Interior Region 9, Columbia-Pacific Northwest Region
Lease of Power Privilege
Banks Lake Pump Storage Project
The Banks Lake Pump Storage Project proposal is for a facility capable of producing 500 megawatts utilizing three adjustable speed pump-generating units. The proposed project would use Banks Lake as the upper reservoir and Lake Roosevelt as the lower reservoir. With enactment of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (P.L. 117-58), the jurisdiction of the proposed project is fully under Reclamation.
In 2021, Columbia Basin Hydropower was selected to receive a preliminary lease under the Lease of Power Privilege program to study the pump storage project. The project is on hold until further information on the Columbia River Treaty is understood. When the hold is lifted, Reclamation and CBH will identify actions and studies needed for Reclamation to further evaluate the proposed project.
Background
In 2020, Reclamation received a formal request for a LOPP pump storage project utilizing Banks Lake and Lake Roosevelt near Grand Coulee, Washington. That same year, Reclamation issued a Federal Register Notice to request proposals from the public.
To learn more about the Columbia Basin Project visit https://www.usbr.gov/pn/grandcoulee/cbp/index.html.
| 02/2020 | Columbia Basin Hydropower Formal Request for Non-Federal Hydropower Development 281mb |
| 05/2020 | Initiation of Formal LOPP Banks Lake 211kb |
| 07/2020 | BPA LOPP Response Letter 261kb |
| 05/2021 | CBHP LOPP Response Letter 300kb |
| 11/2021 | CBHP LOPP Second Response Letter 236kb |
| 01/2022 | FERC Banks Lake LOPP Jurisdiction Update Letter 6255kb |
| 07/2022 | CBHP LOPP Abeyance Letter 261kb |
Contact
Benjamin Miller
CPN Region Project Manager
208-378-5196
bjmiller@usbr.gov
Bureau of Reclamation
Columbia–Pacific Northwest Region
1150 N. Curtis Road
Boise, Idaho 83706
