Southern California Edison Company; Notice of Application Ready for Environmental Analysis and Soliciting Comments, and Recommendations, Final Terms and Conditions, and Prescriptions

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

a. Type of Application: New License for Major Project-Existing Dam.

b. Project No.: P-67-113.

c. Date Filed: February 23, 2007.

d. Applicant: Southern California Edison Company.

e. Name of Project: Big Creek Nos. 2A, 8 and Eastwood Power Station Hydroelectric Power Project.

f. Location: The Big Creek Nos. 2A, 8 and Eastwood Hydroelectric Project is located in Fresno County, California near the town of Shaver Lake within the South Fork San Joaquin River, Big Creek, and Stevenson Creek watersheds. The project affects 2,143.25 acres of federal lands.

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

h. Applicant Contact: Russ W. Krieger, Vice President, Power Production, Southern California Edison Company, 300 North Lone Hill Ave., San Dimas, California 91773. Phone: (909) 394-8667.

i. FERC Contact: Ken Hogan at (202) 502-8434, or e-mail: Kenneth.Hogan@ferc.gov.

j. Deadline for filing comments, and recommendations, final terms and conditions, and prescriptions is 60 days from the issuance date of this notice; reply comments are due 105 days from the issuance date of this notice.

All documents (original and eight copies) should be filed with: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.

The Commission's Rules of Practice require all intervenors 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 intervenor 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.

Comments, recommendations, final terms and conditions, and prescriptions may be filed electronically via the Internet in lieu of paper. The Commission strongly encourages electronic filings. See 18 CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the Commission's Web site ( http://www.ferc.gov ) under the “e-Filing” link.

k. This application has been accepted for filing and is ready for environmental analysis at this time.

l. Description of Project: The existing Big Creek Nos. 2A, 8 and Eastwood Power Station Hydroelectric Power Project consists of two powerhouses and an underground power station; two major dams and reservoirs; five moderate-sized dams forming two forebays and three small diversion pools; eight small diversions; six water conveyance systems; and one transmission line. The project would have an average annual generation of 1,125,429 megawatt-hours.

• Powerhouses and powerstation (i) Big Creek Powerhouse No. 2A with two turbine/generator units and a total dependable operating capacity of about 98.5 MW; (ii) Powerhouse No. 8 with two turbine/generator units and a dependable operating capacity of about 64.5 MW; and (iii) Eastwood Power Station, with one turbine/pump/generator unit and a dependable operating capacity of about 207 MW.
• Major dams and reservoirs (i) Shaver Dam, forming Shaver Lake, which has a usable storage capacity of about 135,568 ac-ft, at an elevation of about 5,370 ft above mean sea level (msl); and (ii) Florence Dam, forming Florence Lake, which has a usable storage capacity of about 64,406 ac-ft, at an elevation of about 7,327 ft above msl.
• Moderate-sized dams, forebays and diversion pools (i) Balsam Forebay, with a usable storage capacity of about 1,547 ac-ft, at an elevation of about 6,670 ft above msl; (ii) Dam 5 Impoundment (Powerhouse 8 Forebay), with a usable storage capacity of 49 ac-ft, at an elevation of about 2,943 ft above msl; (iii) Pitman Diversion Pool, with a usable capacity of about 1 ac-ft, at an elevation of about 6,900 ft above msl; (iv) Bear Diversion Pool, with a usable capacity of about 103 ac-ft, at an elevation of about 7,350 ft above msl; and (v) Mono Diversion Pool, with a usable capacity of about 47 ac-ft, at an elevation of about 7,350 ft above msl.
• Small diversions (i) Hooper Creek Diversion, with a usable capacity of about 3 ac-ft, at an elevation of about 7,505 ft above msl; (ii) Bolsillo Creek Diversion, with a usable capacity of less than 1 ac-ft, at an elevation of about 7,535 ft above msl; (iii) Chinquapin Creek Diversion, with a usable capacity of less than 1 ac-ft, at an elevation of about 7,629 ft above msl; (iv) Camp 62 Creek Diversion, with a usable capacity of less than 1 ac-ft, at an elevation of about 7,307 ft above msl.
• Water conveyance systems (i) Ward Tunnel, about 12.8 miles long, conveys water from Florence Lake to Huntington Lake (Huntington Lake is a component of FERC Project No. 2175) and has a conveyance capacity of about 1,760 cubic feet per second (cfs). The tunnel receives water from Florence Lake, Mono Creek, Bear Creek, the small tributaries discussed above, and the East and West Forks of Camp 61 Creek (via Portal Forebay, a component of the Portal Project, (FERC Project No. 2174); (ii) Mono-Bear Siphon, about 1.6 miles of flowline from Mono Diversion and 1.4 miles of flowline and tunnel from Bear Creek Diversion connect at the Mono-Bear Wye and continues for about 2.6 miles through a combined flowline/siphon, conveys water from the Mono and Bear diversions to Ward Tunnel. The Mono Tunnel and Bear Tunnel have conveyance capacities of 450 cfs each and the combined flowline/siphon has a conveyance capacity of about 650 cfs; (iii) Huntington-Pitman-Shaver Conduit, also known as Tunnel No. 7, conveys water from Huntington Lake and the Pitman Creek Diversion to Shaver Lake through either North Fork Stevenson Creek or through Balsam Forebay and the Eastwood Power Station. Tunnel No. 7 is about 5.4 miles long and terminates at Gate No. 2 tunnel outlet located on North Fork Stevenson Creek upstream of Shaver Lake. The Balsam Diversion Tunnel is about 1.1 miles long and branches off Tunnel No. 7 about 1,200 ft upstream of the Gate No. 2 outlet, connecting to Balsam Forebay; (iv) Eastwood Power Station and Tailrace Tunnels, which convey water from Balsam Forebay through the Eastwood Power Station to Shaver Lake. The Eastwood Power Station Tunnel is about 1 mile long. The Tailrace Tunnel is about 1.4 miles long. The conveyance capacity of the tunnels is about 2,500 cfs. (v) Tunnel No. 5, about 2.6 miles long, conveys water from Shaver Lake to Big Creek Powerhouse No. 2A and has a conveyance capacity of about 650 cfs. (vi) Tunnel No. 8, about 1 mile long, conveys water from the Dam No. 5 Impoundment just downstream of Powerhouse 2/2A to Powerhouse No. 8, has a conveyance capacity of about 1,173 cfs.
• Transmission line (i) Eastwood Power Station—Big Creek 1 Transmission Line, which connects Eastwood Power Station to a non-Project switchyard at Big Creek Powerhouse No. 1. This transmission line is about 4.7 miles long, and is a 220 kV line.

m. 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 three digits in the docket number field to access the document. For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or toll free at (866) 208-3676, or for TTY, contact (202) 502-8659. A copy is also available for inspection and reproduction at the address in item h above.

All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title “COMMENTS,” “REPLY COMMENTS,” “RECOMMENDATIONS,” “FINAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS,” or “PRESCRIPTIONS;” (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 submitting the filing; and (4) otherwise comply with the requirements of 18 CFR 385.2001 through 385.2005. All comments, recommendations, final terms and conditions, or prescriptions must set forth their evidentiary basis and otherwise comply with the requirements of 18 CFR 4.34(b). Agencies may obtain copies of the application directly from the applicant. Each filing must be accompanied by proof of service on all persons listed in the service list prepared by the Commission in this proceeding, in accordance with 18 CFR 4.34(b) and 385.2010.

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. A license applicant must file not later than 60 days following the date of issuance of this notice: (1) A copy of the water quality certification; (2) a copy of the request for certification, including proof of the date on which the certifying agency received the request; or (3) evidence of waiver of water quality certification.

o. Procedural schedule: The application will be processed according to the following Hydro Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the schedule will be made if the Commission determines it necessary to do so: