Notice of Availability of Guidance and Application for Hydroelectric Incentive Program, 73268-73269 [2021-27915]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 245 (Monday, December 27, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73268-73269]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-27915]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Availability of Guidance and Application for 
Hydroelectric Incentive Program

AGENCY: Water Power Technologies Office, Office of Energy Efficiency 
and Renewable Energy, Department of Energy.


ACTION: Notice of availability of guidance and open application period.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) gives notice of updated 
guidance for the Energy Policy Act of 2005 program. The guidance 
describes the hydroelectric incentive payment requirements and explains 
the type of information that owners or authorized operators of 
qualified hydroelectric facilities must provide DOE when applying for 
hydroelectric incentive payments. The hydroelectric incentive payments 
are a benefit available for electric energy generated and sold for a 
specified 10-year period as authorized under the Energy Policy Act of 
2005. In Congressional appropriations for Federal fiscal year 2021, DOE 
received funds to support this hydroelectric incentive program. At this 
time, DOE is only accepting applications from owners and authorized 
operators of qualified hydroelectric facilities for hydroelectricity 
generated and sold in calendar year 2020.

DATES: DOE is currently accepting applications from December 27, 2021 
through February 10, 2022. Applications must be sent to 
[email protected] by midnight EDT, February 10, 2022, or they 
will not be considered timely filed for calendar year 2020 incentive 
payments.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are to submit applications electronically 
to [email protected]. DOE's December 2021 Guidance is available 
at: https://www.energy.gov/eere/water/water-power-funding-opportunities.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions may be addressed to Mr. 
Corey Vezina, U.S. Department of Energy, Golden Field Office, 15013 
Denver West Parkway, Golden, CO 80401, (240) 562-1382 or by email at 
[email protected]. Further instruction can be found in the 
December 2021 Guidance posted at https://www.energy.gov/eere/water/water-power-funding-opportunities. Electronic communications are 
recommended for correspondence and required for submission of 
application information.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In section 242 of the Energy Policy Act of 
2005 (EPAct 2005; Pub. L. 109-58), as amended by section 3005(a) of the 
Energy Act of 2020 (Energy Act 2020; Pub. L. 116-260), Congress 
established a program to support the expansion of hydropower energy 
development at existing dams and impoundments through an incentive 
payment procedure for eligible facilities (section 242), codified at 42 
U.S.C. 15881. Congress amended section 242 in the Energy Act of 2020 
(Pub. L. 116-260) by expanding the eligibility window and amending the 
definition of a qualified hydroelectric facility. The Infrastructure

[[Page 73269]]

Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (Pub. L. 117-58) made further 
amendments to section 242.
    Section 242 directs the Secretary to provide incentive payments to 
the owners or authorized operators of hydroelectric generation 
facilities in accordance with specific statutory instructions. The 
Secretary is directed to issue incentive payments, subject to the 
availability of appropriations, for hydroelectric energy generated and 
sold by a qualified hydroelectric facility during the incentive period. 
Incentive payments may only be made upon receipt by the Secretary of an 
incentive payment application that demonstrates that the applicant is 
eligible to receive such payment and satisfies other requirements as 
the Secretary deems necessary (42 U.S.C. 15881(a)) In FY 2021, Congress 
appropriated to DOE $7,000,000 for this purpose.
    The Secretary may only issue payments for the electric energy 
generated and sold by a qualified hydroelectric facility that began 
operations during the period of 22 fiscal years beginning after the 
first fiscal year occurring after the program's enactment, August 8, 
2005 (42 U.S.C. 15881(c)). A qualified hydroelectric facility may 
receive payments for a period of 10 consecutive fiscal years, known as 
the incentive period, which begins with the fiscal year that electric 
energy generated from the facility is first eligible for such payments 
(42 U.S.C. 15881(d)). Payments made by the Secretary are to be based on 
the number of kilowatt hours of hydroelectric energy generated by the 
facility during the incentive period. The amount of such payment shall 
be 1.8 cents per kilowatt hour (as adjusted by the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986), subject to the availability of appropriations, except 
that no facility may receive more than $1,000,000 in one calendar year 
(42 U.S.C. 15881(e)). No payments will be made after the expiration of 
the period of 32 fiscal years beginning with the first full fiscal year 
occurring after August 8, 2005, and no payment may be made under this 
section to any such facility after a payment has been made with respect 
to such facility for a period of 10 fiscal years (42 U.S.C. 15881(f)). 
The Secretary is authorized to carry out the purposes of this program 
for each of the fiscal years of 2021 through 2036 (42 U.S.C. 15881(g)).
    In section 242, Congress defines a qualified hydroelectric facility 
to mean ``a turbine or other generating device owned or solely operated 
by a non-Federal entity--(A) that generates hydroelectric energy for 
sale; and (B)(i) that is added to an existing dam or conduit; or 
(ii)(I) that has generating capacity of not more than 20 megawatts; 
(II) for which the non-Federal entity has received a construction 
authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, if 
applicable; and (III) that is constructed in an area in which there is 
inadequate electric service, as determined by the Secretary, including 
by taking into consideration--(aa) access to the electric grid; (bb) 
the frequency of electric outages; or (cc) the affordability of 
electricity'' (42 U.S.C. 15881(b)(1)).
    Additionally, Congress defined an existing dam or conduit to mean 
any dam or conduit constructed and completed before August 8, 2005 and 
does not require any construction or enlargement of impoundment or 
diversion structures, other than repair or reconstruction, in 
connection with the installation of a turbine or other generating 
device (42 U.S.C. 15881(b)(2)). The term conduit maintains the same 
meaning here as when used in section 30(a)(2) of the Federal Power Act 
(16 U.S.C. 823a(a)(3)(A)) (42 U.S.C. 15881(b)(3)).
    Further, these defined terms apply without regard to the 
hydroelectric kilowatt capacity of the facility, without regard to 
whether the facility uses a dam owned by a governmental or 
nongovernmental entity, and without regard to whether the facility 
begins operation on or after the date August 8, 2005 (42 U.S.C. 
15881(b)).
    Recently DOE made updates to clarify its Guidance for the Energy 
Policy Act of 2005 section 242 program. The December 2021 Guidance is 
available at: https://www.energy.gov/eere/water/water-power-funding-opportunities. Each application will be reviewed based on the Guidance. 
The updates made to the Guidance involve edits to clarify the 
definition of existing and new terms, eligibility window and incentive 
period, incentive payment calculations, application content 
requirements, and the duration of payments available to generation 
facilities.
    DOE notes that applicants that received incentive payments for 
prior calendar years must submit a new and complete application 
addressing all eligibility requirements for hydroelectricity generated 
and sold in calendar year 2020. DOE will not consider previously 
submitted application materials. Applications that refer to previous 
application materials or statements in lieu of submitting current 
information will not be considered. As authorized under section 242 of 
EPAct 2005, and as explained in the Guidance, DOE also notes that it 
will only accept applications from qualified hydroelectric facilities 
that began operations at an existing dam or conduit between October 1, 
2005, and September 30, 2027.
    When submitting information to DOE for the section 242 program, it 
is recommended that applicants carefully read and review the completed 
content of the Guidance for this process. When reviewing applications, 
DOE may corroborate the information provided with information that DOE 
finds through FERC e-filings, contact with power off-taker, and other 
due diligence measure carried out by reviewing officials. DOE may 
require the applicant to conduct and submit an independent audit at its 
own expense, or DOE may conduct an audit to verify the number of 
kilowatt-hours claimed to have been generated and sold by the qualified 
hydroelectric facility and for which an incentive payment has been 
requested or made.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on December 
15, 2021, by Jennifer Garson, Acting Director, Water Power Technologies 
Office, pursuant to delegated authority from the Secretary of Energy. 
That document with the original signature and date is maintained by 
DOE. For administrative purposes only, and in compliance with 
requirements of the Office of the Federal Register, the undersigned DOE 
Federal Register Liaison Officer has been authorized to sign and submit 
the document in electronic format for publication, as an official 
document of the Department of Energy. This administrative process in no 
way alters the legal effect of this document upon publication in the 
Federal Register.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on December 20, 2021.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2021-27915 Filed 12-23-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P