Building the Smallest Hydro Project under FERC Jurisdiction: Overcoming Challenges

摘要

The turbine-generator for the 180-watt Hillman Creek Tributary Hydro Project in Idaho is small enough to attach to a kitchen faucet. Despite its small size, the project — which uses water from a creek on U.S. Forest Service land—falls under the same Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regulations as a commercial plant. Getting approvals, permits, and exemptions took 11 years!