Alignment of Costs and Beneficiaries During Relicensing

摘要

The hydroelectric facility reli8censing process creates a forum in which stakeholders to the existence and operation of that facility attempt to resolve concerns and/or problems. This forum is open-ended y design, which creates a virtually boundless array of issues that can be introduced into the process. The obligation of performing the resulting studies and any consequential remediation has historically fallen to only one of the stakeholders, the license applicant. An increasingly competitive energy marketplace along with growing awareness of environmental issues creates a natural conflict among stakeholders during the relicensing process. In extreme cases, where project licenses are conditioned such that projects are rendered economically non-viable, there is a risk that some stakeholders are disadvantaged as a result of the outcome of the process.