For immediate release: 9/26/06

Important step in agency's goals for future generation…
GRDA receives new 30-year license for Markham Ferry Project

Locust Grove -- According to Grand River Dam Authority Chief Executive Officer Kevin Easley, a new 30-year license to operate the Markham Ferry Project (Robert S. Kerr Dam and Lake Hudson), recently issued to GRDA by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), is an important milestone for GRDA.

“This is important to GRDA and its customers because it allows us to move forward towards a goal of increasing the generation capacity at Kerr Dam,” said Easley. “We believe our hydroelectric facilities are tremendous assets for the state and we intend for them to be as efficient and productive as possible.”

The four hydroelectric turbine-generators inside the Kerr Dam powerhouse have a combined generating capacity of 114 megawatts (MW) and produce an average of 257,000 megawatt-hours of electricity each year. Kerr Dam, combined with the Pensacola Dam and Salina Pumped Storage Project provides an annual hydropower benefit to GRDA customers that can range anywhere from $13 million to $25 million. In other words, that’s how much money would have to be spent on other fuel sources (coal, natural gas) if not for the electricity generated from the waters of the Grand River.

Although all the plans are not finalized, Easley did say GRDA is planning major overhauls and upgrades of the Kerr generators. That work will not only increase their output, but also modernize the 42-year old units and lower maintenance costs in the long run. Such an increase in capacity, similar to the major upgrade work performed on Pensacola Dam’s units in the 1990s, will only increase Kerr’s value to GRDA and its customers Easley added.

“One of the reasons GRDA has been the benchmark for all utilities in Oklahoma is the beneficial mixture of coal and hydroelectric generation assets,” said Easley. “GRDA intends to retain that beneficial mixture and make it even stronger for the future.”

As for the project’s just-completed relicensing efforts, GRDA Assistant General Manager of Risk Management and Regulatory Compliance, Bob Sullivan, said GRDA has been working on the process for several years.

“The original license was issued in 1955 and expired in May, 2005,” said Sullivan. “Since that time, we’ve been operating under an annual license pending issuance of this new one.”

Sullivan made the announcement that GRDA had received the new license at the September meeting of the GRDA Board of Directors. However, efforts to acquire a new license began long before the previous license expired.

“There are many factors involved in the relicensing efforts and many steps,” said Sullivan. “The notice of relicensing application has to be published; there are periods for public comments, as well as comments from other. After all parties have had their say, it all goes back to FERC for review and final approval.”

Of course, the scope of relicensing issues goes well beyond the turbine-generators and powerhouse. All of Lake Hudson’s 200 miles of shoreline and 12,000 surface acres of water have to be considered in the process, along with all the users of the lake. To complete the relicensing efforts, bald eagle protection, threatened and endangered species management, water quality, identification and management of historic property and a recreation management plan were some of the subjects addressed by GRDA.

“We feel very good about the things we were able to accomplish while working through this relicensing effort,” said GRDA Ecosystems Management Superintendent Dr. Darrell Townsend, adding that other resource agencies, like the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation also played important roles in the effort

“The goal of GRDA Ecosystems Management is to be the best steward possible for the waters of the Grand River system, including Lake Hudson, and we expect to do that, over the course of this new license,” Townsend said.

Completed in 1964, Robert S. Kerr Dam was the second hydroelectric facility constructed by GRDA. Named for the late Oklahoma Governor and United States Senator, Kerr Dam is located just north of Locust Grove, Oklahoma, along the Grand River. The dam impounds the waters creating Lake Hudson, named for the late GRDA Director and Tulsa attorney, Wash Hudson.

Lake Hudson, east into Salina: An aerial view of Lake Hudson and the dike surrounding Salina. Engineering studies associated with the dike, and several other studies in regards to water quality, recreation management and wildlife habitat were part of the Grand River Dam Authority's efforts to obtain a new 30-year license to operate the Markham Ferry Project (Robert S. Kerr Dam and Lake Hudson).

GRDA Kerr Dam in Fall: The second hydroelectric project on the Grand River, Robert S. Kerr Dam was constructed by GRDA in the early 1960s (completed in 1964). The dam's powerhouse contains four hydroelectric generators with a combined generation capability of 114 megawatts. Earlier this year, GRDA received a new 30-year license to operate the dam, from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).