The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued a new operating license to Goodyear Lake Hydro to continue operation and maintenance of the 1.4875-MW Colliersville Hydroelectric Project
The original license for this small hydro project, on the Susquehanna River in Milford, Otsego County, N.Y., was issued March 13, 1979, and expired Feb. 28, 2019. The new license has a period of 40 years, effective July 1, 2019.
The project consists of a 200-foot-long, 35-foot-high reinforced-concrete Ambursen-type dam; a 364-acre reservoir with a gross storage capacity of 7,800 acre-feet at normal pool elevation; a 550-foot-long reinforced concrete power canal; a 103-foot-long by 33-foot-wide reinforced concrete powerhouse containing two turbine-generator units; a tailrace; and three 4.16-kV underground generator leads to an adjacent substation owned by the New York State Electric and Gas Corporation.
Goodyear Lake Hydro operates Colliersville as a run-of-river facility. Average annual generation is 5,985 MWh.
FERC found that as licensed with the mandatory conditions and staff measures, the levelized annual cost of operating the project is $65.72/MWh. Based on an alternative power cost of $49.86/MWh, the project will cost $15.86/MWh more than the likely alternative cost of power in the first year of operation. However, FERC said, “Although our analysis shows that the project as licensed herein would cost more to operate than our estimated cost of alternative power, it is the applicant who must decide whether to accept the license and any financial risk that entails.”
