FERC Relicensing of the Toledo Bend Project – Hydroelectric Power Generation Drought Hydroelectric...

•FERC Relicensing of the Toledo Bend Project–Hydroelectric Power Generation

•Drought

•Hydroelectric vs. Water Supply

Sabine River Authority Issues

– Current license issued Oct.1963 – Expires Sept. 2013– Filed NOI/PAD September 22, 2008– Preparing license application 2008 – 2011 – File license application September, 2011– Re-licensing could affect all levels of Operations

• Lake levels• Downstream releases• Water supply yield• Water releases for instream flows and bays & estuaries• Hydroelectric power production• Construction/Permitting within Project Boundary

Re-Licensing the Toledo Bend Project

FERC Relicensing Challenges

• In the early 1960’s, the Clean Water Act, the National Environmental Protection Act, and the National Historic Properties Act had not been enacted.

• Before FERC will issue a new license for Toledo Bend, all those Acts must be complied with.

• It is the responsibility of the licensee’s (SRA-TX and SRA-LA) to prove the project is in compliance.

• Length – 560 miles

• Drainage Area – 9,952 sq. mi.25% in Louisiana75% in Texas

• Boundary reach covered by Sabine River Compact.

• Available water from the boundary reach down is split equally between States.

• Toledo Bend Dam is located 147 miles from top of Sabine Lake.

• Average Inflow into Sabine Lake – 5,982,000 Ac-ft/yr

Sabine River Basin Facts

Toledo Bend Project

• Water Supply

• Hydroelectric Power

• Recreation

Toledo Bend Reservoir

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission– Project No. 2305; license issued 1963 (LA & TX)

185,000 surface acres Max Power Pool Elev 172.0 ft MSL Storage Capacity 4,477,000 acre-feet Average Inflow 4,200,000 acre-feet/year Shoreline 1,200+ miles Drainage Area 7,190 sq. miles

Water Volumes

• 1 Acre-foot = 325,848 gallons• Toledo Bend Reservoir

• 4,476,951 Acre-feet @ 172 ft. msl• 4,200,000 Acre-feet annual average inflow

• Hydro Power Generation – 2 Units• 28,000 acre-feet per 24 hours

• Haynesville Shale Hydrofracking• 6.5 million gallons/ 20 acre-feet

• Evaporation Loss (Monthly)• August – 40,000 acre-feet

“Firm Yield”

• “The amount of water that can be supplied from a reservoir on an annual basis during the most critical drought period of record.”

• Forest & Cotton, 1959 2,074,500 ac-ft• Brown & Root, 1991 2,086,600 ac-ft• TCB, 2005 1,908,000 ac-ft• Louisiana’s Portion 954,000 ac-ft

172 msl 4,476,951 ac-ft

Elevation and VolumeToledo Bend Reservoir

168 msl 3,788,901 ac-ft

169 msl 3,953,801 ac-ft

170 msl 4,123,426 ac-ft 171 msl 4,297,776 ac-ft

Elevation and VolumeToledo Bend Reservoir

172 ft-msl

168 ft-msl

688,000 Acre-Feet

15% of Total Volume

16% of Average Annual Inflow

LA SRA Water Sales(Toledo Bend Reservoir)

• Existing ContractsAnnual withdrawals: 27,589 ac-ft/yrAdditional options: 37,940 ac-ft/yrContracts total: 65,529 ac-ft/yr

Haynesville Shale (projected) 36,500 ac-ft/yr

• Non-Allocated Water 851,971 ac-ft/yr

Power Generation vs. Water Supply

• Power Sales Agreement– Expires 2018– Notice of Termination due 2015– Power Sales Revenue accounts for 40% of total

SRA Revenue

• Water Supply– Toledo Bend:

• Accounts for 12% of SRA Revenue– Diversion Canal

• Accounts for 34% of SRA Revenue

Water TB12%

Power40%

SRD34%

Other14%

SRA RevenueFY 06 -FY 10

Future Utilization of Toledo Bend Reservoir

• SRA’s Board of Commissioners has adopted the strategy of developing water sales as an alternative source of revenue in lieu of hydroelectric power generation.

• “Run of the River” for Power Generation– Environmental Flows– Controlled excess capacity releases

Water Supply Proposal

• Out-of-State Sale– Requires Governor’s Consent

• 600,000 Acre-Feet Per Year• Maximum Monthly Withdrawal

– 75,000 Acre-Feet/month– Equivalent to running 2-generators 2.67

days/month• Drought Contingency Plan

January February March April May June July August September October November December

(100,000)

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

800,000

Average InflowAcre-Feet

1969 - 2010

75,000 Ac-ft Max

Power Sales Agreement1,000,000 Acre-feet

May - September

600,000 Acre-Feet Maximum Annual Water Supply

Power Sales vs Water Supply

Relative Value of Water for Hydropower vs. Water Supply

(Based on one million acre-feet)

$48,877,650

$2,606,808

$0

$10,000,000

$20,000,000

$30,000,000

$40,000,000

$50,000,000

$60,000,000

Water Supply

HydroApprox. $.008 / 1000 Gallon

$.15 / 1000 Gallon

Balancing Water Supply/Lake LevelSRA-LA & SRA-TX

• Inter-Basin Transfers– Present Law prohibits SRA-TX from transferring water outside

the Sabine River Basin– Highly probable SRA-TX will be granted a permit to transfer

300,000 acre-feet per year outside the Sabine River Basin of Texas

• SRA-LA will reduce its allocation to 300,000 acre-feet per year

• Proposed Cooperative Agreement– In the event SRA-TX does not receive an Interbasin Transfer

Permit, SRA-LA may enter into agreement with SRA-TX to purchase up to 300,000 acre-feet per year for lake-level mitigation and to balance operational budgets

Water Supply vs. Hydroelectric CONCLUSION

• Extensive Financial and Environmental Analysis have been conducted

• Minimal Environmental Impact and Substantial Economic and Social Benefits

• Consistent with purposes for which Toledo Bend was constructed

• Consistent with the public trust mandate of Article IX, 1 of the Louisiana Constitution