A view of Ross Lake (Photo credit: Bonnie Decker)
Project Description
Seattle City Light is in the process of relicensing the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project. The project is a series of three dams that provide 20% of City Light’s power, and it is licensed under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The current license expires in 2025.
Renewing the license also means reviewing the safety, cost, environmental, and cultural impacts of the continued operation of the project. Between 2020 and 2023, we will collaborate with local partners to develop an application for a new license that will last for the next 30-50 years. The license will include requirements around protecting the environment and the culture of the watershed.
Clean, Carbon-Free Electricity
Renewing our federal operating license will allow City Light’s Skagit Project to continue producing clean, carbon-free energy while also safeguarding the cultural and natural resources in the area.
Under the new license, City Light will:
- Adapt to changing climate conditions and customer demand.
- Continue to work with partners to protect and improve natural and cultural resources.
- Optimize power generation and non-power benefits like flood control, downstream fish habitat protection, and recreation.
- Use cutting-edge science to protect resources and mitigate for project effects.
- Identify opportunities to reduce electricity costs for City Light customers.
Key Milestones in the Relicensing Process
An important part of getting a new license is studying the impacts of the hydroelectric dams within the Skagit Project area.
City Light is working with 38 partner organizations and consulting parties—including federal and state agencies, Indian tribes, and non-governmental organizations—to gather information needed to ensure the protection of natural and cultural resources within the Skagit Project area for the duration of the new license. Some studies began during the summer of 2020, and others are still being planned. The studies required for the FERC process must be completed by 2023; however, City Light plans will also be informed by dam-impact studies that happen outside FERC’s timelines.
We will be performing:
- Recreation studies to evaluate how visitors use the area around the project for boating, hiking, and other outdoor activities.
- Fisheries and aquatics studies to evaluate habitat for Pacific salmon, steelhead and bull trout. This helps us determine the timing and amount of water to release from dams in order to protect adult salmon when they are spawning and young fish when they emerge from their eggs. Studies also evaluate water quality of the Skagit River to support fish and wildlife downstream.
- Cultural resource studies to inventory and record historic buildings, archaeological sites, and traditional cultural places that may be vulnerable.
- Wildlife and botanical studies to assess the condition of habitat for sensitive wildlife species and for rare and culturally important plant species. These studies will help us understand how best to protect these species.
Latest News
On April 7, 2021, City Light will submit to FERC a description of the approximately 30 studies it plans to do. This is called a Revised Study Plan (RSP) because it has been expanded based on the stakeholder input received on the Proposed Study Plan (submitted in December 2020).
Studies in the RSP will exceed FERC requirements, and the knowledge gained will help City Light be better stewards of the Skagit watershed. FERC may make requests or suggestions to the study plan before it is finalized, and any additional changes will be included in the Draft License Application that is submitted in 2022.
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April 06, 2021 at 08:05AM
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Relicensing the Skagit Hydroelectric Project - City Light | seattle.gov - SPD Blotter
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