On January 19, 2005, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rejected Green Island Power Authority's (GIPA) bid for a preliminary permit to construct a new dam on the Mohawk River in upstate New York. P-12522 (also known as the Cohoes Falls project) would consist of a 20-foot dam above Cohoes Falls and a powerhouse below the falls.
Why did FERC reject this small first step in licensing a new project? Because the Cohoes Falls project would have been located only half a mile downstream from another hydropower dam called School Street (FERC Project No. P-2539). School Street is built with the same power generation design, only smaller - the dam is only 16 feet high. GIPA's Cohoes Falls project would have created a reservoir that inundated the School Street dam, rendering it inoperable.
Under the Federal Power Act, FERC cannot issue contradictory licenses. In other words, if FERC authorizes one project under a given set of terms, it cannot authorize a second project that would conflict with the terms of the first project. This case, however, was somewhat unique because of timing and politics.
School Street was one of several licenses in New York that expired in 1993. The New York water quality agency refused to permit them all at once, instead setting up a schedule for dealing with each license in turn through settlement negotiations. School Street was the last project on this list. Because project negotiations began nearly a decade after the original license had expired, and because FERC cannot issue a license without state water quality certification, School Street has been operating on annual licenses since 1993. The settlement team expects to reach a settlement soon.
GIPA, a quasi-governmental agency, argued that since the School Street relicensing process has taken intolerably long, and since GIPA's proposal has far more public benefit, FERC should waive its constricting regulations, terminate the School Street license, and authorize GIPA to start the licensing process.
GIPA's proposal also had the support of some big names. Senators Clinton and Schumer wrote letters supporting the proposal; Congressman McNulty appeared before the FERC Commissioners to voice his support for the Cohoes Falls project.
Ultimately, FERC refused the permit. In its order, FERC determined that the Federal Power Act - a law which FERC does not have the authority to waive - both prohibits a new license application from being filed at the project (more than 13 years after the deadline for such applications had passed) and prevents the Commission from issuing a license that would constitute revocation or alteration of the School Street Project's existing license. The order also cites FERC's existing regulations and precedents.
Read the FERC Order.