The United States federal government may reject a long-delayed, controversial plan to build an underground hydroelectric power plant near the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Crown Hydro LLC obtained a license for a 3.4-megawatt plant powered by the Mississippi River, 13 years ago but the project stalled due to opposition from local activists and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, owners of the proposed site.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission sent notice that it may revoke the license stating that the company “has failed to complete construction of the project as licensed and findings fail to show it can do so in the near future.”
Tim Keane, an attorney for Crown Hydro said that the company plans to file a motion to intervene before the deadline on July 19th and are now pursuing using a plot of land owned by the Army Corps of Engineers.
“The FERC is aware of that — that we are no longer pursuing the location on Park Board property,” Keane said. FERC’s notice addressed the new site plan, observing that “there is still no expectation that [Crown Hydro] will complete construction of the project in the foreseeable future.”
The new site may prove to be problematic as the Army Corps has raised concerns with the new plans and use of the land would require extensive analysis and approval from the corps’ chief engineer in Washington, D.C.