HomeMy WebLinkAbout04.24.26 Board Correspondence - FW_ Delegated Order issued in FERC P-619-180From: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; Cannon, Jamie
Subject:Board Correspondence - FW: Delegated Order issued in FERC P-619-180
Date:Friday, April 24, 2026 8:06:18 AM
Please see Board Correspondence -
Lewis Lee
Administrative Technician - Confidential
Butte County Administration
25 County Center Drive, Suite 200 • Oroville, CA 95965
T: 530.552.3326
www.buttecounty.ca.gov | lelee@buttecounty.ca.gov
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Sent: Friday, April 24, 2026 7:06 AM
Subject: Delegated Order issued in FERC P-619-180
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On 4/24/2026, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Washington D.C., issued this document:
Docket(s): P-619-180
Lead Applicant: Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Filing Type: Delegated Order
Description: Order Granting Extension of Time to Continue Implementation of Dewatering and Diversion Plan re the City of Santa Clara, California's et al. Bucks Creek Hydroelectric Project under P-619.
To view the document for this Issuance, click here https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/filelist?accession_num=20260424-
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION
City of Santa Clara, California Project No. 619-180
Pacific Gas & Electric Company
ORDER GRANTING EXTENSION OF TIME
TO CONTINUE IMPLEMENTATION OF DEWATERING AND DIVERSION PLAN
(Issued April 24, 2026)
1. On April 8, 2026, the City of Santa Clara, California and Pacific Gas & Electric
Company, licensees for the Bucks Creek Hydroelectric Project No. 619,1 filed an
extension of time request to continue implementation of the Dewatering and Diversion
Plan (Plan) for the lower Bucks Dam spillway modifications. The project consists of the
Bucks Creek and Grizzly Creek developments and is located on the North Fork Feather
River and Bucks, Grizzly, and Milk Ranch creeks in Plumas County, California. The
project occupies federal land within the Plumas National Forest administered by the U.S.
Forest Service.
Background
2. Article 401(b) of the license requires the licensees to file a Plan prior to any
construction activities requiring water diversion or work below the high-water mark. The
licensees filed a Plan on March 28, 2024 related to construction at the lower Bucks Dam
spillway. Commission staff approved this Plan, with modifications, on May 3, 2024.2
As approved, the Plan was effective through the 2024 and 2025 construction seasons.
3. The Plan included a provision to install a temporary bypass pipe fitted to the
existing low-level outlet that would release the minimum flows required by condition
1 Pacific Gas and Electric Company and City of Santa Clara, 179 FERC ¶ 61,202
(2022), order on reh’g, 180 FERC ¶ 61,177 (2022).
2 Pacific Gas and Electric Company and the City of Santa Clara, California, 187
FERC ¶ 62,081 (2024). Commission staff modified the Plan to incorporate conditions
developed by the California State Water Resources Control Board (California Water
Board) during consultation with the licensees. These include relocation of stranded fish,
turbidity monitoring, cessation of construction activities in the event of an exceedance of
state turbidity standards, and reports documenting the above listed activities following
each construction season.
Project No. 619-180 2
no. 1 of the California Water Board’s water quality certificate.3 Condition 1 requires the
licensees to monitor flow compliance at gage NF82, located at the low-level outlet.
However, use of the bypass pipe requires the licensees to temporarily use an alternative
gage (NF118, located approximately 150 feet below the dam) to monitor flow
compliance. Use of this alternative compliance gage during construction was approved
as a component of the Plan.
Licensees’ Request
4. In their April 8, 2026 filing, the licensees state they were unable to complete
spillway modifications during the 2025 construction season and expect to continue
construction activities on May 1, 2026, with a scheduled return to normal operation in
mid-November 2026. As a result, the licensees request the term of the Plan also be
extended to coincide with the planned construction period. The licensees further explain
that because the diversion pipeline would continue to carry the minimum flow around the
construction site, they request that they be allowed to continue using gage NF118 as the
minimum flow compliance point during construction for consistency of monitoring and
reporting.
5. The licensees requested authorization from the California Water Board to extend
the duration of the Plan on October 29, 2025. By letter dated April 8, 2026 and included
in the licensees’ filing, the California Water Board approved the licensees’ request to
continue the spillway modification project and use of gage NF118 for compliance
monitoring into 2026 on the condition that they implement the fish salvage, turbidity
monitoring, and reporting requirements mandated during initial consultation on the Plan.
Review and Conclusion
6. The licensees’ request adequately explains the need to continue implementation of
the Plan into 2026 and was filed in a timely manner. The extension request is justified
and should be approved.
7. The California Water Board made its approval of the extension contingent upon
the licensees complying with the existing conditions. The modifications made to the Plan
by Commission staff upon its approval are consistent with the California Water Board’s
conditions. Therefore, this order will continue to require the licensees to comply with
those modifications to perform fish salvage, conduct turbidity monitoring, cease
construction if turbidity thresholds are exceeded, and provide reports as identified in
ordering paragraphs (B), (C), and (D) of the May 3, 2024 approval order.
3 The WQC is attached to the license as Appendix A.
Project No. 619-180 3
The Director orders:
(A) The City of Santa Clara, California and Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s
April 8, 2026 request to continue implementation of the Dewatering and Diversion Plan
originally filed on March 28, 2024 is approved, effective until November 15, 2026.
(B) The licensees must comply with the requirements of ordering paragraphs
(B), (C), and (D) of Commission staff’s May 3, 2024 Order Modifying and Approving
Dewatering and Diversion Plan Under Article 401(B) for the Bucks Creek Project
No. 619 during and following the 2026 construction season.
(C) 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
licensees’ failure to file a request for rehearing shall constitute acceptance of this order.
Kelly Houff
Chief, Engineering Resources Branch
Division of Hydropower Administration
and Compliance