Amie Windsor, PRESS DEMOCRAT
The utility formally has filed its plans to shut down the two Northern California dams and century-old powerhouse that comprise the project.
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has filed its formal plans with the federal government to decommission the Potter Valley Project, which includes two dams and a century-old powerhouse that together have helped connect the Eel and Russian River watersheds to provide water to cities and farms for generations.
The filing marks another step in the power company’s multiyear effort to divorce itself from the two-dam system — Scott and Cape Horn dams — that PG&E officials say has been operating at a deficit of $1 million a year.
“Today’s filing marks the next step of a thoughtful and transparent decommissioning journey for the Potter Valley Project — but it does not change our operational responsibilities or obligations,” Dave Gabbard, vice president of power generation for PG&E, said in a press release.
If approved by the feds — no such request has ever been denied — plans would kick into motion the next large dam removal project on the West Coast.
Read more at https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/potter-valley-pge-plans/