Communication

Protocols

Great River Hydro is following a Communication Protocol (Protocol) to provide guidelines for effective participation and communication in the relicensing process for the relicensing of the each of the Wilder, Bellows Falls, and Vernon Hydroelectric Projects.

The Protocol pertains to Great River Hydro, governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Native American tribes (tribes), and unaffiliated members of the public who participate in the proceedings.The primary means of communication will be meetings, formal documents, email, and telephone. To establish the formal consultation record, all formal correspondence requires adequate documentation. This Protocol provides a flexible framework for dissemination of information and documenting consultation among all Project relicensing participants.The Communication Protocol document for each project may be revised from time to time, in consultation with participants’, and will be posted to the relicensing web site The Protocol remains in effect until the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issues a new license for the Project.

Public Participation

Great River Hydro invites the public to participate in the relicensing process for the relicensing of the each of the Wilder, Bellows Falls, and Vernon Hydroelectric Projects.

Parties interested in the relicensing process for a particular Project have various options for identifying themselves and their interest based upon level of participation and formal status. Identification of these parties can either be through lists maintained by Great River Hydro or FERC. Great River Hydro has an interested parties list for each project and a relicensing participants list for each project. The distinction between the two is as follows:

Interested Parties

Interested Parties is the broad group of individuals and entities that have identified themselves to TransCanada or FERC either prior to or following the issuance of the Notice of Intent to Relicense (NOI) as interested in the relicensing proceedings. They include the tribes, state and federal agencies, local governments, NGOs, and private citizens. The initial list to whom the NOI was distributed pursuant to the FERC regulations in Section 5.5(c) was derived from a combination of the FERC mailing lists, the FERC service lists, parties identified through previous consultation or outreach, municipal officials, and abutters or parties with land within the Project boundary.

Any party that desires to be added to or removed from the interested parties list should either return the prepaid postcard accompanying the NOI, indicating they wish to be removed, or send an email or a written request to Mr. John Ragonese at the address or email listed on the Contacts page. View contacts.

Parties requesting to be added to the interested parties list should provide the following contact information: name, e-mail, mailing address, phone, affiliation if appropriate, and resource area of interest. A current list of interested parties (excluding for privacy reasons, abutting landowners) will be maintained and updated.

Relicensing Participants

Relicensing Participants is a subset of interested parties and consists of individuals and entities who will actively participate in the relicensing proceeding, working meetings, consultation, collaboration and negotiations.

FERC maintains several lists that identify parties interested in relicensing of the Wilder, Bellows Falls, and Vernon Projects. They include the formal service lists, a subscription lists, and mailing lists.

• Service List –The FERC establishes an official Service List specific to the each Project for parties who formally intervene (Intervener) in the proceeding. Additional information may be found on FERC's website at www.ferc.gov. Once FERC establishes a Service List, any written documents filed with FERC must also be sent to the Service List. A Certificate of Service must be included with the document filed with FERC. The official service list is available on FERC's website: www.ferc.gov
• Mailing List – A list of names and addresses of contacts on the Service List and contacts that are non-Interveners but who may have communicated with the FERC specific to the project or a docket associated with the project.
• eSubscription – This is an undisclosed list of parties that wish to be alerted to filings made to FERC specific to the project or a docket associated with the project. Parties on this list receive email notifications of filings posted to the eLibrary (the searchable electronic document database maintained by the FERC) including a link to the subject document itself.

Any party requesting to be added to the service list should also register for eSubscription of filings associated with the individual project.