PG&E Withdraws Application for Transfer of Hydropower Assets
On May 10, 2024, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) reported that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) had denied an application for the transfer of Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) hydropower assets to a subsidiary, Pacific Generation. The CPUC found that PG&E’s application failed to meet “even the minimal public interest standard.” The CPUC, however, gave PG&E leave to file a new application addressing the inadequacies of the first effort.
On August 12, 2024, PG&E filed a letter with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). PG&E’s application would have needed additional approval from FERC to initiate the asset transfer. In its August 12 letter PG&E withdrew its application to FERC, ending, once and for all, PG&E’s effort to spin off its hydroelectric projects in order to raise money.
The end of PG&E’s attempt to spin off its hydropower projects is a big win for the California Hydropower Reform Coalition (CHRC), of which CSPA is an active member. CHRC challenged PG&E’s application throughout regulatory hearings conducted by the CPUC and FERC.
More specifically, CHRC called attention to poor maintenance on a number of PG&E’s hydropower projects and the fact that many of the projects are money losers. CHRC also highlighted the potential liability the subsidiary would have faced in the event of a catastrophic dam failure at one of the hydropower dams.
CSPA has worked for many decades to hold PG&E and other hydroelectric project operators accountable both for public safety and for the danger their projects pose to fisheries and riparian habitats. PG&E’s withdrawal of its application to transfer its hydropower assets is a welcome outcome for CSPA and its colleagues in the CHRC, who represent a wide range of interests that are impacted by hydroelectric facilities.
The steering committee of the California Hydropower Reform Coalition (CHRC) includes California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, American Rivers, American Whitewater, California Outdoors, California Trout, Inc., Foothill Conservancy, Friends of the River, South Yuba River Citizens League, and Trout Unlimited.
