BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 2535-129]
Dominion Energy South Carolina, Inc.; Notice Soliciting Scoping Comments
Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been filed with
the Commission and is available for public inspection.
a.

Type of Application: New License

b.

Project No.: 2535-129

c.

Date Filed: October 27, 2023

d.

Applicant: Dominion Energy South Carolina, Inc.

e.

Name of Project: Stevens Creek Hydroelectric Project

f.

Location: The project is located at the confluence of Stevens Creek and the

Savannah River, in Edgefield and McCormick Counties, South Carolina, and
Columbia County, Georgia. The project occupies approximately 104 acres of
Federal land administered by the U.S. Forest Service.
g.

Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a) - 825(r).

h.

Applicant Contact: Amy Bresnahan, Dominion Energy South Carolina,

Inc., 220 Operation Way, Mail Code A221, Cayce, South Carolina 29033-3712;
(803) 217-9965; e-mail – Amy.Bresnahan@dominionenergy.com.
i.

FERC Contact: Jeanne Edwards at (202) 502-6181; or e-mail at

jeanne.edwards@ferc.gov.
j.

Deadline for filing scoping comments: July 27, 2024.

The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file motions
to intervene and protests and requests for cooperating status using the
Commission’s eFiling system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx. For
assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at
FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-8659
(TTY). In lieu of electronic filing, you may submit a paper copy. Submissions
sent via the U.S. Postal Service must be addressed to: Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Acting Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE,
Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via any other carrier must
be addressed to: Debbie-Anne A. Reese, Acting Secretary, Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852. All
filings must clearly identify the project name and docket number on the first page:
Stevens Creek Hydroelectric Project (P-2535-129).
The Commission's Rules of Practice require all intervenors filing
documents with the Commission to serve a copy of that document on each person
on the official service list for the project. Further, if an intervenor files comments
or documents with the Commission relating to the merits of an issue that may
affect the responsibilities of a particular resource agency, they must also serve a
copy of the document on that resource agency.
k.

This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this time.

l.

The Stevens Creek Project consists of these existing facilities: (1) a 2,400-

acre reservoir with a storage capacity of 23,699-acre-feet at a full pond elevation
of 187.5 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum 1929 (NGVD29); (2) a dam
consisting of, from the southern (Georgia) shore to the northern (South Carolina)

shore; (a) a 388-foot-long powerhouse intake, integral with the dam, protected by
trashracks with 3.75-inch clear bar spacing; (b) a 102.5-foot-long non-overflow
section with a top elevation of 198.54 feet NGVD29; (c) an 85-foot-wide, 165.5foot-long inoperable concrete gravity navigation lock, with a lock chamber that is
30-feet-wide, 150-feet-long, and has a 29-foot-lift, located between the
powerhouse intake and spillway section, (d) a 1,000-foot-long, 5-foot-high
flashboard section from the lock to the center of the spillway with a top elevation
of 188.5 feet with the flashboards installed, (e) a 1,000-foot-long, 4-foot-high
flashboard section from the center of the spillway to the South Carolina abutment
with a top elevation of 187.5 feet with the flashboards installed; and (f) a 97-footlong non-overflow section; (3) a 388-foot-long, 52-foot-wide, 57-foot-high threestory brick powerhouse, integral with the dam, containing eight vertical Francis
generating units, each rated at 3,125 horsepower, for a total generating capacity of
17.28 megawatts, and a total hydraulic capacity of 8,300 cubic feet per second;
(4) generator leads from the powerhouse to a switchyard located approximately
100 feet from the powerhouse; and (5) ancillary equipment.
The Stevens Creek Project operates as a re-regulating project, mitigating
the downstream effects of the routinely wide-ranging discharges from the
upstream U.S. Army Corps of Engineers J. Strom Thurmond hydroelectric project.
The Stevens Creek reservoir normally fluctuates between an elevation of
183.0 feet NGVD29 and 187.5 feet NGVD29, using available storage capacity to
re-regulate flows released from Thurmond Dam.
m.

The application can be viewed on the Commission’s website at

https://www.ferc.gov using the "eLibrary" link. Enter the project’s docket

number, excluding the last three digits in the docket number field to access the
document (P-2535). For assistance, contact FERC Online Support at
FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, or call (866) 208-3676 (toll-free) or
(202) 502-8659 (TTY).
You may also register online at http://www.ferc.gov/docsfiling/esubscription.asp to be notified via email of new filings and issuances
related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC Online
Support.
n.

The Commission’s Office of Public Participation (OPP) supports

meaningful public engagement and participation in Commission proceedings.
OPP can help members of the public, including landowners, environmental justice
communities, Tribal members and others, access publicly available information
and navigate Commission processes. For public inquiries and assistance with
making filings such as interventions, comments, or requests for rehearing, the
public is encouraged to contact OPP at (202) 502-6595, or OPP@ferc.gov.
o.

Scoping Process

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Commission staff
intends to prepare either an environmental assessment (EA) or an environmental
impact statement (EIS) (collectively referred to as the “NEPA document”) that
describes and evaluates the probable effects, including an assessment of the sitespecific and cumulative effects, if any, of the proposed action and alternatives.
The Commission’s scoping process will help determine the required level of
analysis and satisfy the NEPA scoping requirements, irrespective of whether the
Commission issues an EA or an EIS. At this time, we do not anticipate holding an

on-site scoping meeting. Instead, we are soliciting written comments and
suggestions on the preliminary list of issues and alternatives to be addressed in the
NEPA document, as described in scoping document 1 (SD1), issued June 27,
2024.
Copies of SD1 outlining the subject areas to be addressed in the NEPA
document were distributed to the parties on the Commission’s mailing list and the
applicant’s distribution list. Copies of SD1 may be viewed on the web at
http://www.ferc.gov using the “eLibrary” link. Enter the docket number excluding
the last three digits in the docket number field to access the document. For
assistance, call 1-866-208-3676 or for TTY, (202) 502-8659.
Dated: June 27, 2024.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 2024-14669 Filed: 7/2/2024 8:45 am; Publication Date: 7/3/2024]