HomeMy WebLinkAbout01.14.26 Board Correspondence - FW_ Compliance Directives issued in FERC P-803-000From: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:Nuzum, Danielle; Loeser, Kamie
Subject:Board Correspondence - FW: Compliance Directives issued in FERC P-803-000
Date:Wednesday, January 14, 2026 4:31:20 PM
Please see Board Correspondence -
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Subject: Compliance Directives issued in FERC P-803-000
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On 1/14/2026, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Washington D.C., issued this document:
Docket(s): P-803-000
Lead Applicant: Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Filing Type: Compliance Directives
General Correspondence
Delegated Order
Description: Letter in response to filing of the Revised Comprehensive Assessment Part 12D Inspection Plan and Independent Consultant Team Proposal for the Philbrook Dam, part of
the DeSabla Centerville Hydroelectric 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=20260114-
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FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION
Office of Energy Projects
Division of Dam Safety and Inspections
888 First Street, NE Routing Code: PJ-13
Washington, DC 20426
(202) 502-6314 Office
January 14, 2026
In reply refer to:
P-803-CA
VIA FERC Service
Mr. Russell Cruzen, P.E., Director
Power Generation, Asset Excellence
Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) Company
300 Lakeside Dr.
Oakland, CA 94612-3534
Subject: Revised Part 12D Inspection Plan and Independent Consultant Team Proposal,
2026 Comprehensive Assessment, Philbrook Dam.
Dear Mr. Cruzen:
This is in response to your December 18, 2025, letter that submitted the revised
Part 12D Inspection Plan (Inspection Plan) for the Comprehensive Assessment (CA) of
Philbrook Dam, which is part of the DeSabla Centerville Hydroelectric Project, FERC
No. 803. We have reviewed the information provided and the revised Inspection Plan
adequately addresses the comments contained in our November 24, 2025 letter, except
for comment No. 1.c as noted below.
Comment No. 1.c requested documentation demonstrating how Dr. Kathleen
Darby, proposed as PFMA/L2RA facilitator, fulfils the requirements of Section 17-4.3.3
of Chapter 17 of the Commission’s Engineering Guidelines for the Evaluation of
Hydropower Projects (Guidelines). To address this comment, the revised Inspection Plan
provides additional information on the experience qualifications of Dr. Darby and
proposes Mr. Jay Griffin as PFMA/L2RA co-facilitator. We have the following
comments on the information provided:
1. The revised Inspection Plan indicates that Dr. Darby has 7 years of consulting
experience and 4 years of research experience in geotechnical earthquake
engineering. It is our understanding that most of her research experience was used
to pursue postgraduate degrees. It is our judgment that time spent pursuing
Document Accession #: 20260114-3094 Filed Date: 01/14/2026
2
academic degrees does not contribute to the minimum experience requirements of
a facilitator provided in Chapter 17 of the Guidelines. Therefore, Dr. Darby does
not meet the minimum of 10 years of dam safety experience required for a
facilitator per the Guidelines and is not approved as a PFMA/L2RA facilitator.
2. Mr. Jay Griffin’s resume indicates that he has the required risk facilitator training
and fulfils the requirements of Section 17-4.3.3 and Section 18-5.3 of Chapters 17
and 18, respectively, of the Guidelines, and is thus accepted in the PFMA/L2RA
facilitator role. It should be noted that FERC is not currently enforcing the project
risk analysis experience requirements included in Section 18-5.3 of Chapter 18 of
the Guidelines.
Per 18 CFR § 12.34(a), you are required to obtain the approval of the Independent
Consultant (IC) Team from the Director, Division of Dam Safety and Inspections, prior
to the performance of this Comprehensive Assessment. This letter constitutes approval of
the Inspection Plan and the IC Team by the Director, Dam Safety and Inspections. The
approved IC Team consists of Dr. Christopher Hunt as IC, and Mr. Rick Poeppelman,
Dr. Michael George, Mr. James Barbis, Dr. Christie Hale, and Ms. Stephanie Owen as IC
Team members (each of them accepted in our previous letter), and Mr. Jay Griffin as
PFMA/L2RA facilitator (accepted in comment No. 2 above).
If there is any change to the composition of the IC Team accepted above, then a
response to this letter is required to request approval of the IC Team by the Director,
Dam Safety and Inspections. Otherwise, no response will be required to this letter; the
Pre-Inspection Preparation Report (PIPR) will be the next submittal due for this Part 12D
Inspection. File your submittal using the Commission’s eFiling system at
https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/overview using one of the following options:
• IC Team composition changes – Make the following menu selections during
eFiling: Hydro: Dam Safety; Washington, DC; and Independent Consultant
Approval Request. Changes to the accepted IC Team must be submitted within
30 days of the date of this letter.
• PIPR – Make the following menu selections during eFiling: Hydro: Dam Safety;
San Francisco Regional Office. The PIPR must be submitted at least 30 days in
advance of the first IC Team activity as described in 18 CFR § 12.42, which
makes it due no later than March 21, 2026. You may submit the PIPR earlier than
that, if preferred. As stated in the revised Inspection Plan, the PIPR is scheduled to
be filed by March 21, 2026.
The cover page of the filing must indicate that the material was eFiled. For
assistance with eFiling, contact FERC Online Support at FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov,
(866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-8659 (TTY).
Document Accession #: 20260114-3094 Filed Date: 01/14/2026
3
Thank you for your continued cooperation and interest in dam safety. If you have
any questions, please contact me at (202) 502-6740 or carlos.zambrano@ferc.gov.
Sincerely,
Carlos Zambrano, P.E.
Senior Civil Engineer
Division of Dam Safety and Inspections
Document Accession #: 20260114-3094 Filed Date: 01/14/2026
CARLOS
ZAMBRAN
O NARVAEZ
Digitally signed by
CARLOS ZAMBRANO
NARVAEZ
Date: 2026.01.14
14:22:57 -05'00'
Document Content(s)
P-803 Philbrook Revised CA Plan Review.pdf................................1
Document Accession #: 20260114-3094 Filed Date: 01/14/2026