HomeMy WebLinkAbout11.26.25 Board Correspondence - FW_ Delegated Order issued in FERC P-803-121From:Clerk of the Board
To:Clerk of the Board; Connelly, Bill; Cook, Holly; Cook, Robin; Durfee, Peter; Jessee, Meegan; Kimmelshue, Tod; Kitts, Melissa; Krater, Sharleen; Lee, Lewis; Little, Melissa; Pickett, Andy;
Ritter, Tami; Stephens, Brad J.; Sweeney, Kathleen; Teeter, Doug; Zepeda, Elizabeth
Cc:Loeser, Kamie; Nuzum, Danielle
Subject:Board Correspondence - FW: Delegated Order issued in FERC P-803-121
Date:Wednesday, November 26, 2025 12:15:54 PM
Please see Board Correspondence -
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Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2025 8:56 AM
Subject: Delegated Order issued in FERC P-803-121
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On 11/26/2025, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Washington D.C., issued this document:
Docket(s): P-803-121
Lead Applicant: Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Filing Type: Delegated Order
Description: Order Granting Extension of Time to File Butte Creek Fisheries Mitigation Plan re Pacific Gas and Electric Company's DeSabla-Centerville Project under P-803.
To view the document for this Issuance, click here https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/filelist?accession_num=20251126-
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION
Pacific Gas and Electric Company Project No 803-121
ORDER GRANTING EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE BUTTE CREEK FISHERIES
MITIGATION PLAN
(Issued November 26,2025)
1.On September 18, 2025, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (licensee)filed a
request for an extension of time to file a Butte Creek Fisheries Mitigation Plan (Plan)
with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) for the DeSabla-
Centerville Project No. 803. The project is located on Butte Creek, West Branch Feather
River, and their tributaries in Butte County, California. The project occupies lands of the
United States within Lassen National Forest administered by the U.S. Forest Service and
Bureau of Land Management.
2.On August 9, 2023, the project’s Butte Canal was breached when the licensee
increased flows diverted to the Canal from Butte Creek Diversion Dam. As a result of
the breach, approximately 6,700 cubic yards of debris entered Butte Creek from a newly
formed channel spurring off the Canal. Between November 29, 2023, and November 18,
2024, Commission staff investigated the incident, which ultimately culminated in a
November 18, 2024, letter, in which the Commission found the licensee in violation of
the project license. The Commission’s November 18, 2024, letter required multiple
follow-up actions to address the adverse environmental effects of the failure, including
the development of a Butte Creek Fisheries Mitigation Plan (Plan). The Plan must
contain provisions to mitigate for the loss of federally-listed Central Valley (CV)spring-
run Chinook salmon. Mitigative actions may include habitat improvement, fish stocking,
fish passage improvements, funding for habitat improvement projects or broodstock
rearing, or other similar measures. The Plan must be developed in consultation with the
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and California Department of Fish and
Wildlife (California DFW) (collectively, agencies)and filed with the Commission no
later than February 17, 2025. On February 19, 2025, the licensee provided an update on
the development of the Plan, indicating that it was actively coordinating with the agencies
on its development and would file the final Plan with the Commission by June 18, 2025.
This deadline was extended to September 18, 2025, by the Commission’s August 14,
2025, Order Granting Extension of Time.
3.The licensee is requesting an extension of time until January 31, 2026, to file the
Plan with the Commission. The licensee states that it has been consulting extensively
with the agencies on the Plan since its previous extension request and all parties agree
Document Accession #: 20251126-3056 Filed Date: 11/26/2025
Project No. 803-121 2
that a captive broodstock program is an acceptable means of mitigation; however, it and
the agencies are struggling to come to a consensus on the details and scope of the
program. Therefore, the licensee requests additional time to resolve the differences in
opinion, arrive at a mutually agreeable approach for a captive broodstock program and
develop a Plan.
4. The licensee is continuing to make progress on developing the Plan and an
extension would afford it and the agencies additional time to come to a consensus on the
most appropriate captive broodstock program for the Butte Creek fishery following the
2023 canal failure. The licensee’s request should be approved. As an aside, the licensee
filed its extension request on the date the Plan was due. In the future, it should file any
extension of time requests before the requisite deadline.
The Director orders:
(A)Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (licensee) request to extend the
deadline for filing a Butte Creek Fishery Mitigation Plan (Plan) for the DeSabla-
Centerville Project No. 803, filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(Commission) on September 18, 2025,is approved. The new deadline for filing the Plan
is January 31, 2026.
(B)This order constitutes final agency action.Any party may file a request for
rehearing of this order within 30 days from the date of its issuance, as provided in section
313(a) of the Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. § 825l, and the Commission’s regulations at
18 C.F.R. § 385.713 (2025).The filing of a request for rehearing does not operate as a
stay of the effective date of this order, or of any other date specified in this order. The
licensee’s failure to file a request for rehearing shall constitute acceptance of this order.
Andrea Claros
Chief, Aquatic Resources Branch
Division of Hydropower Administration
and Compliance
Document Accession #: 20251126-3056 Filed Date: 11/26/2025
Document Content(s)
P-803 Butte Creek Fisheries Mitigation Plan Nov2025 EOT.docx..............1
Document Accession #: 20251126-3056 Filed Date: 11/26/2025