Join Connecticut River Conservancy’s virtual office hours to bring your questions about how to comment in the hydropower relicensing process for five facilities on the Connecticut River – Turner’s Falls, Northfield Mountain, Vernon, Bellows Falls, and Wilder hydroelectric projects. The 60-day period to submit interventions and comments is OPEN NOW through April 22nd. This will be the last opportunity to comment to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and influence a license that will last for 40-50 years.

During these office hours, CRC’s Director of Policy and Advocacy/Vermont River Steward (Kathy Urffer), and River Stewards in Massachusetts (Nina Gordon-Kirsch) and New Hampshire (Kate Buckman) will be available to answer your questions and help with your comments. The following will be covered:

• Main issues at stake for fish passage, recreation, erosion, and accountability
• Instruction on how to submit comments or get your towns/organizations involved
• Questions addressed in Q&A

The office hours can be customized based on who attends and what you most want to address. You can also submit a question to the speakers upon registration.

Full schedule of office hours is as follows, click on one of the following dates to register.

• Tuesday 3/5 – 1pm
• Thursday 3/14 – 5:30pm
• Monday 3/18 – 11am
• Wednesday 3/27 – 8:30am
• Wednesday 4/3 – 7pm
• Thursday 4/11 – 12pm
• Tuesday 4/16 – 12pm

Background information:

Hydroelectric facilities use a public trust resource – your river – to produce power. In exchange for this privilege and to mitigate for impacts of the dams, FERC (the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) requires that hydropower operators provide direct benefits to the public and be protective of the ecological health of the river. The license serves as a public contract that we revisit periodically to examine the facility’s impact on our public trust resource. That time is NOW!

Additional background information is available on our hydropower page.