The answer is yes (read more)
In 2018, the City of Crystal Falls approached Mead & Hunt to request a proposal to renew its Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license for its Crystal Falls Hydroelectric Project in the Menominee River Basin in Michigan. The license was set to expire in 2025. Mead & Hunt was aware of nine other hydroelectric projects in the Menominee Basin that had license expiration dates of July 31st, 2040. Therefore, Mead & Hunt recommended we help the City request a license extension before they start the long and expensive renewal process.
On June 12th, 2019, the City of Crystal Falls filed a license extension application with the FERC to request a 15-year extension of its license expiration until July 31st, 2040.
On September 22nd, 2020, the FERC issued an Order to extend the existing 30-year license by 15 years. The same Order also granted an extension of 6 years and 3 years for two other projects in the same river basin. All three licenses now have an expiration date of July 31st, 2040.
In the Order, the Commission reiterated its policy of amending license terms to align license expiration dates of projects in the same river basin. This avoids excessive delay in the relicensing process and improves assessment of cumulative impacts at relicensing.
The Order also found the alignment of license expirations would allow for cooperative data gathering and provide economies of scale during future relicensing processes. It concluded the project licenses currently contained sufficient measures to protect environmental resources and maintain recreation opportunities. It also found that the extensions would not alter any current license conditions. It would also make it easier for stakeholders to participate in common issues during future relicensing. The Commission did not find significant impacts that required action in the near future.
The discussion in the Order concludes by saying the number of projects involved in coordinating the license expiration dates makes the length of the extensions reasonable.
