Wells Hydroelectric Project FERC License No. 2149

Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County (Douglas PUD) owns and operates the Wells Hydroelectric Project (Wells Project). The original license to construct and operate the Project was issued on July 12, 1962 by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), with a term that expired on May 31, 2012. Douglas PUD utilized the FERC’s Integrated Licensing Process to relicense the Wells Project. Following more than five years of relicensing related studies, reports, meetings, and settlement activities, Douglas PUD filed its final license application with the FERC on May 27, 2010. This was more than two years prior to the expiration of the original license.
On November 9, 2012, the FERC issued an order granting Douglas PUD a new 40-year license to continue operating the Wells Project with a new expiration date of November 1, 2052. Subsequent to FERC’s order issuing the new license, FERC has issued various orders that clarified, amended, and modified the terms and conditions contained within the new license.
Below are links to the various FERC orders, amendments, and many supporting documents referenced throughout the new license. A complete set of documents supporting the final license application and FERC’s issuance of the new license can be found at the Historic ILP Website.
- Final License Order – November 9, 2012
- 401 Certification
- Incidental Take Permits
- FEDERAL POWER ACT SECTION 18 – Fishway Prescription (16 USC §§ 811)
The Commission shall require the construction, maintenance, and operation by a licensee at its own expense fishways as may be prescribed by the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of the Interior. These prescribed conditions are automatically required to be included into the license issued by the Commission.