Hydropower Relicensing and Compliance with an Emphasis on Engagement

Hydropower relicensing and compliance has become a process of constant adaptation and engagement, both with regulatory agencies and with stakeholders. Both adaptation in the licensing and relicensing process and engagement early and frequently helps hydropower facilities better anticipate and adapt to a regulatory process that undergoes many changes in the life of a hydropower license and even in the multiple years (or decades) it can take for relicensing.

Common themes at the Northwest Hydroelectric Association Conference last week in Portland included the importance of engagement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) when undertaking relicensing, even in pre-filing phases, to determine the scope of a facility’s study plan. This focus on engagement with FERC is largely driven by the Integrated Licensing Process that requires more pre-filing consultation and involvement with FERC and other resource agencies and stakeholders, such as Indian Tribes, rather than the Traditional Licensing Approach in which review and consultation are a sequential process.

Not only is engagement critical, and now required by FERC, but it helps hydropower projects better adapt to changing natural resource protection requirements during the relicensing process. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance continues to require extensive analysis in the pre-filing process to conduct scoping with FERC and the resource agencies. Throughout the regulatory workshop, participants emphasized that hydropower facilities’ staff can effectively manage issues, such as invasive species, and will have a better grasp of their license conditions to ensure compliance with and adaptability to license conditions once a license is issued if there is engagement.