Kern River Valley residents weigh in on Isabella Lake power project
A “pumped energy storage” project above Isabella Lake that generated dozens of negative comments when it was first proposed in 2020 is again rousing concerned comments from Kern River Valley residents.
Ten individuals have so far weighed in on the proposal, which would build a small reservoir somewhere above Isabella Lake, move water uphill when power is abundant, then run it down through turbines when demand increases. The concept is a way to supplement renewable sources, such as solar, that don’t produce power at night.
But the Isabella Lake proposal by Premium Energy Holdings LLC has been met with heavy local opposition. Nearly 50 individuals and organizations opposed the project and several public entities filed motions to intervene with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission back in 2020.
FERC ultimately did grant the project a preliminary permit, which is sort of a placeholder giving the company time to do feasibility studies and gather financing to, perhaps, someday, apply for a license from FERC. That permit expired, so the company has refiled the same proposal.
All those previous comments expired with the permit, which means residents must refile comments. That didn’t sit well with at least one recent commenter.
“Allowing a permit to expire and be re-filed should not be a way to bypass/ overlook interventions or comments,” Juliet Fischer wrote to FERC.
Motions to intervene have started rolling in as well, including from Kern River rights holders, who also intervened on the previous proposal.
Meanwhile, no comments have been
filed on a similar proposal near Rosamond by Nightfall Renewables Resources.
That proposal would use water purchased from the Antelope Valley-East Kern Water District to fill reservoirs, if it comes to fruition.
Interested parties have until Aug. 12 to file comments on both the Isabella Lake and Nightfall proposals.
The most recent filing on yet a third pumped energy storage proposal in Kern County, also by Premium Energy Holdings, is a progress report dated November 29, 2023.
It states it is in the process of conducting a “pre-feasibility” report on what the company feels is the most feasible of three possible sites for the facility. It doesn’t state which of the three sites was chosen
That proposed project would be in the mountains above Gorman (though it’s listed as Tehachapi). It already has an approved preliminary permit from FERC and received no public comments.