DOE awards PG&E $34.5M to enhance 19 hydroelectric projects

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corp., nabbed $34.5 million in grant awards from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Grid Deployment Office to support 19 hydroelectric projects across its system.

The grant awards are part of the DOE’s Maintaining and Enhancing Hydroelectricity Incentive program, and will fund work that provides grid resiliency, improves dam safety, and reduces environmental impacts associated with ongoing operations, according to PG&E.

“Hydroelectric power is one of the most reliable, affordable, and efficient forms of carbon-free electricity in our portfolio,” said Dave Gabbard, vice president of power generation at PG&E. “The federal funds will directly benefit PG&E customers by way of performance and capacity enhancements to hydroelectric projects that will continue to provide reliable, sustainable, and cost-effective renewable energy for decades to come.”

PG&E operates and maintains the second-largest, privately owned hydroelectric system in the United States, generating roughly 3,867 megawatts (MW) of power via 61 conventional hydro powerhouses, a pumped storage facility, 98 reservoirs, 168 dams, and more than 400 miles of canals, flumes, tunnels, penstocks, siphons, and natural waterways.

The utility’s hydro projects that will benefit from the federal incentive program are primarily located in Mendocino, Nevada, Plumas, Fresno, Tuolumne, Butte, Amador, Calaveras, and Shasta counties in California.

Major projects also are planned for Potter Valley, Lake Fordyce, Lower Bucks Spillway, Lower Blue Lake, Rock Creek and Cresta Cofferdam, Lake Almanor Dam, Courtright Dam, Strawberry Dam, DeSabla, Tiger Creek, Salt Springs, Iron Canyon, Pit 7 Dam, Poe Dam, and Pit 1, according to PG&E.

“These funds will enable us to continue advancing hydroelectricity and environmental sustainability in a cost-effective manner and will further propel us toward a future where clean energy is accessible and dependable for all,” said Gabbard.

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