As part of the process of relicensing its three facilities on the local stretch of the Connecticut River, FirstLight Hydro Generating Co. is reaching out to stakeholders who will convene starting in September to discuss recreational improvements.
FirstLight’s licenses, issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), last for 50 years, and locally govern a hydro-pump facility at Northfield Mountain and two hydro-electric dams in Turners Falls.
The recreational aspect of relicensing in particular involves Montague, Gill, Northfield and Erving. In its relicensing application, FirstLight is proposing several enhancements to existing recreation sites, as well as several new or modified recreation sites. The final license application proposes more than $5.6 million in recreation improvements as part of relicensing.
Carter Wall, FirstLight’s manager of government affairs and community relations, said in an email that the licensing is a federal-level process that “has coupled FirstLight’s application with other relicensing applications for dams upriver that are owned by other entities.” With its 1968 license expiring, extending the company’s involvement with the Turners Falls Dam for another 50-year period has been a process that has spanned several years.
“It’s been at least a seven-year process,” Montague Town Planner Walter Ramsey noted.
Discussing the stakeholder meetings during a Gill Selectboard meeting on Monday, Gill Town Administrator Ray Purington said he plans to attend the first meeting associated with the settlement process on behalf of Gill on Sept. 10, at 10 a.m. The meeting agenda includes discussion of river access and camping, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance and downtown Turners Falls development/fishway viewing. Three potential follow-up meetings are scheduled for Sept. 30, Oct. 15 and Oct. 29.
The Selectboard discussed desires for development, such as the eventual implementation of a new public access park on the Gill side of the Connecticut River. Members decided to use the first meeting of stakeholders to gauge their level of involvement going forward. Purington said that for the meeting, “having the Conservation Commission present wouldn’t hurt.”
In addition to inviting collaboration from town representatives, Wall said in an email that “FirstLight has already held 80+ stakeholder meetings with state, local, regional, recreation groups, environmental organizations, Indigenous communities and organizations.”
Wall also noted the state Department of Environmental Protection “requested that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) extend the process until November 2021 to give FirstLight more time to engage stakeholders, which is a request that FirstLight supported.”
Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-772-0261, ext. 261 or jmendoza@recorder.com.
2021-0816 FirstLight Re-licensing AFLA Executive Summary by Julian Mendoza on Scribd