Commissioner James Danly Statement
February 16, 2023
Project No. 2816-050
I concur with today’s order[1] issuing North Hartland, LLC a new license to continue to operate and maintain the North Hartland Hydroelectric Project. I write separately to express my concern about Article 202, which reserves authority for the Commission to impose financial assurance mechanisms without any limiting principle.[2] As I have previously stated,[3] this reservation may have the unfortunate effect of reinforcing uncertainty and limiting licensees’ access to the very financing we should seek to encourage. It is imperative that the Commission take a hard look at our financial assurance requirements and deliberately determine what, if any, changes or improvements should be adopted.
For these reasons, I respectfully concur.
[1] N. Hartland, LLC, 182 FERC ¶ 61,086 (2023).
[2] See id. P 107 & Ordering Para. E (listing additional license articles, including Article 202 which provides “[t]he Commission reserves the right to require future measures to ensure that the licensee maintains sufficient financial reserves to carry out the terms of the license and Commission orders pertaining thereto”) (emphasis added).
[3] See, e.g., Pub. Util. Dist. No. 1 of Pend Oreille Cnty., 177 FERC ¶ 61,183 (2021) (Danly, Comm’r, concurring at PP 1-3).