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Applegate is eyed for power plant Federal permit sought to look into possibility By PAUL FATTIG A hydropower firm has applied for a preliminary permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to look into the feasibility of building a hydropower plant at Applegate Dam. Symbiotics LLC, a subsidiary of Northwest Power Services Inc., based in Rigby, Idaho, and Ecosystem Research Institute in Logan, Utah, want to retrofit the dam to produce about 12 megawatts of electricity. Built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1980, the dam, on the Applegate River about 20 miles south of Medford, currently has no hydropower capacity. "The price of energy has made it economical now to look at a project of this kind," said Hart Evans, a spokesman for ERI. "We started looking at a lot of different dams this year to see what the potential is for hydropower plants." Applegate Dam is one of more than 100 dams for which the firm has filed preliminary permit applications in the Pacific Northwest, including Savage Rapids Dam on the Rogue River just upstream from Grants Pass, Evans said. The permit application for Savage Rapids hasn't reached the same stage as the Applegate Dam permit, he added. Northwest Power and ERI, which he described as an environmental consulting firm, have been working jointly on power projects for 25 years, Evans said. Symbiotics was launched early this year to focus exclusively on hydropower, he said. The permit application for the project proposes an intake structure, a 100-foot-long, 10-foot-diameter steel penstock, two generators with a total capacity of 12 megawatts, a 11/2-mile transmission line and related facilities. A megawatt is roughly enough electricity to power 1,000 homes or small businesses simultaneously. If granted, a permit would give the firm three years to study the project, said FERC spokeswoman Celeste Miller in Washington, D.C. "It does not authorize any construction," Miller said. "If an applicant determines at the end of the permit period that they want to develop the project, then they would have to file for a license." FERC is seeking public comments on the proposal by July 10. Comments should be sent to: David P. Boergers, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St., N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426. Comments should include the project number P-11910-000. Applegate Dam was one of three Rogue Basin dams authorized by Congress in 1962. The other two include the Lost Creek Dam on the main stem of the Rogue River near Trail and the mothballed Elk Creek Dam on Elk Creek. Primary authorized purposes of the Applegate Dam were for flood control, fish and wildlife enhancement, municipal and industrial water, irrigation, water quality control and recreation, according to Corps spokeswoman Dawn Edwards. In addition to those purposes, Lost Creek Dam was built to produce hydropower, and can generate up to 49 megawatts, Edwards said. That power is sold to the Bonneville Power Administration, she said. If the preliminary permit is granted for Applegate Dam, the firm would study the engineering plans and potential environmental impact, Evans said. "With today's technology, as much as 90 percent of the energy from the water going through produces energy," Evans said. "With fossil fuels, the energy efficiency is less than 50 percent. "It's an added value to the water," he added. "We believe any environmental concerns can be mitigated." The electricity would be sold to a power company, he said. With less than 3 percent of the more than 75,000 dams in the nation currently generating electricity, there is ample potential to create clean power from stored water, he said. "We're looking at existing dams that we can retrofit," he said. "We're not interested in being a power provider, just providing a service." Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.