FERC PULLS THE PLUG ON CROWN HYDRO

Park Watch has just learned that in a letter dated May 25, 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) informed Crown Mill Hydro President Tom Griffin that FERC staff consider the “Crown Mill Hydro Project to be abandoned.”

In a discussion of the project, which was described as “unconstructed,” it was pointed out that there has been no progress moving the Crown Mill Hydro Project forward and Crown’s mandatory reporting on plans, activities and filings “are long overdue.”

Crown Hydro has 30 days “to show cause why the Commission should not initiate proceedings for terminating the license.”

It is interesting to note that FERC refers to the Crown Hydro Project by its proper name–the Crown Mill Hydro Project. That’s because the FERC license that Crown holds is not for the Mill Ruins Park location.  The license that Crown holds was issued on March 19, 1999, and it was for the basement of the Crown Roller Mill Building–not for Mill Ruins Park. So, while Crown was attempting to pressure the Park Board to gain control of the Mill Ruins Park location for its proposed facility, Crown never held a license to construct its hydro facility on MPRB property.  In order to build on Mill Ruins Park, it would have had to get an amendment to the license it had for the obsolete Crown Roller Mill site.

Arlene Fried
Co-Founder of Park Watch