You can search databases of licensed and exempted projects, pending licenses and exemptions, and pending and issued preliminary permits to find projects that are similar in authorized capacity and are located near or on the same waterway as the site you are interested in developing. By using these lists, you can get project information (e.g., project name, project number, applicant, licensee, exemptee) for similar projects and then use the Commission's eLibrary system to research these projects.

This research can help you verify that a site you are considering has not already been authorized for development (issued exemption or license) or is under study for development by another entity that has priority to file an application (issued preliminary permit). Presuming there is no conflict, researching the eLibrary record for nearby projects can provide useful information for the development of your application, such as identification of federal and state agencies and other stakeholders that were interested in these other projects, and may also be interested in the your proposed project. You can also determine what environmental issues were raised by stakeholders and the Commission, the measures that were required in the license or exemption, and the data gathering that was used to inform those decisions. This may help you to determine the feasibility of a site and provide a source of environmental or hydrologic information that you may be able to use in your application.

If you need help searching the project databases, see: Searching Instructions for FERC Project Databases

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This page was last updated on June 25, 2020