC jurisdictional 
hydroelectric facility as the holder of exclusive rights to beneficial 
use of a facility, including legal title.
--The application for an incentive payment must be signed by an 
authorized executive official of the owner or operator claiming the 
payment.
--In the event that DOE has clarification questions on the application 
and DOE requests additional information, such information must be 
received at hydroincentive@ee.doe.gov within 10 business days after the 
DOE request.
--DOE strongly encourages applicants to apply early for the Federal 
System for Award Management (SAM) account required for submitting 
request for payment to the Federal Government. This process can take 10 
days or more and the information must be included in the application.

Equipment Requirements

--The new turbine or other generating device must be owned or solely 
operated by a non-federal entity.
--Operation of the new turbine or other generating device must have 
been initiated on or after October 1, 2005.
--The new turbine and other electric generation devices must include 
conventional or new and innovative technologies capable of continuous 
operation.

Facility Requirements

--The new turbine or other generating device must have been added to an 
existing dam or conduit, the construction of which was completed before 
August 8, 2005.
--Construction of the new turbine or other generating device must have 
involved only modifications with no construction or enlargement of 
impoundment or diversion structures (other than repair or 
reconstruction). Construction should not require any permanent 
enlargement of impoundment or diversion structure when installed.

Power Production (energy requirements)

--The claimed electricity production and sale must be net electric 
energy and must have occurred in the calendar year January 1 through 
December 31, 2013, inclusive. Applicants for the production incentive 
will be considered only for the energy produced during this timeframe; 
no payments for previous years of generation will be awarded.
--A metering device should have been used to measure net electric 
energy generated and sold.
--The metering device must meet generally accepted industry standards, 
be maintained in proper working order according to instructions of its 
manufacturer, and be calibrated to generally accepted industry 
standards.
--In the event that a project's eligible production is not specifically 
metered, a project must submit a reasonable, reliable, alternative 
method to document eligible production. Alternative methodologies must 
be reviewed, confirmed, and documented by a third party with valid and 
relevant industry experience and credentials and be submitted along 
with the application to DOE. DOE reserves the right to determine 
whether the alternative methodology sufficiently identifies the net 
electric energy generated to qualify under this program.
--Metered energy data must match the amount of energy claimed in the 
application.
--The claimed energy must have been sold, where sale means a transfer 
of currency between two unrelated parties in exchange for delivered 
electrical current, except that not-for-profit electric cooperatives or 
municipal utilities and their members shall be considered unrelated 
parties for purposes of hydroelectric production incentive payments.

    Each application will be reviewed based on the Guidance at (http://energy.gov/eere/water/water-power-program). DOE may corroborate the 
information provided with information that DOE finds through FERC e-
filings, contact with power off-taker, and other due diligence measures 
carried out by reviewing officials. DOE may require the applicant to 
conduct and submit an independent audit at its own expense, or DOE may 
conduct an audit to verify the number of kilowatt-hours claimed to have 
been generated and sold by the qualified hydroelectric facility and for 
which an incentive payment has been requested or made.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on January 14, 2015.
 Doug Hollett,
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Renewable Power.
[FR Doc. 2015-00781 Filed 1-16-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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