Document - Review of the Economics of Restoring Hydropower at Enloe Dam on the Similkameen River

Abstract

On August 22, 2008, the Public Utility District No. 1 of Okanogan County (PUD or Applicant) filed its Final License Application for the Enloe Project with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). In its initial statement the Applicant stated: "It is considered economically feasible to redevelop the project with new generating facilities on the east bank, opposite to the original project location." This report clearly demonstrates that this statement is flawed and that in fact the project is not economically feasible. Further, the report shows that the Enloe project, if built, will lose at least $26 on every Megawatt-hour (MWh) that it generates. Due to a combination of raising construction costs, decreasing open-market energy prices, and an inappropriately inflated forecast of project generation value, the current application, now more than three years old and with many of its key assumptions a year older than that, is far from economic or "the best use of an aging asset."

Description

Economic analysis of Okanogan PUD Final License Application to develop hydropower at the Enloe Dam.

Document Information

Filename - Review of the Economics of Restoring Hydropower at Enloe Dam on the Similkameen River981.pdf

Size - 1.29MB

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