A Word From
Neal Suess, President/CEO
The District is working on a license implementation plan with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Nebraska Game and Parks. The District has also requested a rehearing on the updated license order.
Welcome
Welcome to Loup Power District's Loup River Hydroelectric Project relicensing website. The existing license for Loup Power District's hydroelectric project expired in April 2014; however, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is still reviewing the District’s application and therefore issued an annual license to continue operating under the terms and conditions of the most recent license.
In this website, you will find information about the relicensing process, overall schedule, materials distributed to the public, and documents that are available for review. The site is intended to help inform and engage stakeholders throughout the multi-year relicensing process.
What's New
Loup coordinating with USFWS and NGPC
The District is currently working on a license implementation plan to send to the Fish and Wildlife Service and Game and Parks Commission for input before it's submitted to FERC. The Fish and Wildlife Service is concerned about the effects the water diversion has on protected species such as the piping plover, pallid sturgeon and least tern. The District has also requested a rehearing on the updated hydroelectric license order. A decision on whether that's granted will be made by FERC once there are enough commissioners in place to constitute a quorum and a backlog of cases are addressed. A story about the on-going coordination was published on July 25th by the Columbus Telgram.
Until a long-term license is issued, the Loup River Hydroelectric Project will continue current operations under 1-year license extensions for as long as necessary until FERC completes their reviews. The timeframe for when FERC will issue the new long-term license is unknown at this time, but District operations will continue without interruption until a new license is issued.All of the District’s relicensing documents can be found on this website, including the Notice of Intent and Pre-Application Document for the Project, FERC’s Scoping Documents, the Proposed and Revised Study Plan, FERC’s Study Determinations, and completed study reports. Copies of all documents are also available for review at the District’s General Office at 2404 15th Street in Columbus.
