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Independent regulatory commissions

Department of the Interior Comments on Tom Bevill Lock and Dam Hydroelectric Project

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

The United States Department of the Interior's Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance has submitted comments to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regarding the proposed Tom Bevill Lock and Dam Hydroelectric Project in Pickens County, Alabama. The project, submitted by Bevill Hydroelectric, LLC., aims to study the feasibility of a hydropower project at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Tom Bevill Lock and Dam. The proposed project would generate approximately 59.6 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually. However, the Department of the Interior has expressed concerns regarding the potential impacts on aquatic and riparian habitats, as well as species diversity.

Key Takeaways:

  • The proposed project would consist of an intake structure, a powerhouse, a dredged tailrace channel, and a transmission line, with an estimated annual generation of 59.6 gigawatt-hours.
  • The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service aims to protect, enhance, and restore aquatic and riparian habitats and species as well as species diversity, and is specifically interested in enhancing minimum and instream flows for aquatic habitat.
  • The Service is concerned about the effects of hydropower facilities on fish and aquatic resources, and recommends including efforts to enhance zones of fish passage, prevent and/or mitigate ongoing fish and mussel habitat fragmentation, and prevent and/or adequately mitigate for entrainment mortality of fish.
  • The Department recommends consulting with the Service to assist with developing any mitigation, conservation, restoration, and/or avoidance efforts specific to the impacts of this project and its operation on the natural resources of the area.
  • The proposed project would have competing effects on dissolved oxygen deviations, temperature fluctuations, peaking flows, and fish entrainment, and the Department recommends including efforts to promote minimum flows and create more natural flow regimes.

Statistics:

  • Estimated annual generation: 59.6 gigawatt-hours
  • Length of transmission line: 1.3 miles
  • Voltage of transmission line: 69 kilovolts
  • Number of threatened or endangered species potentially impacted: 9

Sources:

  • United States Department of the Interior, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance (2025)
  • Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Notice of Preliminary Permit Application Accepted for Filing and Soliciting Comments, Motions to Intervene, and Competing Applications (FERC Project No. 15405-000)
  • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Information for Planning and Conservation (IPaC) system, accessed 2025.

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