Notice of Application Accepted For Filing And Soliciting Motions To Intervene and Protests

Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.

a. Type of Application: Original Major License.

b. Project No.: 14861-002.

c. Date Filed: June 23, 2020.

d. Applicant: FFP Project 101, LLC.

e. Name of Project: Goldendale Pumped Storage Project.

f. Location: Off-stream on the north side of the Columbia River at River Mile 215.6 in Klickitat County, Washington, with transmission facilities extending into Sherman County, Oregon. The project would be located approximately 8 miles southeast of the City of Goldendale, Washington. The project would occupy 18.1 acres of lands owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and administered by the Bonneville Power Administration.

g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791 (a)-825(r).

h. Applicant Contact: Erik Steimle, Rye Development, 220 Northwest 8th Avenue Portland, Oregon 97209; (503) 998-0230; email—erik@ryedevelopment.com.

i. FERC Contact: Michael Tust at (202) 502-6522; or email at michael.tust@ferc.gov.

j. Deadline for filing motions to intervene and protests: February 16, 2021.

The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file motions to intervene and protests using the Commission's eFiling system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.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, you may submit a paper copy. Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via any other carrier must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, 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: Goldendale Pumped Storage Project (P-14861-002).

The Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure require all interveners filing documents with the Commission to serve a copy of that document on each person on the official service list for the project. Further, if an intervener files comments or documents with the Commission relating to the merits of an issue that may affect the responsibilities of a particular resource agency, they must also serve a copy of the document on that resource agency.

k. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this time.

l. The project would include the following new facilities: (1) A 61-acre upper reservoir formed by a 175-foot-high, 8,000-foot-long rockfill embankment dam at an elevation of 2,950 feet mean sea level (MSL) with a vertical concrete intake-outlet structure; (2) a 63-acre lower reservoir formed by a 205-foot-high, 6,100-foot-long embankment at an elevation of 590 feet MSL with a horizontal concrete intake-outlet structure and vertical steel slide gates; (3) an underground conveyance tunnel system connecting the two reservoirs consisting of a 2,200-foot-long, 29-foot-diameter concrete-lined vertical shaft, a 3,300-foot-long, 29-foot-diameter concrete-lined high pressure tunnel, a 200-foot-long, 22-foot-diameter high pressure manifold tunnel, three 600-foot-long, 15-foot-diameter steel/concrete penstocks, three 200-foot-long, 20-foot-diameter steel-lined draft tube tunnels with bonneted slide gates, a 200-foot-long, 26-foot-diameter concrete-lined low-pressure tunnel, and a 3,200-foot-long, 30-foot-diameter concrete-lined tailrace tunnel; (4) an underground powerhouse located between the upper and lower reservoir in a 0.83-acre powerhouse cavern containing three, 400-megawatt (MW) Francis-type pump-turbine units for a total installed capacity of 1,200 MW; (5) a 0.48-acre underground transformer cavern adjacent to the powerhouse containing intermediate step-up transformers that will step up the voltage from 18 kilovolts (kV) to 115 kV; (6) two 30-foot-diameter tunnels for accessing the powerhouse and transformer caverns; (7) a 0.84-mile-long, 115-kV underground transmission line extending from the transformer gallery through the combined access/transmission tunnel to where it emerges aboveground near the west side of the lower reservoir and extending an additional 0.27 miles to an outdoor 7.3-acre substation/switchyard where the voltage would be stepped up to 500 kV; (8) a 3.13-mile-long, 500-kV transmission line routed from the substation/switchyard south across the Columbia River and connecting to Bonneville Power Administration's existing John Day Substation; (9) a buried 30-inch-diameter water fill line leading from a shut-off and throttling valve within a non-project water supply vault owned by Klickitat Public Utility District (KPUD) to an outlet structure within the lower reservoir to convey water to fill the reservoirs; and (10) appurtenant facilities. The project would also include an existing 0.7-mile road for accessing the lower reservoir site and an existing 8.6-mile-long road for accessing the upper reservoir site both of which may be modified to provide access for construction vehicles.

The water supply used to initially fill the lower reservoir as well as to provide make-up water would be purchased from KPUD and would be obtained from KPUD's existing intake pond on the Columbia River. The project water fill line would connect to a new KPUD-owned flanged water supply service connection in a water supply vault located near the lower reservoir. Within the vault, and just downstream of the service connection, there would be a project shut-off and throttling valve to allow control of the initial fill and make-up water flow rate into the lower reservoir. The initial fill would require 7,640 acre-feet of water and would be completed in about six months at an average flow rate of approximately 21 cubic feet per second (maximum flow rate available is 35 cubic feet per second). It is estimated that the project would need 360 acre-feet of water each year to replenish water lost through evaporation.

m. A copy of the application is available for review 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. At this time, the Commission has suspended access to the Commission's Public Reference Room due to the proclamation declaring a National Emergency concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), issued by the President on March 13, 2020. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.

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.

n. Anyone may submit a protest or a motion to intervene in accordance with the requirements of Rules of Practice and Procedure, 18 CFR 385.210, 385.211, and 385.214. In determining the appropriate action to take, the Commission will consider all protests filed, but only those who file a motion to intervene in accordance with the Commission's Rules may become a party to the proceeding. Any protests or motions to intervene must be received on or before the specified deadline date for the particular application.

All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title PROTEST or MOTION TO INTERVENE; (2) set forth in the heading the name of the applicant and the project number of the application to which the filing responds; (3) furnish the name, address, and telephone number of the person protesting or intervening; and (4) otherwise comply with the requirements of 18 CFR 385.2001 through 385.2005. Agencies may obtain copies of the application directly from the applicant. A copy of any protest or motion to intervene must be served upon each representative of the applicant specified in the particular application.

o. Procedural schedule: The application will be processed according to the following preliminary Hydro Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the schedule will be made as appropriate.