Owens Valley Pumped Hydro Project
^New renewable energy targets: Wheeler Ridge (to the right of Mt. Tom) at sunset near Tom's Place and above Bishop CA.
UPDATE June 7, 2019 -- The project application was thrown out by the Federal Energy Regulatory Project as being several "projects" that each needed a permit. The developer has now switched to a pumped hydro storage project east of Highway 395 in the White Mountains, Inyo County CA. Wyman Canyon and Birch Creek are now targets with reservoirs proposed at 8,000 to 10,000 feet elevation.
More on this next week.
May 13, 2019 - Eastern Sierra - A surprisingly badly-sited renewable energy project appeared in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) initial application process for a license. A series of dams on the scenic Owens River and in the Rock Creek area of the Sierra Nevada--including Wheeler Ridge where a herd of rare Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep (which is federally endangered and California state endangered)--and pipelines would hold a series of reservoirs in Owens Gorge and up on Wheeler Ridge. Excess energy produced by intermittent utility-scale wind projects and solar projects could be used to pump water uphill. Then when energy is needed the water would be released to flow down the east slope of the Sierra to lower reservoirs. Download the project proposal PDF.
Large-scale solar projects in the desert have a growing overgeneration problem during midday, and these kinds of projects will be proposed more and more to soak up some of that : the Eagle Mountain Pumped Storage Project, but it has not yet been built.
The project would be next to the boundary of the John Muir Wilderness Area. New large, long high-voltage transmission lines will be needed to serve Los Angeles.
(Images courtesy California Department of Fish and Wildlife)
According tto California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Wheeler Ridge is a population that was intially reestablished in 1982 with 15 ewes. Over the past 35 years the population has grown to over 100 individuals. The Wheeler herd was productive enough to provide source stock for a natural colonization of the Convict Creek herd to the north in about 2009 as well as 11 ewes for translocation to start the Cathedral herd in 2016.
Enter Docket Number P-14984.
Basin and Range Watch will be opposing this horrendous project, and continuing to support better renewable energy alternatives involving Distributed Energy Resources in the built environment.
See the article in the San Francisco Chronicle:
