For the past three years the Northfield Mountain Pumped Storage Project has sought temporary authority to pump extra water in and out of the Connecticut River from the hydroelectric plant during winter months to provide more electricity to the region if fuel for natural gas generators runs short.
But FirstLight Power seems to be stretching the definition of temporary, to the possible detriment of the Connecticut River ecology.
The plant’s owners again this winter are seeking Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval for a temporary amendment to its operating license, changing upper and lower limits of its 5-billion-gallon mountaintop reservoir to allow an additional 22 feet of pumping capacity. The change would increase the maximum daily generation from 8,729 megawatt-hours to 10,779.
FirstLight Power says it has needed this change for the last two winters “to increase its operational flexibility and provide (the regional power pool) with additional energy reserves to deal with potential reliability challenges in New England.”
The Connecticut River Watershed Council, a steward of the river’s ecological health, argues that “there is no basis to effectively institutionalize a detrimental practice” the council contends damages the riverbanks along a 20-mile stretch of river.
The hydro station pumps river water to a mountaintop reservoir during times of low electricity demand, and then drops the water back through turbine generators inside the mountain and into the river at times of peak energy demand. Moving billions of gallons of water in and out of the river causes riverbank erosion in the Northfield area as water levels rise and drop.
Erosion has been a contentious issue between the council and the Northfield Mountain owners for years and is one of several issues that have emerged during the pending federal relicensing of the hydro-electric generator.
The council has now asked for authority to formally intervene in the federal commission’s review of the temporary amendment, and should get it.
“The current application requests a temporary amendment for the third winter in a row, and we have seen frequent use of the additional flexibility during the previous two winters,” the council argues. “Operations that are detrimental and exacerbate existing erosion problems should not become the norm. Operational changes should be reserved solely for emergencies; otherwise any operational changes should be to remedy erosion issues, not make them worse.”
The council in its request, states that before the winter of 2014-2015, temporary license amendments authorized changes to minimum and maximum reservoir elevations only for certain emergency conditions as determined by the regional electric grid’s Independent System Operator.
We also worry that what should be emergency pumping of river water on a temporary basis is becoming the norm in winter without adequate study. At the very least, this application should include information about the environmental impact of drawing and releasing extra water in winter.
The pumped storage operators should not be allowed to keep going to the well for temporary amendments — for a persistent practice. Ideally, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should require FirstLight to seek a permanent license change that allows for emergency winter pumping and requires necessary data — including how this influences riverbank erosion — as part of the application.