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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06.01.26 Board Correspondence - FW_ Environmental and Recreational Compliance Report submitted in FERC P-2107-000 by Pacific Gas and Electric CompanyFrom:Clerk of the Board To:Clerk of the Board; Connelly, Bill; Cook, Holly; Cook, Robin; Durfee, Peter; Jessee, Meegan; Kimmelshue, Tod; Kitts, Melissa; Krater, Sharleen; Lee, Lewis; Little, Melissa; Pickett, Andy; Ritter, Tami; Stephens, Brad J.; Sweeney, Kathleen; Teeter, Doug; Zepeda, Elizabeth Cc:Cannon, Jamie; Loeser, Kamie Subject:Board Correspondence - FW: Environmental and Recreational Compliance Report submitted in FERC P-2107-000 by Pacific Gas and Electric Company Date:Monday, June 1, 2026 8:06:11 AM Please see Board Correspondence - Lewis Lee Administrative Technician - Confidential Butte County Administration 25 County Center Drive, Suite 200 • Oroville, CA 95965 T: 530.552.3326 www.buttecounty.ca.gov | lelee@buttecounty.ca.gov -----Original Message----- From: 'FERC eSubscription' <eSubscription@ferc.gov> Sent: Monday, June 1, 2026 5:36 AM Subject: Environmental and Recreational Compliance Report submitted in FERC P-2107-000 by Pacific Gas and Electric Company .ATTENTION: This message originated from outside Butte County. Please exercise judgment before opening attachments, clicking on links, or replying.. On 5/29/2026, the following Filing was submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Washington D.C.: Filer: Pacific Gas and Electric Company Docket(s): P-2107-000 Lead Applicant: Pacific Gas and Electric Company Filing Type: Environmental and Recreational Compliance Report Description: Pacific Gas and Electric Company submits 2025 Poe Spill Recession Report re the Poe Hydroelectric Project under P-2107. 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Box 28209 Oakland, CA 94604 May 29, 2026 Via Electronic Submittal (E-File) Debbie-Anne Reese, Secretary Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Division of Hydropower Administration and Compliance 888 First Street, NE Washington, D.C. 20426 RE: Poe Hydroelectric Project, FERC No. 2107 2025 Poe Spill Recession Report Dear Secretary Reese: This letter presents the 2025 Poe Spill Recession Report for Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) Poe Hydroelectric Project, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) No. 2107. Pursuant to the Poe Ramping Rate Plan, approved by FERC on March 27, 2023, PG&E provided a Draft 2025 Poe Spill Recession Report to the Forest Service, State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and United States Fish and Wildlife Service, (collectively; Agencies), by email on November 12, 2025. Over 30 days were allowed for review and comment. The SWRCB responded with questions which were addressed via email on December 12, 2025. No further responses were received from the Agencies. The 2025 Poe Spill Recession Report is provided in (Enclosure 1). The Agency consultation record is provided in (Enclosure 2). For questions, please contact PG&E’s license coordinator, Anna Urias, at (530) 201-1961. Sincerely, Anika Larson Senior Hydro License Coordinator Enclosures: 1. 2025 Poe Spill Recession Report, prepared by PG&E 2. Agency Consultation via Email cc: See Attached List Debbie-Anne Reese, Secretary May 29, 2026 Page 2 cc: via email w/enclosures Nathan Fisch, SWRCB – Nathan.Fisch@waterboards.ca.gov Jessica Dyke, SWRCB – Jessica.Dyke@waterboards.ca.gov Kurt Sable, Forest Service – kurt.sable@usda.gov Erika Brenzovich, Forest Service - erika.brenzovich@usda.gov Dawn Alvarez, Forest Service - dawn.alvarez@usda.gov Leigh Bartoo, USFWS - Aondrea_Bartoo@fws.gov Beth Lawson, CDFW - Beth.Lawson@wildlife.ca.gov Michael Maher, CDFW – Michael.Maher@wildlife.ca.gov ENCLOSURE 1 Public PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY Poe Hydroelectric Project FERC Project No. 2107 2025 Poe Spill Recession Report © 2025, Pacific Gas and Electric Company Public Table of Contents Introduction ........................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. Preliminary Flow Data ..................................................................................................... 3 Operations ..................................................................................................................... 5 Preliminary Foothill Yellow-Legged Frog Data ....................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Introduction On December 17, 2018, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) a new license (License) for the Poe Hydroelectric Project, FERC No. 2107 (Project) on the North Fork Feather River (NFFR), Butte County, California (FERC 2018). The License incorporates State of California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) 401 Water Quality Certification (WQC) conditions into the license articles in Appendix A (SWRCB 2017) and United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service (Forest Service) 4(e) Conditions in Appendix B (Forest Service 2018). SWRCB WQC Condition 5 and Forest Service 4(e) Condition No. 23 (incorporated into FERC License Article 401), required the creation of a Poe Ramping Rates Plan (Plan). In 2020, PG&E, in consultation with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Forest Service, SWRCB, American Whitewater, and California Sportfishing Protection Alliance developed and finalized the Plan, which was approved by FERC on March 27, 2020. The Plan specifies that: PG&E will initiate the following Protocol 1 every year beginning on April 15. Operators will begin tracking for implementation of Protocol 2 on May 1 and make the decision at midnight beginning May 15 whether to trigger Protocol 2 or continue with Protocol 1. The protocols are defined as follows: 1. From April 15 through July 31, for any high flow spill event that exceeds 800 cfs, PG&E will implement a recession protocol with an initial RTU setpoint of 800 cfs; when spills recede to this flow, PG&E will meet or exceed this flow for the first day and thereafter reduce the outflow target at a rate not to exceed 10% per day until baseflow is reached. (see Table 1, columns 1 & 2). 2. Beginning midnight May 15, if spill has been continuously over 1,200 cfs since May 1, PG&E will implement an extended recession protocol with an initial RTU setpoint of 1,200 cfs; when spills recede to this flow, PG&E will meet or exceed this flow for the first 7 days, and thereafter reduce the outflow target at a rate not to exceed 10% per day until total release reaches 800 cfs; PG&E will hold the 800 cfs target for 7 days, after which PG&E will reduce the outflow target at a rate not to exceed 10% every 2 days until baseflow is reached. (see Table 1, columns 3 & 4). Public If a spill recession protocol is in progress, that protocol shall continue until complete. If inflows increase at any point during the recession schedule and a daily target flow is exceeded, PG&E will hold that target until spills recede to that flow; only thereafter will the subsequent daily recession steps resume. PG&E will transition from Protocol 1 to Protocol 2 in cases where PG&E initiates Protocol 1 prior to May 1 and where spills exceed 1,200 cfs beginning May 1 and eventually trigger Protocol 2 on May 15. Spill recession steps are targets based on daily average flow measured at Poe Dam. When stream flows at the end of a recession protocol reach baseflow, compliance shall again be measured at NF-23. The Poe Amphibian Monitoring Plan identifies focused foothill yellow-legged frog (FYLF) monitoring to assess the effectiveness of ramping rates; however, because that plan was based on an assumed single-stepdown recession protocol, the Plan includes additional FYLF monitoring. This involves surveys for FYLF egg masses and early tadpoles during two Protocol 1 and Protocol 2 events. This report assesses the operational and river flow outcomes of implementing the Spill Recession Protocol defined in the Plan during the first six years following FERC approval of the Plan. Following implementation of a Spill Recession Protocol, the Plan requires PG&E to prepare a Spill Recession Report. This report shares preliminary flow data from the Department of Water Resources California Data Exchange Center (CDEC) from April 15 through July 31 in graphical or tabular format. It also provides a summary of the data in narrative text, which includes descriptions of operational issues that may have occurred. The report also provides preliminary monitoring results from the FYLF egg-laying and early-stage tadpole rearing period. Preliminary Flow Data The final Water Year Type (WYT) for 2025 was Wet, based on the May 2025 California Department of Water Resources (DWR) monthly Bulletin 1201, which forecast total annual inflow to Oroville Reservoir at 5,795 thousand-acre-feet (TAF). Water years are categorized into four water year types based on inflow to Lake Oroville: Wet, Normal, Dry, and Critically Dry. The WYTs are defined as follows based on California DWR’s Bulletin 120 water year forecast of unimpaired runoff in the Feather River at Oroville: • Wet: Greater than or equal to 5,679 TAF at Oroville; • Normal: Less than 5,679 TAF but greater than or equal to 3,228 TAF at Oroville; • Dry: Less than 3,228 TAF but greater than or equal to 2,505 TAF at Oroville; and • Critically Dry: Less than 2,505 TAF at Oroville. April 2025 Poe reach flows started high due to the combination of the wet water year and a Poe dual unit outage. Poe unit 1 testing was completed on April 1, 2025, and the unit was returned to service the following day. Poe unit 2 was returned to service on April 13, 2025, following several days of testing. This was followed by two separate periods of system transmission restrictions (4/14/25-4/18/25 and 4/25/25-5/4/25), limiting generation and increasing flows in the reach. Figure 1 shows the flow fluctuations during the changing unit availability and generation restrictions, superimposed on spring flow recession, during the April and early May time period. Once flows receded adequately, Poe Protocol 1 was initiated on May 18, 2025, and progressed Public continuously until its completion on May 22, 2025, as shown in detail in Figure 2. On June 24, 2025, PG&E initiated a 1 foot per three weeks ramp down from the license-required 500 cfs instream flow to the target variance flow of approximately 150 cfs for a late summer-fall Poe Dam gate project. The ramp down proceeded by making three incremental decreases per week over the course of five weeks, reaching the target flow on July 26, 2025, as shown in Figure 3. Figure 1. April-July 2025 hourly mean flows (preliminary data) on Poe Reach as measured at NF- 23. Figure 2. May 15-24, 2025, hourly mean flows (preliminary data) on Poe Reach as measured at NF-23. Public Figure 3. June 15 – July 31, 2025, hourly mean flows (preliminary data) on Poe Reach as measured at NF-23. Operations Spill Recession Protocol 1 was carried out with no issues. To avoid the exceedance of 10% flow change, a 9% ramp down per day was issued. This allowed enough buffer to avoid a ramping rate deviation; however, as flows lowered, it was progressively more difficult to adhere to the percentage flow reduction criteria. Preliminary Foothill Yellow-Legged Frog Data Foothill yellow-legged frog breeding visual encounter surveys (VES) began on the Poe Reach on April 15, 2025, at accessible subsites, expanding to all designated breeding sites as high flows receded, and ended on July 1, 2025. A total of 75 egg masses (direct observation of egg mass or inferred egg mass from tadpole group) were recorded during this period. Spill recession surveys ran concurrently with regular breeding VES and began on May 19 and continued daily through May 22, when MIF reached base flow levels. Some egg masses and tadpole groups were observed to have been stranded and/or scoured during the spill recession period and, with some exceptions, most stranded masses and tadpoles were salvageable and could be rescued to deeper water. Details of all surveys and photo descriptions will be provided in the annual report. ENCLOSURE 2 From:Urias, Anna To:"Dyke, Jessica@Waterboards" Cc:Drummond, Duncan; "Fisch, Nathan@Waterboards" Subject:RE: 2025 Poe Spill Recession Report FERC No. 2107 Date:Wednesday, December 17, 2025 9:32:00 AM Attachments:RE Poe flow .msg Hi Jessica, Following up on these questions you had regarding the 2025 Spill Recession Report. PG&E’s responses are in blue. 1.On page 5 in the Operations section, the report says, “Spill Recession Protocol 2 was carried out with no issues.” However, in the Preliminary Flow Data section, the report says, “Poe Protocol 1 was initiated on May 18, 2025, and progressed continuously until its completion on May 22, 2025.” Is the mention of Protocol 2 an error? Yes, that is a typo, should be Protocol 1 in both locations. This will be corrected in the final report. 2. Can you share more about the two periods of “system transmission restrictions (4/14/25-4/18/25 and 4/25/25-5/4/25)”? In a previous email, you mentioned that flow fluctuations during this time were due to urgent transmission work that restricted generation at Poe. What was the nature of the urgent (emergency?) transmission work? The transmission restriction had is not related to power generation. Hydro receives an environmental safety inspection (ESI) tag from the Transmission Department and implements the restriction. Detailed transmission information is not available to Hydro Ops and isn’t shared publicly due to security and regulatory restrictions. 3. Can you provide for information about what may have caused the following major flow fluctuations? Between 10pm on 4/24/25 through 7am on 4/25/25, flow at NF23 increased from 1416cfs to 3625cfs. This is an approximate stage increase of 2.7 feet over 11 hours. Between 10am and noon on 5/1, flow dropped almost 1500cfs and approximately 1.6 feet in stage drop. Flow rebounded the afternoon of 5/1 with a large flow increase of 1109cfs and stage increase of approximately 1.2 ft between 4-5pm. PG&E reportedly wrapped up transmission work on 5/4/25, then subsequently ramped down to flows that were lower than late April pre-transmission-work flows. Flows dropped quickly from mid-3000s to 940cfs by 7pm on 5/4. Stage dropped approximately 3.2 feet between 1am and 7pm on 5/4 (over 18 hours). Ramp down exceeded license maximum 150cfs/hour for ~half of those 18 hours. We responded to the Water Board’s questions on these flow fluctuations back on May 23rd, please see the attached email. None of these flow fluctuations are ramp rate deviations as basic hourly ramp rates do not apply when the reservoir is in regulation mode. Basic hourly ramp rates only apply when in flow mode, which occurs when we are much closer to base flows. Please let me know if you have any further questions! Regards, A N N A U R I A S H Y D R O L I C E N S E C O O R D I N A T O R I P O W E R G E N E R A T I O N P A C I F I C G A S & E L E C T R I C C O M P A N Y ( 5 3 0 ) 2 0 1 - 1 9 6 1 I A X U S @ P G E . C O M From: Urias, Anna Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2025 4:36 PM To: 'Dyke, Jessica@Waterboards' <Jessica.Dyke@Waterboards.ca.gov> Cc: Drummond, Duncan <DGDH@pge.com>; Fisch, Nathan@Waterboards <Nathan.Fisch@Waterboards.ca.gov> Subject: RE: 2025 Poe Spill Recession Report FERC No. 2107 Hi Jessica, My trip was great thanks! I’ll check into these questions and see if I can get the answers. Thanks, A N N A U R I A S H Y D R O L I C E N S E C O O R D I N A T O R I P O W E R G E N E R A T I O N P A C I F I C G A S & E L E C T R I C C O M P A N Y ( 5 3 0 ) 2 0 1 - 1 9 6 1 I A X U S @ P G E . C O M From: Dyke, Jessica@Waterboards <Jessica.Dyke@Waterboards.ca.gov> Sent: Wednesday, December 3, 2025 2:09 PM To: Urias, Anna <AXUS@pge.com> Cc: Drummond, Duncan <DGDH@pge.com>; Fisch, Nathan@Waterboards <Nathan.Fisch@Waterboards.ca.gov> Subject: RE: 2025 Poe Spill Recession Report FERC No. 2107 !!! EXTERNAL SENDER !!! This email came from outside PG&E. Think before you click. Be extra wary of links, attachments, providing sensitive information, and QR Codes. If this email seems suspicious, REPORT PHISH BUTTON. Hi Anna, I hope your travels out of the country were great! I reviewed the 2025 Poe Spill Recession Report and have some follow-up questions. On page 5 in the Operations section, the report says, “Spill Recession Protocol 2 was carried out with no issues.” However, in the Preliminary Flow Data section, the report says, “Poe Protocol 1 was initiated on May 18, 2025, and progressed continuously until its completion on May 22, 2025.” Is the mention of Protocol 2 an error? Can you share more about the two periods of “system transmission restrictions (4/14/25-4/18/25 and 4/25/25-5/4/25)”? In a previous email, you mentioned that flow fluctuations during this time were due to urgent transmission work that restricted generation at Poe. What was the nature of the urgent (emergency?) transmission work? Can you provide for information about what may have caused the following major flow fluctuations? Between 10pm on 4/24/25 through 7am on 4/25/25, flow at NF23 increased from 1416cfs to 3625cfs. This is an approximate stage increase of 2.7 feet over 11 hours. Between 10am and noon on 5/1, flow dropped almost 1500cfs and approximately 1.6 feet in stage drop. Flow rebounded the afternoon of 5/1 with a large flow increase of 1109cfs and stage increase of approximately 1.2 ft between 4-5pm. PG&E reportedly wrapped up transmission work on 5/4/25, then subsequently ramped down to flows that were lower than late April pre-transmission-work flows. Flows dropped quickly from mid-3000s to 940cfs by 7pm on 5/4. Stage dropped approximately 3.2 feet between 1am and 7pm on 5/4 (over 18 hours). Ramp down exceeded license maximum 150cfs/hour for ~half of those 18 hours. Thanks for helping provide more clarity on this, Anna. Best, Jessica From: Urias, Anna <AXUS@pge.com> Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2025 5:17 PM To: Lawson, Beth@Wildlife <Beth.Lawson@wildlife.ca.gov>; Maher, Michael@Wildlife <Michael.Maher@wildlife.ca.gov>; Sable, Kurt - FS, CA <kurt.sable@usda.gov>; Alvarez, Dawn - FS, CA <dawn.alvarez@usda.gov>; Berry, Jonathan - FS, CA <jonathan.berry@usda.gov>; Ostomel, Caution: External Email. Use caution when clicking links or opening attachments. When in doubt, contact DIT or use the Phish Alert Button. Caitlin - FS, CA <caitlin.ostomel@usda.gov>; Schweitzer, Laura - FS, CA <laura.schweitzer@usda.gov>; Dyke, Jessica@Waterboards <Jessica.Dyke@Waterboards.ca.gov>; Fisch, Nathan@Waterboards <Nathan.Fisch@Waterboards.ca.gov> Cc: Drummond, Duncan <DGDH@pge.com>; Joseph, Matthew <MWJA@pge.com>; Lent, Michelle <M4LQ@pge.com>; Herman, Andie <AEHb@pge.com>; Stevens, Kevin <K3SN@pge.com> Subject: 2025 Poe Spill Recession Report FERC No. 2107 Classification: Public Hello everyone, This email presents the 2025 Poe Spill Recession Report for Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s Poe Hydroelectric Project, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) No. 2107. This report is a requirement of the Poe Ramping Rate Plan, which was approved by FERC on March 27, 2023. The 2025 Poe Spill Recession Report is provided as Attachment 1. If you have any questions, please let me know. Regards, A N N A U R I A S H Y D R O L I C E N S E C O O R D I N A T O R I P O W E R G E N E R A T I O N P A C I F I C G A S & E L E C T R I C C O M P A N Y ( 5 3 0 ) 2 0 1 - 1 9 6 1 I A X U S @ P G E . C O M You can read about PG&E’s data privacy practices at PGE.com/privacy.