84346 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 204 / Tuesday, October 22, 2024 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Project No. 2572–141] 

Notice of Application Tendered for 

Filing With the Commission and 

Establishing Procedural Schedule for 

Licensing and Deadline for 

Submission of Final Amendments: 

Great Lakes Hydro America, LLC 

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.: 2572–141. 

c. Date Filed: September 30, 2024. 

d. Applicant: Great Lakes Hydro 

American, LLC (GLHA). 

e. Name of Project: Ripogenus 

Hydroelectric Project (project). 

f. Location: On the West Branch of the 

Penobscot River (West Branch) in 

Piscataquis and Penobscot Counties, 

Maine. 

g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power 

Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)–825(r). 

h. Applicant Contact: Michael 

Scarzello, Licensing Manager, 

Brookfield Renewable U.S., 399 Big Bay 

Road, Queensbury, NY 12804; (315) 

566–0197; Michael.scarzello@

brookfieldrenewable.com. 

i. FERC Contact: Allan Creamer, 

Project Coordinator; telephone at (202) 

502–8365; email at allan.creamer@

ferc.gov. 

j. The application is not ready for 

environmental analysis at this time. 

k. Project Description: The Ripogenus 

Project is located about 21 river miles 

upstream of the Penobscot Mills Project, 

and consists of: (1) the Ripogenus 

impoundment, which (a) is about 20.8 

miles long, (b) has a surface area of 

about 29,270 acres at a normal full pond 

elevation of 941.59 feet National 

Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD 

29), and (c) has a usable storage of about 

688,705 acre-feet, with a maximum 

drawdown of 44 feet (to elevation 

897.59 feet NGVD 29); and (2) 

Umbazooksus Lake, which has a surface 

area of 1,600 acres. Ripogenus Dam is 

795 feet long and is located at the outlet 

of Ripogenus Lake. The dam includes 

two concrete spillway sections, an 

intake section, a gated sluice section, 

and an earthen section. 

Water flows from the Ripogenus 

impoundment through an intake 

structure, which directs water through a 

tunnel and penstocks to the powerhouse 

(McKay Station). The powerhouse 

contains three turbine-generating units, 

with a total rated capacity of 37.5 

megawatts. Power generated at the 

project is transmitted to the electric grid 

via three transformers and a 29.4-milelong transmission line. An additional 

0.75-mile-long transmission line 

extends from the McKay Substation to 

Ripogenus Dam. The Ripogenus Project 

also contains one battery energy storage 

site that is used to enhance system 

reliability. The Ripogenus Project is 

operated as a store-and-release 

development, with an annual seasonal 

drawdown that allows for management 

of water levels and flows downstream 

from the project. GLHA releases 

minimum flows into the dewatered 

section of the West Branch downstream 

from Ripogenus Dam, as well as flows 

through the McKay Station generating 

units to protect aquatic habitat and to 

provide whitewater boating 

opportunities. GLHA also releases flows 

to the West Branch during outages of the 

generating units, and diverts flow to the 

Holbrook Side Channel to enhance 

aquatic habitat. The project provides 

some capacity to store water to reduce 

downstream flooding, as well as storage 

releases during droughts. Additional 

details regarding the Ripogenus Project 

facilities and operations can be found in 

Exhibit A (Ripogenus Project) and 

Exhibit B of the license application, and 

can be accessed by following the 

instructions in paragraph l. 

GLHA proposes to continue to operate 

the Ripogenus Project as a store-andrelease facility. GLHA would continue 

to release flows ranging between 12 

cubic feet per second (cfs) and 100 cfs 

from Ripogenus Dam to the bypassed 

reach, provide a station outage flow of 

400 cfs downstream from McKay 

Station, continue to operate and 

maintain the Holbrook Side Channel as 

habitat for salmon and brook trout, 

maintain the 200-foot conservation 

buffer and 100-foot vegetation buffer 

around the Ripogenus impoundment, 

and maintain Umbazooksus Lake as 

wetland and wildlife habitat. In 

addition, GLHA proposes to provide a 

year-round minimum flow of 1,700 cfs 

downstream from McKay Station for 

aquatic habitat; provide seasonallyadjusted flows for whitewater boating; 

fund the installation, operation, and 

maintenance of a USGS flow gauge 

downstream from McKay Station (near 

Big Eddy); post impoundment level and 

flow information on Brookfield’s 

existing SafeWaters website; and 

develop a recreation plan, shoreline 

management plan, loon management 

plan, and historic properties 

management plan. 

l. In addition to publishing this notice 

in the Federal 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–2572). 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://ferc

online.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. 

m. The Commission’s Office of Public 

Participation (OPP) supports meaningful 

public engagement and participation in 

Commission proceedings. OPP can help 

members of the public, including 

landowners, environmental justice 

communities, Tribal members and 

others, access publicly available 

information and navigate Commission 

processes. For public inquiries and 

assistance with making filings such as 

interventions, comments, or requests for 

rehearing, the public is encouraged to 

contact OPP at (202) 502–6595, or OPP@

ferc.gov. 

n. Procedural Schedule: The 

application will be processed according 

to the following preliminary schedule. 

Revisions to the schedule will be made 

as appropriate. 

Deficiency Letter—October 2024 

Additional Information Request— 

November 2024 

Notice of Acceptance—March 2025 

Issue Notice of Ready for Environmental 

Analysis—March 2025 

o. 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. 

Dated: October 15, 2024. 

Debbie-Anne A. Reese, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2024–24378 Filed 10–21–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 


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