FERC issues Battle Creek project DEA

Says creek diversion to boost Bradley Lake hydropower output would have little environmental impact; not a major federal action

ALAN BAILEY

Petroleum News

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has published a draft environmental assessment, saying that the agency does not think that a planned upgrade to the Bradley Lake hydroelectric facility in the southern Kenai Peninsula will have a significant environmental impact. The upgrade involves diverting some water from a creek called Battle Creek into Bradley Lake, thus providing more water for hydropower generation and increasing the power output capabilities of the facility. Provided that appropriate environmental protection measures are taken, the creek diversion would not significantly impact the quality of the human environment, FERC said in a March 29 notice.

Public comments on the draft assessment are required within 30 days of the issue of the notice.

The Alaska Energy Authority owns the 120-megawatt Bradley Lake facility, which is operated under contract by Homer Electric Association. The draft environmental assessment says that the facility on average generates about 380,000 megawatt hours per year of energy and that the Battle Creek diversion would increase that output by 36,160 megawatts. Bradley Lake currently provides the cheapest power on the Railbelt transmission grid - power from the system displaces the use of natural gas in Southcentral Alaska gas-fired power stations.

According to the draft environmental assessment the modifications to the hydropower system would involve constructing a new diversion on the west fork of upper Battle Creek, and laying a 1.7-mile buried pipeline and 1,000-foot canal to carry the diverted water to Bradley Lake. The existing hydropower system has a 125-foot-high dam that raises the natural level of Bradley Lake by 100 feet, with water entering the lake coming from the upper Bradley River and a diversion on the upper Nuka River. A 18,610-foot-long tunnel carries water from Bradley Lake to a powerhouse with two 45-megawatt generating units, on the shore of Kachemak Bay, about 22.5 miles northeast of the town of Homer.

The plan for the Battle Creek diversion includes measures required by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game both during construction and then during operation. Those measures include a diversion flow release management plan that would ensure water flow at a minimum level to Battle Creek and that would ensure the transport of the sediment load on the bed of the creek. AEA, as the licensee for the project, would develop a plan for monitoring the stream flow and for monitoring the impacts on fish habitat in lower Battle Creek, the draft environmental assessment says. The project would have no impact on endangered or threatened species in the area, such as the Cook Inlet beluga whale, the draft document says.