PG&E has submitted an application to surrender its license for the Potter Valley Project (PVP), and to remove the two defunct dams in the Eel River headwaters. This is a smart economic move, as the project has not generated electricity for over four years, and what was produced over the last 20 years was less than 1 percent of PG&E’s entire hydropower portfolio. This failed hydroelectric project costs ratepayers a million dollars a year for absolutely no benefit, while continuing to cause significant ecological harm to the Eel.
We are currently at a critical juncture — the public’s first opportunity to speak to federal regulators about decommissioning and encourage them to approve PG&E’s plan for dam removal with no delay. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) needs to hear from our community about how this plan benefits public interest. The comment deadline has been extended to Friday, Dec. 19 at 2 p.m.
The disinformation campaign from the MAGA movement is well-funded and successful in generating ill-informed, but loud opposition to dam removal. We must be louder to ensure the Eel River dams are removed in time to save our struggling native fish. Your comment can make a difference!
The PVP includes a water diversion from the Eel to the Russian River. PG&E’s plan allows for the Eel Russian Project Authority to use existing infrastructure to develop a new dam-free diversion under different rules that are more protective of Eel River habitat.
Dam removal is the most important action we can take to support recovery of the Eel’s still-wild native fish, and allow steelhead to return to over 280 miles of prime upper basin habitat.
Please write a comment today in support of Eel River dam removal. Use the links below to find instructions and additional information.
Instructions here:
Sample letter FERC here:
https://bit.ly/eel-dams-letter
Alicia Hamann, Eureka
This article appears in An Absence of Abalone.