HomeMy WebLinkAbout06.11.26 Board Correspondence - FW_ Compliance Directives issued in FERC P-803-000From: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:Loeser, Kamie; Cannon, Jamie
Subject:Board Correspondence - FW: Compliance Directives issued in FERC P-803-000
Date:Thursday, June 11, 2026 8:09:06 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: Thursday, June 11, 2026 7:16 AM
Subject: Compliance Directives issued in FERC P-803-000
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On 6/11/2026, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Washington D.C., issued this document:
Docket(s): P-803-000
Lead Applicant: Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Filing Type: Compliance Directives
General Correspondence
Description: Letter to Pacific Gas and Electric Company providing comments on the 04/09/2026 construction authorization request for the Oro Fino underground project on the DeSabla Forebay Dam, part of the
DeSabla-Centerville Hydroelectric Project under P-803.
To view the document for this Issuance, click here https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/filelist?accession_num=20260611-
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FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION
Office of Energy Projects
Division of Dam Safety and Inspections –San Francisco Regional Office
June 11, 2026
In reply refer to:
Project No. 803-CA
VIA FERC Service
Mr. Russell Cruzen, P.E., Director
Power Generation, Asset Excellence
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
300 Lakeside Dr.
Oakland, CA 94612-3534
Re:Construction Authorization Request -Oro Fino 1102 Undergrounding Project
Dear Mr. Cruzen:
This is in response to a letter dated April 9, 2026,from Mr. Robert Ellis that submitted a
construction authorization request for the Oro Fino underground project on DeSabla Forebay
Dam, which is part of the DeSabla-Centerville Hydroelectric Project, FERC No. 803.We have
reviewed the submittal,and we have the following comments:
1.Provide a description of the embankment fill and foundation materials, along with
information on the existing dam safety monitoring instrumentation (e.g., piezometers,
seepage weirs, etc.). Provide your evaluation of the available dam safety instrument
monitoring data (include supporting data such as charts of instrumentation data, data
collected from dam safety surveillance, etc.)and explain how this information was
considered and incorporated into the development of your proposed work plan.
2.Your plan indicates that the poles to be removed will be done in a manner that does not
adversely affect the integrity of the dam. Provide the details of this process.
3.Your plan does not include measures to protect the new electric pole boreholes nor the
holes left after the removal of the existing poles from collapse. You state that the hole
will be immediately backfilled with Controlled Low Strength Material (CLSM) if caving
or instability is observed. Initiating backfilling after the borehole walls have moved or
collapsed does not allow for the installation of the new pole nor adequately backfill the
borehole from top to bottom, which could potentially result in the opening of preferential
seepage paths in the embankment and foundation. Evaluate the selection and
implementation of protective measures to ensure the boreholes are protected from
collapse and/or provisions are made to adequately clean the borings so they can be
backfilled in a controlled manner using the tremie method.
Document Accession #: 20260611-3012 Filed Date: 06/11/2026
2
4.In addition to the project surveillance during the execution of the proposed work, include
monitoring of the existing dam safety instrumentation. Also, add the location of the
existing dam safety instrumentation to the work plan drawings.
5.Include in your work plan the requirements for the Responsible Engineer (RE) to
incorporate in the as-built construction records documentation of the actual and
theoretical backfill volumes for each borehole created either by drilling or by removing
existing electric poles.
6.Explain how the proposed mix design will prevent excessive shrinkage and cracking of
the borehole backfill material.
7.Include the requirement of not leaving any proposed trench excavations downstream of
the dam open for any length of time. The excavation and backfilling work should be
staged in sections so that trench sections are backfilled before the end of each work shift.
8.Evaluate and identify the sequencing of borehole drilling and removal of existing poles
so these work activities start at locations with the lowest risk of impacting the integrity of
the embankment dam and its foundation/abutments. This approach would offer the
opportunity for the field crew and the RE to get familiar with the ground conditions and
the borehole drilling, pole removal and backfilling procedures, and better prepare the
field crew and the RE to work in areas more critical for the dam safety of the project.
9.As a contingency measure to address adverse seepage conditions that could potentially be
created or encountered by the proposed work, evaluate unexpected conditions and
determine if materials (e.g., filter sand, etc.)and quantities are warranted on the site.
Revise the work plan accordingly.
10.We have the following comments on the drawings:
a.Sheet 7 shows the installation depths of the proposed and existing electric poles.
Based on the pole depth information provided for each pole location in Sheets 7
through 9, it seems that the required embedment depths are applicable for a range of
depths rather than to a single depth. For example, drawing Sheet 7 shows embedment
depths for new poles of 6.5 feet, 8 feet and 12.5 feet for 35-foot, 50-foot and 65-foot
high poles,respectively but the cross section shows embedment depth of 12.5 feet
required for a 53-foot high pole. Confirm the embedment depths and revise the pole
embedment depths as needed.
b.The drawings do not show the cross sections applicable for the removal of the pole at
“Location 1012,”near the embankment dam toe. Revise the drawings accordingly.
11.Update the resume of Mr. Gavin Leiper to clearly demonstrate his experience supervising
embankment dam drilling work, or propose alternative personnel with the necessary
Document Accession #: 20260611-3012 Filed Date: 06/11/2026
3
experience.For further guidance refer to our Drilling Guidelines, Section 4.6,available at
the link below.
https://www.ferc.gov/industries-data/hydropower/dam-safety-and-inspections/eng-
guidelines/drilling-embankment-dams
12.We are aware of your upcoming fencing extension work. Submit the construction
package related to the fence extension that incorporates the following information but not
limited to depth of posts, location, dam safety issue, etc.
Within 45 days of the date of this letter, address our comments or provide a plan and
schedule to address our comments.File your submittal using our eFiling system at
https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/overview. When eFiling, select Hydro: Dam Safety; San
Francisco Regional Office from the eFiling menu. The cover page of the filing must indicate
that the material was eFiled. For assistance with eFiling, contact FERC Online Support at
FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-8659 (TTY).
We appreciate your continued efforts in this aspect of our dam safety program. If you
have any questions, contact Ms. Eunhye Kim at (415)369-3321.
Sincerely,
Frank L. Blackett, P.E.
Regional Engineer
cc:
Erik Malvick -Division Manager
CA Dept. of Water Resources
Division of Safety of Dams
2720 Gateway Oaks Drive, Suite 300
Sacramento, CA 95833
c/o Shawn.Jones@water.ca.gov
Document Accession #: 20260611-3012 Filed Date: 06/11/2026
Frank L Blackett Digitally signed by Frank L Blackett
Date: 2026.06.11 06:16:14 -07'00'
Document Content(s)
P-803-000_116709,11,12_Oro Fino 1.3 UG_Auth-10days.docx.pdf...............1
Document Accession #: 20260611-3012 Filed Date: 06/11/2026