As previously reported on Conduit Street, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has developed a draft environmental impact statement on several Exelon projects related to its re-licensing of the Conowingo Dam and Susquehanna River facilities. Today’s Star Democrat carries substantial new coverage of these ongiong issues:
Exelon seeks relicensing to continue operating the Conowingo Dam — a hydroelectric generating power plant located near the end of the Susquehanna River, which often gets blamed as a major contributor of sediment in the Chesapeake Bay.
FERC estimates that the sediment collecting behind the dam in its reservoir, which Exelon touts as a best management practice that keeps a lot of sediment from the Susquehanna out of the Bay, will fill the reservoir to full capacity sometime between 2023 and 2038.
Part of the relicensing process pending before FERC is the environmental impact statement (EIS), which was released in July and includes FERC’s analysis of Exelon’s sediment management plan for the Conowingo as well as operations for Muddy Run Pumped Storage Project upstream of the dam.