Document ID: FERC-2011-0951-0001
Agency: ferc
Document Type: Notice
Title: Applications: Alabama Power Co.
Posted Date: 2011-06-22T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 120 (Wednesday, June 22, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36527-36528]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-15526]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[ Project No. 349-150]

Alabama Power Company (Alabama Power); Notice of Application 
Tendered for Filing With the Commission and Establishing Procedural 
Schedule for Licensing and Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments

    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.: 349-150.
    c. Date Filed: June 8, 2011.
    d. Applicant: Alabama Power Company (Alabama Power).
    e. Name of Project: Martin Dam Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: The existing Martin Dam Project is located on the 
Tallapoosa River in northeast Alabama, in Tallapoosa, Coosa, and Elmore 
Counties, Alabama, near the cities of Alexander City and Dadeville, 
Alabama. The project would occupy 1.36 acres of Federal lands.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Theodore J. McCullough, Senior Vice President 
and Senior Production Officer, Alabama Power Company, 600 North 18th 
Street, P.O. Box 2641, Birmingham, AL 35291, telephone (205) 257-8180; 
James F. Crew, Manager, Hydro Services, Alabama Power Company, 600 
North 18th Street, P.O. Box 2641, Birmingham, AL 35291, telephone (205) 
257-4265.
    i. FERC Contact: Jennifer Adams, (202) 502-8087 or 
jennifer.adams@ferc.gov.
    j. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    k. The Project Description: Martin Dam is located at river mile 
420.0 on the Tallapoosa River near the cities of Alexander City and 
Dadeville, Alabama. Martin Dam impounds about 31 miles of the 
Tallapoosa River, forming Martin Reservoir (or Lake Martin), a 40,000-
acre reservoir with (a) 700 miles of shoreline, (b) a gross storage 
capacity of 1,622,000 acre-feet, and (c) active storage of 1,381,077 
acre-feet at a 45.5-foot drawdown.
    The existing Martin Dam Project consists of: (1) A concrete gravity 
dam and an earth dike section, totaling about 2,000 feet in length with 
a maximum height of 168 feet, and includes (a) A 720-foot-long gated 
spillway section with 20 vertical lift spillway gates, each measuring 
30 feet wide by 16 feet high; (b) a 250-foot-long concrete gravity 
intake structure, (c) a 255-foot-long concrete gravity non-overflow 
section, and (d) an approximately 1,000-foot-long earth embankment; (2) 
a reservoir with a surface area of 40,000 acres at the normal full pool 
elevation of 491 feet mean sea level (msl); (3) headworks containing 
four steel penstocks and 12 intake gates, each fitted with trash racks; 
(4) a brick and concrete, steel-frame powerhouse, 307 feet long, 58 
feet wide, and 99 feet high; (5) four vertical Francis turbines that 
power four generating units with a total installed capacity of 182.5 
MW; (6) two 450-foot-long transmission lines; and (7) appurtenant 
facilities. The project generates about 33,000,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) 
annually.
    The Martin Dam Project operates as a peaking project using a 
multipurpose storage reservoir (Lake Martin), in which the water levels 
fluctuate seasonally. Under its normal peaking operations, the project 
operates between elevations 481 and 491 feet msl. Flows from the dam 
vary from leakage during periods of non-generation to 17,900 cubic feet 
per second (cfs) during generation. The Martin Dam Project typically 
generates Monday through Friday for eight hours per day. Releases from 
Martin Dam are made directly into Alabama Power's Yates and Thurlow 
Hydroelectric Project (FERC Project No. 2407). The Thurlow Dam is 
required to release a minimum flow of 1,200 cfs. Releases from Martin 
Dam are often necessary to maintain the 1,200-cfs minimum flow 
requirement.
    Alabama Power uses three guide curves for the Martin Dam Project: 
(1) A flood control guide; (2) an operating guide; and (3) a drought 
contingency curve. The flood control guide maximizes lake elevations 
for flood control purposes. The operating guide limits fluctuations in 
Lake Martin to water levels that stakeholders deemed acceptable during 
the previous relicensing process for the Martin Dam Project. The area 
between the flood control guide and operating guide represents the 
range that Alabama Power operates the project under normal inflow 
conditions.

[[Page 36528]]

    l. Locations of the Application: A copy of the application is 
available for review at the Commission in the Public Reference Room or 
may be viewed on the Commission's Web site at 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. For 
assistance, contact FERC Online Support at FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov 
or toll-free at 1-866-208-3676, or for TTY, (202) 502-8659. A copy is 
also available for inspection and reproduction at the address in item 
(h) above.
    m. You may also register online at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/esubscription.asp to be notified via e-mail of new filings and 
issuances related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, 
contact FERC Online Support.
    n. Procedural Schedule:
    The application will be processed according to the following 
preliminary Hydro Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the schedule may be 
made as appropriate.

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                 Milestone                           Target date
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Notice of Acceptance/Notice of Ready for    August 7, 2011
 Environmental Analysis.
Filing of recommendations, preliminary      October 6, 2011.
 terms and conditions, and fishway
 prescriptions.
Commission issues Draft EIS...............  April 3, 2012.
Comments on Draft EIS.....................  June 2, 2012.
Modified Terms and Conditions.............  August 1, 2012.
Commission Issues Final EIS...............  October 30, 2012.
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    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: June 15, 2011.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011-15526 Filed 6-21-11; 8:45 am]
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