Hydro Leader June 2021 by Water Strategies

Leader ydro H VOLUME 2 ISSUE 6

Juliann Blanford of NuSTREEM: Increasing the Efficiency of Hydro’s Installed Baseload

June 2021

Rugged Trash Rakes and Trash Racks

Keep water intakes free from debris and hassles.

Gene Power

, Paper & Steel Mills | Munic ration | Pulp ipal W ater I nt

Rugged trash racks and rakers keep water intakes free from debris and hassle. Our innovative debris capture solutions were developed at our own hydroelectric facilities. So, we mean it when we say... ”we use what we sell, every day.” Our trash racks and trash rakes are easy to install, operate and maintain. Our HDPE trash racks are practically maintenance free, designed to resist rust, corrosion, mussels and other marine life. Our patented electro-mechanical rakers have no hydraulics to maintain so they provide years of flawless performance. *Electro-mechanical Trash Raker U.S. Patent No. 7,815,811 & 9,539,528

akes | Wastew at e

ti o ns r Treatment Plants | Flood Control Pump Sta

For inquiries, please contact Shane Scott at 360.601.2391 or at shane@sscottandassociates.com

NC man dies after boat gets sucked into raging flow of dam floodgate June 4, 2018 (Also: July 2019*, May 2020, November 2020)

Public Safety Around Dams - Let’s Get Started “a licensee must install, operate, and maintain any signs, lights, sirens, barriers, or other safety devices that may reasonably be necessary or desirable to warn the public of fluctuations in

Worthington Public Safety Solutions Call

1.800.899.2977

Click

flow from the project or otherwise to protect the public in the use of the project lands and waters” Section 10c, Part 12 of the Federal Power Act

See what happens when a boat gets too close to an open floodgate.

tuffboom.com

Juliann Blanford of NuSTREEM: Increasing the Efficiency of Hydro’s Installed Baseload

Contents June 2021 Volume 2, Issue 6

5 E fficiency and Environmental Friendliness By Kris Polly 8 Juliann Blanford of NuSTREEM: Increasing the Efficiency of Hydro’s Installed Baseload 12 Idaho’s Cat Creek Energy and Water Project: A Major Planned Pumped Storage and Generation Facility 18 N iagara Parks Power Station: From Historic Plant to Tourist Attraction

24 J ustin Wright-Eakes: Funding Innovation in the Water Industry at Oval Park Capital 28 T he Uncommon Dialogue Coalition’s Hydro Infrastructure Investment Proposal HYDRO LAW 32 Colorado State Representative Hugh McKean on Passing Legislation to Designate Pumped Hydropower as Renewable 38 JOB LISTINGS

Hydro Leader Hydro Leader is published 10 times a year with combined issues for July/August and November/December by

an American company established in 2009.

STAFF: Kris Polly, Editor-in-Chief Joshua Dill, Managing Editor Tyler Young, Writer Stephanie Biddle, Graphic Designer Eliza Moreno, Web Designer Caroline Polly, Production Assistant and Social Media Coordinator Cassandra Leonard, Staff Assistant SUBMISSIONS: Hydro Leader welcomes manuscript, photography, and art submissions. However, the right to edit or deny publishing submissions is reserved. Submissions are returned only upon request. For more information, please contact our office at (202) 698-0690 or hydro.leader@waterstrategies.com. ADVERTISING: Hydro Leader accepts half-page and full-page ads. For more information on rates and placement, please contact Kris Polly at (703) 517-3962 or hydro.leader@waterstrategies.com. CIRCULATION: Hydro Leader is distributed to all hydroelectric facility owners in the United States, to hydrorelated businesses, and to every member of Congress and governor’s office. For address corrections or additions, or if you would prefer to receive Hydro Leader in electronic form, please contact us at admin@waterstrategies.com. Copyright © 2019 Water Strategies LLC. Hydro Leader relies on the excellent contributions of a variety of natural resources professionals who provide content for the magazine. However, the views and opinions expressed by these contributors are solely those of the original contributor and do not necessarily represent or reflect the policies or positions of Hydro Leader magazine, its editors, or Water Strategies LLC. The acceptance and use of advertisements in Hydro Leader do not constitute a representation or warranty by Water Strategies LLC or Hydro Leader magazine regarding the products, services, claims, or companies advertised. hydroleadermag

Coming soon in Hydro Leader: July/August: Paul Meeks of Worthington Products Do you have a story idea for an upcoming issue? Contact our editor-in-chief, Kris Polly, at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.

4 | HYDRO LEADER | June 2021

hydroleadermagazine.com

COVER PHOTO:

Juliann Blanford, General Manager, NuSTREEM. Photo courtesy of NuSTREEM.

hydroleadermagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF NUSTREEM.

hydro.leader

hydro_leadr

Efficiency and Environmental Friendliness By Kris Polly

ne stereotype about hydropower holds that it deals with nothing more than massive, riverspanning dams with detrimental environmental effects. While large dams are certainly important (e.g., they protect downstream populations from floods), hydropower in the 21st century is making advances in efficiency and environmental friendliness in many fields. Our cover story with Juliann Blanford, the general manager of modular small hydro manufacturer NuSTREEM, highlights one of those advances. NuSTREEM’s new NuTECH controller uses new-to-industry control algorithms to improve the performance and efficiency of existing turbines. Hydro is also important for the integration of intermittent renewable energy resources, such as wind and solar power, into the grid. Cat Creek Energy & Water (CCEW) aims to build a major pumped storage and renewable energy generation project near Boise, Idaho. We interview Peggy Beltrone, CCEW’s public policy advisor, on this visionary project. In Niagara Falls, Ontario, the historic Rankin Generating Station is being transformed into a tourist attraction that will feature educational and interpretative features as well as much of the plant’s original hardware. Kim Viney, Niagara Parks’ senior director of business development, and Marcello Gruosso, the senior director of engineering, tell us more. As the founder and managing partner of investment fund Oval Park Capital, Justin Wright‑Eakes is on the lookout

for water tech companies that can provide strong financial returns while also solving the critical issues facing humanity. He tells us about his investment strategy and his initial investment into water tech firms Emrgy and Nala. A coalition of a dozen environmental, scientific, and hydropower industry groups, including the National Hydropower Association (NHA), has recently drawn up a $63 billion infrastructure spending proposal for Congress and the Biden administration. Zolaikha Strong, the NHA’s vice president of government affairs, gives us the details of the proposal. Finally, Colorado has just enacted a law that designates certain pumped hydropower generation as renewable under state energy standards. We interview State Representative Hugh McKean, who sponsored the bill, about this important shift. Efficiency-boosting software, modular small hydro units, and pumped storage are great examples of how hydropower is becoming more efficient and environmentally friendly, and Colorado’s new law is a beneficial recognition of that fact. We can hope that more legislators follow its lead. H Kris Polly is the editor-in-chief of Hydro Leader magazine and the president and CEO of Water Strategies LLC, a government relations firm he began in February 2009 for the purpose of representing and guiding water, power, and agricultural entities in their dealings with Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal government agencies. He may be contacted at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.

Israel Water Education and Trade Tour October 3–13, 2021 REGISTER NOW!

Please save the date for this tour, sponsored by Hydro Leader magazine and operated by Imagine Tours and Travel, LLC. $4,707.00 per attendee (with airfare from Dulles airport) $4,319.00 per attendee (without airfare) All posted prices, services, and destinations are subject to the terms and conditions of the participant agreement. To view, please visit http://hydroleadermagazine.com/israel_tour/. Hydro Leader magazine is published by Water Strategies LLC.

Services included in the package: • meeting and assistance at Ben Gurion Airport on arrival • transfer to/from Ben Gurion airport • licensed English-speaking guide for all transfers and sightseeing days • luxury air-conditioned coach • entrance fees for all visits and tours • eight nights of hotel accommodation • breakfasts and dinners at hotels and farewell dinner at local restaurant

hydroleadermagazine.com

June 2021| HYDRO LEADER

New Revenue Stream Low Impact

High Energy Output Cost Effective

Unleashing water’s natural power Delivering modular, scalable hydropower without the need for construction

u Tailrace-friendly, hydropower turbine modules that don’t affect your waterflow u Installation is easy - no site work or permits u Modular and scalable power generation 5kW - 1MW u Zero risk - can be installed or removed quickly

Learn more about our technology and how we can help you and your customers in these difficult times. We’re all in this together. Email Sales@Emrgy.com for more information.

www.Emrgy.com

Quality Engineered Steel Penstock Pipe Systems Leading the nation in reliable water transmission solutions since 1966. Northwest Pipe Company is the most experienced manufacturer of engineered water transmission systems in North America. Bar none. With locations across the continent, we’re nearby and ready to support your hydro project through design, specification, installation, and testing.

A legacy grounded in water.

Questions about a project? Contact us! Northwest & Midwest Region Neal Kelemen nkelemen@nwpipe.com 303-478-8342

Southwest Region Michael LaBroad mlabroad@nwpipe.com 909-839-3978 714-602-6022

Texas Region William Ast wast@nwpipe.com 817-304-8991

Atlantic Region Gary Lewis glewis@nwpipe.com 614-537-7549

NWPIPE.COM

Juliann Blanford of NuSTREEM: Increasing the Efficiency of Hydro’s Installed Baseload How NuSTREEM’s NuTECH Controller Is Making Intelligent Decisions to Run Your Hydro Site

NuSTREEM General Manager Juliann Blanford and Senior Systems Application Engineer Tim Chiocchio in NuSTREEM’s Mansfield, Connecticut, headquarters with the NuTECH controller.

uSTREEM is a pioneering hydroelectric equipment manufacturer based in Mansfield, Connecticut. Its original founder recognized that future growth in the U.S. small hydropower sector would rely on modern, modular, and intelligent generation equipment and innovative deployment platforms. Building on that insight, NuSTREEM has developed an advanced control technology that works on Kaplan turbines of any size. Its modular small hydro units use the same tested, patented intelligence to optimize their performance and have demonstrated proven, measurable efficiency gains of up to 20 percent. Now, NuSTREEM’s mission is twofold: to increase the economic feasibility of new, sustainable, small hydropower development and to improve the efficiency of existing hydropower projects, both large and small. In this interview, NuSTREEM General Manager Juliann Blanford tells Hydro Leader about the advantages of the NuTECH controller and what the company hopes to learn from future applications.

Juliann Blanford: NuSTREEM is an innovative manufacturer of modern small hydro turbine systems and equipment. We’re a team based out of Mansfield,

8 | HYDRO LEADER | June 2021

hydroleadermagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF NUSTREEM.

Hydro Leader: Tell us about NuSTREEM’s mission and the products you manufacture.

Connecticut, within a platform of strong global companies specializing in high-tech engineering and manufacturing. Our founders started designing a modular and intelligent hydro turbine over a decade ago, when they saw a trend in the industry toward these types of systems. Our products are based on significant technological evolutions in a long-accepted hydropower turbine paradigm. In 2014, we completed two projects, a 500‑kilowatt (kW) project in Connecticut and a 100 kW project in Massachusetts, both of which have been successfully running ever since. The five 100 kW units installed in Connecticut actually power our manufacturing facility and office headquarters, which are located in a historic New England mill called the Kirby Mill. Our equipment is designed with the need for innovative deployment platforms in mind. Our technology allows customers to rapidly build a hydro site that is economically feasible based on average energy prices. We’ve developed a lowhead Kaplan turbine called the NuTURBINE that operates at 8–40 feet of head. The brain behind this system is our patented NuTECH controller, which can be used independently on a Kaplan turbine of any size. Kaplan turbines, by means of their dual regulation, have the capability to provide high-efficiency output over wide ranges of flow and head. Our controller’s intelligence ensures optimal hydropower system output by

maximizing efficiency, regardless of hydraulic or machine conditions. This means that any variable, whether it is changes in water level, impurities, wear on the turbine, blockages, or even flow variability, will be optimized to make sure the system is always running at peak efficiency. The latest innovative system NuSTREEM has launched is called the NuCONTAINER. This is an industry-standard shipping container that can be used in place of a classic powerhouse and can house one to three turbines, depending on a site’s specifications. The turbines arrive on site inside their permanent housing, ready for installation. With the NuCONTAINER system, hydro sites can rapidly be put into operation, since they allow owners to bypass many of the costly and time-consuming geotechnical and civil efforts that traditional hydro sites require. Another big point of pride for us is that all our products are made in the United States. Our design team focuses on finding U.S.-based vendors, allowing us to deliver our hydroelectric equipment rapidly and bypass the difficulties caused by having a few nondomestic vendors. Our engineers and manufacturing team are dedicated to the products we make, and we offer rapidly deployed field support services; we can be on the ground anywhere in the world to support our customers’ needs. Hydro Leader: Please tell us about the development of the NuTECH controller and about its capabilities. Juliann Blanford: We were interested in continuing to innovate and in refining the automation of controls for dualregulated turbines. We thought that there were steps to take to modernize systems beyond combination, or CAM, curves. We wanted to find a more efficient generation system that would increase return on investment at hydropower sites and make small hydro development economically feasible. The NuTECH controller is this next step forward in automated control systems: It offers upgrades to the performance of dual-regulated turbines by using transformative technology that has been proven to significantly increase efficiency. It essentially works by relying on a new-to-industry control algorithm that optimizes performance, efficiency, and reliability. The common method to optimize the output of a Kaplan turbine is to use CAM curves. CAM curves delivered by manufacturers are typically based either on scaled model tests; simulations, such as those based on computation fluid dynamics; or results from both types of modeling. These outdated methods can produce suboptimal results because of scaling effects, modeling uncertainty, and other factors. Index testing aims to improve manufacturer CAM curves by characterizing the turbine in operation. However, we’ve seen that this testing typically requires expensive consultants and downtime for the unit under test and optimizes for only one value of head. The innovative design concept of the NuTECH controller makes CAM curves and index testing a thing of the past by optimizing for each operating point. This approach eliminates hydroleadermagazine.com

any inefficiencies that would have arisen when operating under conditions different from those the CAM curve was generated under. The monetary benefits of this approach are twofold: it improves turbine efficiency over what is typically achievable via CAM curves and index testing and eliminates the expenses associated with index testing. The other innovation we’ve accomplished with the NuTECH controller is to perform the optimization without requiring a measurement of the flow through the turbine. Optimization without a flow meter has several advantages for site owners, including a significant reduction in cost, a significant reduction in installation effort and time, faster optimization convergence, and less wear and tear on actuation hardware. Our innovation is exciting because it enhances the system by maximizing performance and improving water use efficiency, resulting in a better economic bottom line for projects. The NuTECH controller puts intelligence behind decisions about how to move water through a turbine and is a new, superior method for optimization. It allows owners to generate more energy with less water. The NuTECH controller’s patented technology enables the active optimization of a turbine’s runner blades and wicket gates, regardless of variables and without the need for a CAM curve. The increase in efficiency allows owners to generate more power. The technology can be easily installed and integrated into existing turbines and control systems and has a wide variety of turbine applications. It’s a plug-and-play installation that sits on top of existing programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and that allows us to leverage current architecture. The controller won’t compromise safety, efficiency, or control. Hydro Leader: Have you been able to demonstrate and prove the effectiveness of this technology? Juliann Blanford: Yes. We established the value of the controller through simulation and empirical testing, both of which demonstrated significant improvements over existing methods. The data and results we gathered were published in our NuTECH controller case study. We found that, when operating with the NuTECH controller, the turbine achieved efficiency gains throughout the operating range, with the most statistically significant improvements at low flows. The site had an ultrasonic flow meter that measured the total flow in the penstock feeding the site. Testing was performed with only the one turbine generator unit controlled by the NuTECH controller in operation. In order to have a baseline for comparison, the performance of the unit was also evaluated with the original CAM curve. As it modernizes, the hydro industry is evaluating new approaches to recapture energy lost through inefficiency, squeezing out every last bit of available generation. What the NuTECH controller offers is a boost to the performance of existing systems, and it can integrate seamlessly into existing systems. We’re offering efficiency improvements for all turbines, from the smallest to the largest. June 2021| HYDRO LEADER

ADVERTISEMENT Hydro Leader: Why is bringing a product like the NuTECH controller to market so important? Juliann Blanford: As I mentioned before, one of our main goals as an organization is to improve the efficiency of existing hydro sites. With the NuTECH controller, we’ve unlocked a way to elevate the efficiency of our already installed baseload without having to install new turbines or generation capacity. Our controller is offered as an optimization upgrade to existing control systems and can be applied to current site infrastructure, providing for a better return on investment for site owners while also making hydropower a leader in our energy transition to a carbonfree grid. Our NuTECH controller can be thought of as an efficiency optimizer. It integrates with Kaplan turbines of any size and interfaces via multiple standard communication protocols with existing facility controls. Because of its flexibility, the NuTECH controller can be installed on a lot of existing hydropower infrastructure. We have a goal, which we’re working on implementing through our NuTECH controller partner program, of doing 500 installations with our proven efficiency lift of 0.25–20 percent. NuSTREEM’s hope is to use the NuTECH controller across a variety of hydropower applications, from retrofits to greenfield sites. We want to simultaneously maximize the power production our customers receive from their assets while making sure hydro is a clean, reliable, and efficient source of renewable energy. Hydro Leader: You recently launched the NuTECH controller partner program. What is the goal behind this project? Juliann Blanford: We were excited to observe during testing at our Connecticut site that the use of the NuTECH controller resulted in efficiency increases of over 20 percent at lower flows. Going into the test, we hypothesized we would see a lift of around 6 percent, since the site was already using a CAM curve to optimize for efficiency. We’d like to see how this carries over to other sites, and we felt that the best way to do this would be to offer NuTECH controllers at no charge to three sites with the agreement that we would be able to access the performance data and document the efficiency improvements achieved. The sites each receive a controller to increase efficiency, and NuSTREEM receives data to enhance our product research even further—it’s a win-win situation.

Juliann Blanford: Yes. The NuTECH controller works with any Kaplan turbine. We expect that dual-regulated turbines installed at sites with a high flow variability would see the largest efficiency increase. NuSTREEM provides expert

10 | HYDRO LEADER | June 2021

Hydro Leader: What is the advantage of your controller system for owners with multiple hydro locations? Juliann Blanford: The NuTECH controller has cellular connectivity that allows for remote, real-time monitoring and operation. You’re able to see what’s going on in the turbine and control it from anywhere in the world. This feature can be turned completely on or off at the preference of the operator. The sensors can be used to monitor the health of the turbine. Remote monitoring is ideal for situations in which one operator handles multiple locations or in which sites and applications are isolated or otherwise not easily routinely accessible. Hydro Leader: How long does installation generally take? Juliann Blanford: The fact that the NuTECH controller interfaces with the owner’s controls and not directly with the turbine minimizes installation time. The actual installation time is site dependent. On an ideal site, installation could take as little as 1 day; we would then take another day to the demonstrate proper operation of the controller. Hydro Leader: Where can people go to learn more about the NuTECH controller, your other technology, and your company? Juliann Blanford: To find our case study, brochures, videos, and more, visit our website at nustreem.com or follow us on social media @NuSTREEM. We’ll be at a few conferences this year, including HydroVision and Clean Currents, so stop by to say hi and check out our booth! We’re always open to giving tours of our facility in Mansfield, Connecticut, whether in person or virtually, so reach out to us at info@nustreem.com to set something up. H

Juliann Blanford is the general manager of NuSTREEM. She can be contacted at juliann.blanford@nustreem.com.

hydroleadermagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF NUSTREEM.

Hydro Leader: Does the controller work on hydro turbines other than those manufactured by NuSTREEM?

support to site operators and engineers, making the setup and integration of the controller a low-risk undertaking. The system is designed to reduce installation effort by minimizing the extent of modifications to the facility PLC. Our approach is to provide additional performance while also addressing and prioritizing the site owners’ concerns. For example, the NuTECH controller offers customizable intervals and can make continuous program adjustments at an interval directed by the site operator to minimize the risk of overuse of the actuation hardware.

INNOVATIVE HYDRO-EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER

NuTURBINE™

Modular & scalable Kaplan turbine. Optimized for your sites performance.

NuTECH Controller™

Patented turbine intelligence control system add on. Increase efficiency by up to 20%

NuCONTAINER™

Replacing the classic powerhouse. A modular, prefabricated, standard shipping container powerhouse. Visit Us At

HYDROVISION & CLEAN CURRENTS

Questions? Contact Us! Info@NuSTREEM.com 860-724-2868

NUSTREEM.COM

Idaho’s Cat Creek Energy and Water Project: A Major Planned Pumped Storage and Generation Facility

The proposed site for the upper reservoir of the Cat Creek pumped storage facility.

Hydro Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.

12 | HYDRO LEADER | June 2021

Peggy Beltrone: I’ve taken an unusual route to clean energy development and what I believe is the West’s most consequential energy and water project of the century— CCEW. My first job after college was in television news in Great Falls, Montana. Later, when I saw that I could do more inside of government than reporting on it, I won a seat on the Cascade County commission. After years of making tough budget decisions that often had me choosing between law enforcement and public health or libraries and food banks, I searched for extra funds for county services in wind energy. I also saw it as a smart way to bring jobs to our community. Our county’s economy was anchored by another renewable energy source: hydropower. Taxes levied on five NorthWestern Energy dams along the Missouri River funded almost one-third of our rural area services. In a county with powerful class 4 wind, it just made sense that my budgeting job would be easier with more high-value clean energy. I worked with our staff to create a wind energy marketing program to attract wind development. The effort

PHOTO COURTESY OF CAT CREEK ENERGY & WATER.

he Cat Creek Energy & Water project (CCEW) is a major pumped storage and renewable energy generation project that is scheduled to be built north of Mountain Home, Idaho, on the South Fork of the Boise River. The project, which will use the Bureau of Reclamation’s Anderson Ranch Reservoir as its lower reservoir, will have a total of 1,100 megawatts (MW) of generation capacity—380 MW of on- and offsite wind and solar and 720 MW of pumped storage hydropower—and its large upper reservoir will be able to support 5 full days of full hydropower generation. CCEW has just signed several contracts with Voith Hydro to design, manufacture, install, and maintain its state-of-the-art ternary pumped storage equipment. In this interview, Cat Creek’s public policy advisor, Peggy Beltrone, tells Hydro Leader about how the project will help integrate renewables into the energy grid, capture and store water, and generate clean energy for the future.

PHOTO COURTESY OF VOITH.

A pumped storage turbine being manufactured in Voith’s York, Pennsylvania, facility.

worked. In the early 2000s, a local construction materials contractor began development on a 9 MW wind facility. Other wind parks followed. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory invited me to join its Wind Powering America committee, where I shared our tax base and job building strategies with other rural leaders by coauthoring The Wind Energy Guide for County Commissioners. You can’t build energy projects without basic infrastructure, and soon my advocacy expanded to transmission. I publicly supported and even worked at ranch tables to facilitate rights of way with landowners in the early stages of development of the Montana-Alberta Tie Line. The 200‑mile merchant line between Great Falls, Montana, and Lethbridge, Alberta, was designed to export clean energy to Canada. It was completed in 2014 by Berkshire Hathaway. All this relates back to my consequential energy project because, while simultaneously promoting renewable energy, I was knee deep in the cleanup of several old mining sites that were poisoning streams and threatening a rare trout species. My hydroleadermagazine.com

advocacy to clean up the watershed led to an appointment to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s local government committee. My years on that advisory committee opened my eyes to the crisis of diminishing water supplies in the West. By 2010, I decided to leave public service and try my hand at creating those important clean energy jobs. For the past 7 years, I’ve been a member of the CCEW team, where I have been able to work with dedicated people on a project that will bring good jobs to and boost the economy of a struggling rural Idaho county, significantly improve water supply for the region, and help the western grid reach 100 percent decarbonization. Hydro Leader: Is CCEW a private company? Peggy Beltrone: Yes, we are independent power producers. The entity was formed specifically to build this concept. Hydro Leader: Please describe CCEW. June 2021| HYDRO LEADER

| 13

ADVERTISEMENT Peggy Beltrone: CCEW is located on lands that our founder’s grandparents used for their sheep operations, high above the South Fork Boise River in southern Idaho. In the 1940s, Reclamation built a dam adjacent to the ranch. Together with other water projects across the state, Anderson Ranch Dam transformed the Idaho economy by providing power, irrigation, and flood control. We will use Anderson Ranch Reservoir as our lower reservoir. At CCEW, we like to say non nova sed nove, which is Latin for not new things, but in a new way. Pumped hydro energy storage is the workhorse of the planet—representing 97 percent of the world’s capacity. We’re deploying the century-old technology in a 21stcentury way that boosts its duration and flexibility at a grand scale, beyond current or announced storage facilities, and maximizes services for the transmission grid. Our Trybrid project powers the pumps with onand offsite wind and solar generation and stores water in a new 100,000 acre-foot reservoir.

The construction of the Anderson Ranch Dam. The Cat Creek facility will be the next generation of clean energy production.

Peggy Beltrone: Beginning in 2014, our team has worked on development milestones, such as footprinting the project on the 26,000‑acre private lands; conducting wildlife and

14 | HYDRO LEADER | June 2021

Hydro Leader: How did you decide to work with Voith, and what were the advantages of working with Voith? Peggy Beltrone: Almost as early in the design process as I can remember, we wanted to change the performance parameters of pumped storage hydro. After intense review and consideration, Voith’s technology and stability led us to its doorstep. Our engineers were able to engage Voith to precisely describe what we needed in our technology to reach our 100 percent clean energy goal and how our anticipated operational parameters needed to be met by advanced technology innovation. Voith convinced us that it could meet our challenge at every request and that a Voith ternary pump-turbine unit designed specifically for our project was the technology that could provide the wide range of services necessary for the future. We designed our project to store massive amounts of energy, reducing curtailment of the overproduction of renewables in the West, guaranteeing that those renewables operate as firm and reliable generation, and solving the impending crisis that will occur when renewable penetration reaches 75–80 percent. Second, we want a facility that performs all energy grid services necessary for this increased renewable resource penetration, so that no offtaker—be it an investor-owned utility, public power, or even a corporate entity—needs to contract with multiple facilities for these wide-ranging needs. Third, we want to provide a facility that can react in seconds to demand but can also supply long-duration energy and capacity that resembles baseload in a power station that will last through this century. We’re at 1,100 MW total—380 MW wind and solar and 720 MW of pumped storage hydro with 87,120 megawatt-hours of pumped hydro energy storage. That level of storage on its own can supply 720 MW hourly for 5 days or lesser continuous generation levels for weeks without recharging. The facility also has a reaction time of seconds to provide frequency regulation and volt-ampere reactive support even while in pumping/ charging mode. It can ramp its output up or down within 30 seconds. With its carefully designed configuration and technology, the facility can pump/charge, generate/ discharge, or do both simultaneously, if necessary. hydroleadermagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE BUREAU OF RECLAMATION.

Hydro Leader: What have you been doing to advance the project, and what is the projected timeline for the construction?

aquatic surveys; measuring the motive forces, water, wind, and solar; securing transmission access; selecting technologies; securing important local permits and advancing state and federal licenses and permits; consulting with the National Laboratories; monitoring electrical markets; engaging investors; and pretty much being nose to the grindstone to reach our goal of being in operation in 2026. It’s great now to take a breath and celebrate our agreement with Voith Hydro. Voith will design, manufacture, install, and maintain its advanced ternary pump storage equipment at CCEW.

ADVERTISEMENT Hydro Leader: Will this project’s onsite wind and solar generation provide the full amount of energy necessary to operate the pumped storage plant? Peggy Beltrone: No. These resources can stand on their own or be part of the pump load that charges this incredible water battery. The same is true of our offsite photovoltaic solar facilities, and we will use additional offsite renewable generation partly or in whole to facilitate the pump/charging process. Hydro Leader: What water is going to be used to fill the Cat Creek Reservoir? Peggy Beltrone: The water will come from a new CCEW water right. It is based on taking available excess spring runoff. It is a large water right of 101,300 acre-feet, which is necessary for an energy storage facility that also intends to provide critical new water storage for the Treasure Valley area of Idaho. We are currently under a preliminary lease of power privilege with Reclamation and will negotiate the final terms and conditions concurrent with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission licensing process.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CAT CREEK ENERGY & WATER.

Hydro Leader: How will this project address climate change? Peggy Beltrone: All over the West, rising temperatures are releasing mountain snowpack into our streams and rivers way too early. Community planners are rushing to devise plans to expand existing dams to capture the water. At CCEW, we’re proposing to store these floodwaters in a new, sizable, off-stream reservoir that can both save water for other purposes and allow it to be used daily to make the West’s electrical transmission system resilient enough to help fight climate change. The Cat Creek Reservoir will have 80,000 acre-feet reserved for families, businesses, and crops in Idaho’s Treasure Valley, which is the Boise River basin, and it makes my former county commissioner’s budget heart soar to think that our $2.4 billion project will create $1 billion in manufacturing, construction, and operational jobs, mostly in rural communities. CCEW is sized to meet the pressing needs of our time but will be built with absolute care. Given my history, I’m one of the last people who would ever want to leave a problem for a county official or a community in the future. Most recently, I was eager to hear and read about Voith Hydro’s strong commitment to making this project an environmental showcase. Others on our team could tell you about our designs for aquatic and wildlife protections, the environmental services that we will be able to offer, and our plans for staying actively connected to community stakeholders over the next 100 years of operation. hydroleadermagazine.com

Hydro Leader: What is your vision for the future? Peggy Beltrone: Personally, this is my legacy project. Beginning in 2005, I served on the 25x’25 National Steering Committee, on which rural business and government leaders set the ambitious goal of having 25 percent of our energy generation be renewable by the year 2025. However, there is a problem with the variability of renewables. These resources need to come on to the transmission grid in a safe and friendly way that doesn’t stress the grid. But that is not how wind and solar function. Fluctuations of output during any hour, overproduction leading to shutdowns or curtailments at midday, and a lack of dependability are increasing problems for renewables in the West. Energy storage, especially large-volume, long-duration energy storage, is key for making these variable resources perform as firm, dependable output and for storing their surplus production so that it can be used when needed on the grid. CCEW can absorb that overproduction and then provide the energy when necessary while also providing all the services necessary to firm those variable resources and, more importantly, all the other services needed for a resilient, reliable, and secure grid. Electric vehicles, electric heating, and the retirement of fossil fuel generators all will contribute to a significant crunch on this country’s electrical system in juxtaposition with increasing wind and solar penetration. Getting CCEW operational within the next few years will help temper this collision and, more importantly, be one of the solutions for when renewables hit that brick wall of 80 percent penetration. Experts seem to agree that if solutions are not in place when this level of wind and solar is achieved, rate payers will suffer. As the public policy advisor at CCEW, I’m honored to work with a highly knowledgeable, extremely enthusiastic team that has held steady through the pandemic to advance this project. Our landowners, energy engineers, aquatic and water specialists, attorneys, and other consultants all care deeply for the region and are working hard, not with a new thing, but in a new way. We know we can store energy and increase renewable energy, secure water for a thirsty valley, and give a big economic boost to rural America. We think it’s a formula the country should be adopting in its quest for decarbonization, especially as we’ve seen temperatures increasing and precious water slipping away from our communities. H

Peggy Beltrone is the public policy advisor for Cat Creek Energy & Water. She can be contacted at info@ccewsrps.net. For more on CCEW, visit catcreekenergy.com.

June 2021| HYDRO LEADER

| 15

SUPERIOR EPOXY SOLUTIONS START HERE

PROTECT YOUR SYSTEMS WITH +75 HIGH PERFORMING YEARS

For nearly 40 years, A&W Maintenance has provided long-term asset protection and rehabilitation services using high-performance epoxy coatings. No matter the type of systems, infrastructure, substrates, or challenging conditions, the epoxy we apply is more than a temporary fix. It will deliver the longest, strongest solution so you can focus your resources on expansion and vital improvements.

SAFE AND EFFECTIVE EPOXY PRODUCTS FOR ALL ENVIRONMENTS NSF APPROVED AQUATIC SAFE EXTENDED LIFESPAN STRUCTURAL BARRIER COATING RAPID RETURN-TO-SERVICE

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR EPOXY SOLUTIONS AT AWMAIN.COM

NWHA BELIEVES

THAT FOR HYDROPOWER TO THRIVE, WE MUST HAVE TIMELY AND RELEVANT INFORMATION FOR OUR MEMBERS. NWHA provides monthly email updates specific to the Northwest, workshops to provide education, online forums to ask questions, coffee chats on emerging issues, and an annual conference to provide a place to connect. If you are not a member yet, join us, and help hydropower thrive. JOIN US NWHYDRO.ORG TALK WITH US INFO@NWHYDRO.ORG

Niagara Parks Power Station: From Historic Plant to Tourist Attraction

The generator floor of the Niagara Parks Power Station.

ydropower was one of the forces that fueled the Industrial Revolution in the 19th and 20th centuries, and advancements made during that time still shape the world we live in today. It is therefore crucial to preserve the history of that period as well as the hydro plants that made it possible. Niagara Parks is doing exactly that by preserving a power plant that shut down in 2006 and reimagining it as a new, one-of-a-kind visitor experience. Combined with a series of interactive exhibits and displays, it will help educate the public on the history of hydropower. In this interview, Kim Viney and Marcelo Gruosso of Niagara Parks tell Hydro Leader about the history of the plant, how it has been restored to preserve its history, and its educational benefit for the public. Hydro Leader: Please tell us about your backgrounds and how you came to be in your current positions.

18 | HYDRO LEADER | June 2021

Marcelo Gruosso: I’m a mechanical engineer, and I have a professional engineering designation in Ontario as well as an MBA in hospitality and tourism. My previous experience comes from the automotive industry, designing and manufacturing a variety of components for different automakers, so working in an industrial plant is something that I am familiar with and is a dream project for me. We are bringing so many different elements together: We are undertaking an adaptive reuse project to deliver a major tourism attraction while also preserving and celebrating the heritage features and history of the facility. We are doing this with several experienced contractors and a diversely skilled internal team from the Niagara Parks Commission. Our talented group of tradespeople and laborers are contributing with their own hands to transform this plant into a world-class attraction, which makes this even more exciting and rewarding for everyone. hydroleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF NIAGARA PARKS.

Kim Viney: I have a design degree and come from a retail, recreation, and tourism background that includes operating Canada’s largest cross-country ski and mountain bike facility, just north of Toronto, for 25 years. After I sold that business, I moved into consulting and worked on some innovative concept retail stores for

major brands in Canada and the United States. Since joining Niagara Parks 2 years ago to lead its business development team, I have had the opportunity to draw from these past experiences and put them to use in some exciting projects, with the launch of the Niagara Parks Power Station attraction being a major focus.

ADVERTISEMENT address, and we see the Niagara Parks Power Station as an attraction with a global reach. Hydro Leader: Please tell us about the history of hydropower generation at Niagara Falls and what the currently operating generating stations are.

The tailrace tunnel.

Hydro Leader: Please tell us about Niagara Parks and its current attractions. Marcelo Gruosso: Our operations are diverse, including everything from culinary and retail offerings to attractions and golf courses. My team is responsible for the facilities from an engineering and maintenance perspective. Our property is similar to a small city, and we have all the same considerations, ranging from work like snow plowing and road maintenance to major infrastructure projects. As an organization, we maintain 56 kilometers (35 miles) of roads and trails and 4,000 hectares (9,884 acres) of green space, so we stay busy. Kim Viney: Our mandate as an agency of the government of Ontario is to act as the environmental and cultural stewards of the Niagara River corridor while maintaining financial self-sufficiency. We do not receive annual tax funding, so we rely entirely on the revenue generated by our attractions, golf courses, restaurants, retail stores, and other operations. In a typical year, Niagara Falls attracts about 14 million visitors, about 8 million of whom visit Niagara Parks. Prior to the COVID‑19 pandemic, our peak headcount during the summer was around 1,800 staff. We are certainly a global hydroleadermagazine.com

Marcelo Gruosso: The first hydroelectric power station at Niagara Falls opened on the U.S. side in 1896, but this station was the first on the Canadian side of the river to generate alternating current on a large scale and distribute it across long distances. It was similar in design to the U.S. station, but it integrated advancements in power generation technology to produce more power. Construction began in 1901, and the doors were opened by January 1905. July 27, 1905, was when it started generating power. It started with five generators, and more were added as the plant started supplying power to additional places, finishing with 11 generators in 1924. At that point, everything in the plant was put into generation, and it was a nearly 76 megawatt plant, which was remarkable at the time. The gentleman that started it all was William V. Rankine, and in 1927, the plant was renamed after him; he had passed away before he had the opportunity to see the plant generating power. There are some industrial plants around the facility that were still supplying power around 2006. This plant was supplying 25 hertz power and there were only a few places left by 2006 that required that type of power for their arc furnaces. In 2006, when those plants went away and moved to 60 hertz, the plant was shut down. By that time, more modern stations had been built over the years—the Sir Adam Beck generating stations on the Canadian side and Robert Moses power station on the U.S. side. Hydro Leader: Please tell us about the Niagara Parks Power Station attraction. Kim Viney: Phase 1 of the attraction, which will open this year, will feature two key guest experiences. The first is our daytime experience, which is our generator hall. Guests can choose a self-guided or guided tour experience as they explore the intact machinery, interpretive elements, and several interactive exhibits developed in partnership with our sister agency Science North, located in Sudbury, Ontario. The exhibits will help our guests understand how the power station worked when it was in operation. We have taken great care to ensure authenticity by keeping the elements of the building in place as much as possible. When people step inside the doors, our goal is for them to be stepping inside a piece of history and for them to appreciate how important this building was to hydroelectricity and to the evolution of green energy in Canada. The nighttime experience is an immersive multimedia show that will bring the station to life for visitors with 3D projection mapping and state-of-the-art reactive June 2021| HYDRO LEADER

| 19

ADVERTISEMENT technologies that will incorporate the guests into the show by tracking their movements and having elements of the show react to them. The show offers a fascinating interpretation of the story of hydroelectric power and the building of the plant. It is truly a one-of-a-kind experience, and we have made an investment of $5 million to create it. We are excited to share it with our visitors! Phase 2 will provide our guests the opportunity to explore the vast underground portions of the station by traveling down 180 feet via elevator to the tailrace tunnel, which is where the water exited the station back into the Niagara River. They will walk about 2,000 feet to the viewing portal at the end, where they will have a unique perspective on the falls and the lower Niagara Gorge. Phase 2 will open in July 2022.

shut down, water from the river was still entering it. The large gates that acted as a barrier had deteriorated from rust, so water was getting through the plant and exiting the tailrace tunnel below. It was causing all kinds of issues and prevented us from going down and doing any inspections. In 2017, we built a concrete barrier in front of the penstocks and stopped the water from coming into the plant. That allowed us to install a swing stage, the same type of device you’d see used to clean windows on the side of a high-rise building. We installed the stage on the main floor, and it allowed us to access the different levels of the plant. That permitted us to begin geotechnical inspections and a structural review. Once we confirmed what we had and how much work was required, we began conversations with Kim and her team, who brought on an attraction consultant to reimagine what the plant could be when we ensured that it was safe and structurally ready for an adaptive reuse project. Hydro Leader: How did you get ideas for these exhibits? Did you work with any existing hydro exhibits or museums?

20 | HYDRO LEADER | June 2021

hydroleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF NIAGARA PARKS.

Kim Viney: While the engineering side is important, we primarily took the approach of delivering a world-class attraction. We are fortunate to be working with Forrec, which has built attractions all around the world, including for Disney and Universal. Forrec also brought in Lord Cultural Resources, which has significant experience in historic properties and Horseshoe Falls, with the Niagara Parks Power Station visible at the top right. heritage properties. Those two organizations developed both Marcelo Gruosso: There will be two elevator cabs with glass the conceptual master design plan and an interpretive plan, walls that will take guests 180 feet below the generator hall which has been our guide in developing the exhibits and to the wheel pit, which is where the water traveled after interpretive elements for the attraction. powering the turbine. The glass elevator experience will Once that foundational creative work had been allow visitors to really appreciate the scope of the station, developed, we contracted our sister agency, Science North, because every floor and every deck has some infrastructure to develop the key interactive exhibits. The remaining that contributed to the generation of power. interpretive work has been led by our own Niagara Parks Heritage team, and all the design work has been done by Hydro Leader: Where did the idea for this attraction come our own marketing and design team. It’s been a collaborative from, and how long have you been working on developing it? process: We have worked with our paid partners and made use of an enormous amount of in-house talent. Marcelo Gruosso: The first significant work that we executed We issued a separate request for proposals for the at the station occurred in 2017. We needed to stop the flow nighttime immersive show. Thinkwell, the organization of water into the penstocks, because despite the plant being we decided to work with, is based in Los Angeles, but it

ADVERTISEMENT recently opened a Montreal office, so it’s been great to keep the work in Canada and to have a really exceptional team to work with. They understand the Niagara area, the significance of the building, and what we are trying to achieve with the show. It’s been a positive working relationship, and I think when people see the end result, it will speak for itself!

Ontario Heritage Trust. We opened the doors to the plant for 2 days over a weekend and had about 3,200 people through. People in the industry are delighted that we are taking the care to thoughtfully reopen this facility and make it accessible to the public. We have had an overwhelming response, including having engineers and industry workers reach out to help us with some of our research.

Hydro Leader: Do these exhibits have an educational intent, and did the hydro industry support this as a means of educating the public about hydro generation?

Marcelo Gruosso: I am in touch regularly with one of the gentlemen who maintained the plant, and if I have questions, he is always more than willing to help. He is still working for the hydro company, and he assists us when we need something.

Kim Viney: Education is, of course, an important part of the interpretive elements and exhibits in the plant. We are also making efforts to connect with organizations in the water power industry. Recently, I had the pleasure of presenting to Ontario Waterpower Association (OWA) and to Women in Renewable Energy. Both associations are excited about the opportunities for collaboration with us, and we are going to be part of OWA’s virtual conference in May. Both those associations have booked live tourism functions for their groups in 2022. We think these relationships will help us educate the public about hydro generation and about the importance of this site for power generation innovation and for where sustainable energy practices are going today. Hydro Leader: What kind of historical preservation requirements were you under when creating this exhibit? Marcelo Gruosso: We completed a comprehensive strategic conservation plan that determined what elements were most important for us to preserve and what we need to do from a maintenance perspective. When we started working with Forrec on the attraction side, we already had that guide, so we knew, for example, that we should not modify the generator hall where all the equipment is and should leave it as intact as possible. The main changes we made were based on code compliance, because we needed to ensure a safe environment for the public. To the untrained eye, the vast majority of the plant looks untouched. We did most of our work in the forebay, where the water used to enter the plant. We kept a large water feature, approximately 100 feet in length, so water will still enter the station, and the story of power generation can be told accurately and seen by our guests. Over the remaining areas of the forebay, on either side of the water feature, we poured a suspended slab. This new floor space will house our retail, integrated equipment displays, and ticket sales and will also house our future culinary space. The major construction work is happening on the forebay side, not in the generator hall, where you can see the beautiful original equipment, which was built in 1905.

Hydro Leader: What is your assessment of the public interest in hydropower and in an exhibit like this, and what kind of communications work are you doing to prepare for the launch? Kim Viney: On March 30, we formally announced the attraction name and opening date. Within 1 week, the launch video on our social media channels had been viewed over 1.3 million times. Our media analysis showed that in that 10‑day period, we generated about $900,000 of earned media coverage, and we have much more already secured. When our CEO posted the announcement video on LinkedIn, he had over 45,000 views. The reaction to the Doors Open weekend and the initial media reception has been fantastic, and we are just scratching the surface on those opportunities. Marcelo Gruosso: There are some important historical names connected to this plant that will grab people’s attention. There are patents here from Nikola Tesla, who had a great deal of influence in the industrial revolution and in power in general. George Westinghouse, another power giant, manufactured the generators and a lot of the equipment in the station. General Electric is another of those big players that have stood the test of time and that a lot of people know about. We believe that the experience and the story are going to resonate with a lot of different audiences. Even if they are not technical specialists, they have heard these names. H

Kim Viney is the senior director of business development at Niagara Parks. She can be reached at kviney@niagaraparks.com.

Marcelo Gruosso is the senior director of engineering at Niagara Parks. He can be reached at mgruosso@niagaraparks.com.

Kim Viney: In fall 2019, we participated in a program called Doors Open through another of our sister agencies, the hydroleadermagazine.com

June 2021| HYDRO LEADER

| 21

The United States Society on Dams

USSD MISSION: Empower professionals to advance the sustainable benefits of dams and levees for society

USSD Members Represent: - Dam and levee owners - Consulting firms - Water districts - Utilities - Contractors - Government agencies - Colleges and universities - International organizations

USSD VISION: A world where all dams and levees are safe and valued by the communities they serve

USSD Members are Involved With:

- Dam and levee safety - Dam and levee engineering - Dam and levee operation & maintenance - Hydroelectric power - Construction and modernization - Environmental and social issues - Geology - Project finance and economics

USSD offers a wide variety of technical knowledge exchange through an annual conference, workshops and webinars. It also publishes a quarterly members only USSD Dams & Levees Bulletin. Learn more at www.ussdams.org

HYDRO TURBINE TECHNOLOGY

kaplan | francis | pelton | micro w w w. m ave l . co m

Justin Wright-Eakes: Funding Innovation in the Water Industry at Oval Park Capital

These modular small hydro installations are the work of Emrgy, one of the water tech companies that Oval Park Capital has invested in.

24 | HYDRO LEADER | June 2021

Hydro Leader: Tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position. Justin Wright-Eakes: I was born and raised in Durham, North Carolina. I started college at Davidson College and finished up at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with an undergraduate degree in business administration. In 2008, I moved to New York City and started a career in investment banking. It was an interesting time to be in New York. The financial crisis was just getting underway, and there were banks failing left and right. I quickly moved over to Citi, where I worked initially in corporate banking and later in the hydroleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF EMRGY.

istory is full of stories of innovators with groundbreaking or brilliant ideas, but in need of an initial investment to get their ideas off the ground. That is where venture capital firms like Oval Park Capital come into play. Since its founding, Oval Park Capital has focused on innovative and novel technologies that can make a difference in the world as well as turning a profit. The firm has recently begun investing in the water sector with those same goals in mind. In this interview, Oval Park Capital’s founder and managing partner, Justin Wright-Eakes, tells Hydro Leader how the company was founded, the principals and strategies it uses to find the best investment opportunities, and why the water industry is an ideal partner for investment going forward.

ADVERTISEMENT restructuring and workout group there, trying to help the bank decide which distressed assets to hold and which to sell and for what price. From there, I went to a distressed debt fund called Aurelius Capital. It was focused on investing in complex distressed situations across different industries, asset classes, and geographies. It was a great learning experience from a financial and legal perspective, but ultimately was not what I wanted to do with my career. My family has a background in social activism and grassroots efforts to help those who are less fortunate. While I was a little too stubborn growing up to follow directly in my family’s footsteps, I found my own path and found ways to give back from the top down instead of the bottom up. I left New York City in late 2015 and moved back to Raleigh, which was close to home but not too close. I gradually increased my focus on the startup ecosystem, making small angel investments in early-stage technology companies and doing some advisory work focused on growth and fundraising strategy. Toward the end of 2019, after operating as a fundless sponsor for almost 2 years, I made the decision to raise a committed venture capital fund. The committed fund would enable us to move more quickly on good investment opportunities and provide more discretion and control over the investment selection process. We saw, and still see, a huge opportunity to invest in deeper technology companies in underserved markets. We stay away from most consumer-focused startups, and we won’t chase the latest fads. We’re focused on companies that have novel, disruptive technologies underpinned by real inventions in science and engineering; that are focused on solving critical problems in large global industries; and that have the potential to provide sustainable long-term value to their customers. We invest in industries that generally fall into two different categories. First are the industries in which inefficiency is driven by regulation, like healthcare and finance. Then we have the industries that are inefficient simply because they haven’t been the target of as much investment and technological innovation over the past few decades. These include industries like construction; industrials; agriculture; and to some extent, clean water and energy. We believe that focusing our investments on areas like these will provide strong financial returns but also generate positive externalities, help solve critical issues facing humanity, and improve global quality of life. Hydro Leader: In 2018, you created Oval Park Capital. Would you tell us about how your mission pertains to water? Justin Wright-Eakes: Water is a really interesting area for us, because there’s a huge amount of waste and inefficiency, but current technologies are not adequate to filter and provide clean water to recirculate with different applications. It’s a scarce resource that needs to be replenished through the hydroleadermagazine.com

use of novel technologies. We think there’s a tremendous financial upside, which is obviously important for an investment fund, but beyond that it is a huge area through which we can improve the quality of human life and solve critical problems for a wide range of market participants. We’re just dipping our toes into the water space, but it’s one that we’re critically focused on, in addition to clean energy. Of our first six fund investments, two are water related, and we want to continue to build brand awareness of Oval Park as a funding source for novel, up-and-coming water technology companies. Even beyond making investments in water technologies, we want to help drive awareness and to drive other capital to the industry. Hydro Leader: What are the two water-related investments you’ve made so far, and what drove you to invest in them? Justin Wright-Eakes: The first is a company called Emrgy, based in Atlanta, Georgia. It has taken a clever approach to hydroelectric power generation, installing prefabricated, SUV-sized turbines in existing water infrastructure like irrigation canals instead of going after rivers and streams, which can have a multiyear permitting process. The team is exceptionally talented, and we’re excited to watch them build this business and enable power generation from water sources that really haven’t been focused on before. More generally, clean energy is something that is interesting to us. Hydro in particular, which is at the intersection of energy and water, has I think been overlooked recently, with fewer and fewer dams being built because of the damage they cause to the environment and wildlife. The second is a company called Nala Systems, based in Morrisville, North Carolina. Nala has developed a novel reverse osmosis membrane based on a new material that we believe could be incredibly influential for desalination and numerous industrial applications. Membranes produced from Nala’s family of chemically resistant polymers would offer higher chemical resistance and durability than most membranes on the market today. We expect the innovators and early adopters of Nala’s products to be users of reverse osmosis systems who struggle with biofouling or aggressive chemical environments that damage their membranes and lead to higher-cost operations. Longer term, we’re excited about the potential for these membranes to reduce the operating cost of desalination facilities and improve global access to clean drinking water. Hydro Leader: What kinds of companies do you look to invest in? Justin Wright-Eakes: We’re primarily focused on companies at the seed stage, but we can go as early as preseed and as late as series A. For readers who are not familiar with those terms, the venture capital industry June 2021| HYDRO LEADER

| 25

has its own nomenclature for company stages, and the terms often mean different things in different places. Companies at the seed stage are generally companies that have a new technology, often with a pending patent application, and a couple team members, but aren’t necessarily in the market with a commercial product. If the company is prerevenue, we want it to be within a year or two of commercialization and to have a clear idea of how it is going to develop and productize that technology and then get it into the market in a pretty rapid way. In terms of the investment bite size, we’re typically investing $500,000 to $1.5 million in these early-stage companies, and we often reserve additional funds to support future growth. Our goal is for our initial check to provide the company with 12–24 months of runway to hit critical milestones. After that, the idea is for the company to go out and, with our help, raise subsequent rounds of funding at a higher valuation that is less dilutive to the company’s founders and other stakeholders. Hydro Leader: Do you make your investments in exchange for a percent of ownership or future earnings? Justin Wright-Eakes: We almost always get a preferred stock investment or investment into a convertible note that will become preferred stock at the next funding round. If it’s an equity stake, it typically has some additional protective provisions, including voting rights and vetoes on major corporate actions. Our goal is to be founder friendly, to be a good partner, and to do what is in the company’s best interest. Those protections exist, for example, to keep the founders from taking investor money and buying margaritas on a beach in Mexico, not to allow us to micromanage the day-to-day operations of the business. We position ourselves as business and strategy advisors, but we count on our founders to be the industry, technology, and product experts. We try to validate that expertise to the best of our ability before we make the investment, often relying on opinions from third-party industry and technology experts. Once we’re in, we truly rely on our founders to build their own business with our support and guidance. We take minority positions of 10–15 percent and occasionally up to 20 percent of the company, depending on its stage, and then we support its growth until it is well into commercialization and outgrows our funding capability.

Justin Wright-Eakes: I think the most important thing to know is that we recognize the critical issues in water and we share their passion and philosophy for developing novel and important technologies. Whether it’s an investment

26 | HYDRO LEADER | June 2021

Hydro Leader: If someone has a technology they think you may be interested in, would you welcome them making contact with you? Justin Wright-Eakes: They can go to our website, ovalpark.com, or e-mail me directly. Any references to Hydro Leader magazine will get you to the top of the stack. We get a lot of cold inbound investment opportunities, so anything that comes from a trusted source moves it to the top of the stack for us. We’re wide open to people reaching out directly—they don’t have to come in through a personal introduction. Hydro Leader: Once we get past the COVID‑19 pandemic, would you be willing to be a guest speaker for interested water organizations? Justin Wright-Eakes: Absolutely, but I’m far from an expert in the water space today. We consider ourselves generalists when it comes to most industries and their technologies, so I’m not sure how valuable I would be as a speaker. Regardless, I’m certainly happy to participate and to talk about funding sources and how to drive awareness of critical issues facing water-related industries. Anything we can do to shine a light on the importance of these issues and bring more funding sources to the table, even if it creates competition for us, is a good thing for everybody. The focus is obviously increasing, but it is important to understand that positive influence and financial upside do not have to be mutually exclusive and that there are good commercial opportunities that can help solve these problems. H

Justin Wright-Eakes is the founder and managing partner of Oval Park Capital. He can be reached at justin@ovalpark.com.

hydroleadermagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF OVAL PARK CAPITAL.

Hydro Leader: What should our readers know about Oval Park Capital?

fit for us or not, we’re really passionate about building the ecosystem and solving some of these big problems. We like to make introductions and provide guidance and advice, even if it’s not going to be financially beneficial for us. Our philosophy is that if we do good things for good people and expect nothing in return, it almost always pays off in the end in some way or another. We aspire to be a valueadded partner that puts gas in the tank and helps point the car in the right direction, but our founders are always going to be in the driver seat.

We’re Ready to Help

We can support you with an efficient strategy to address the updated FERC Part 12 Dam Safety Regulations. hdrinc.com

We know one size doesn’t fit all. We will apply our extensive dam safety experience to support your implementation of an appropriately scaled dam safety program. What We Provide • FERC-approved Part 12D Independent Consultants available across the United States • Deep bench of risk experts, facilitators, geotechnical, electrical/mechanical, H&H, and civil/structural engineers • FERC-required experience and expertise adapted to your specific project needs • Cost-effective dam safety program support • Staff with extensive Risk-Informed Decision Making experience Contact Our Dam Safety Experts Today Ed Luttrell | Ed.Luttrell@hdrinc.com Alex Grenoble, PhD | Alex.Grenoble@hdrinc.com Adam Jones | Adam.Jones@hdrinc.com Kevin Snyder | Kevin.Snyder@hdrinc.com Keith Moen | Keith.Moen@hdrinc.com

Ad contains images captured prior to COVID-19 pandemic

The Uncommon Dialogue Coalition’s Hydro Infrastructure Investment Proposal

The NHA’s 2021 Waterpower Week panel, “Uncommon Dialogue: Vision for Hydropower in a Clean Energy World.”

he National Hydropower Association (NHA) is one of a dozen hydropower industry, environmental, and scientific groups that have come together in the Uncommon Dialogue process, a Stanford University initiative to create consensus around hydropower and environmental issues. Recently, this coalition produced a detailed infrastructure spending proposal aimed at Congress and the Biden administration. It envisions $63 billion of investment over 10 years to address climate change, river conservation, hydropower, and public safety. In this interview, NHA Vice President of Government Affairs Zolaikha Strong tells Hydro Leader about the details of the proposal.

and other FERC-related issues dealing with the smart grid. Before coming to the NHA, I started the first North American clean energy initiative for the Global Copper Alliance. The copper industry wanted to have a proactive effort in the energy markets, given that over 60 percent of copper is sold in the form of wiring cable in the electrical markets. In my role at the NHA, I oversee the association’s government affairs efforts and am currently working on some amazing initiatives across the hydro industry, including the Uncommon Dialogue, advancements for pumped storage hydropower, and policies to support the licensing of many of our hydropower facilities.

Hydro Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.

Hydro Leader: Please tell our readers about the $63 billion infrastructure investment proposal that the NHA was involved in developing.

28 | HYDRO LEADER | June 2021

Zolaikha Strong: Back in the fall, a robust group of environmentalists, conservationists, folks from the river community, and people from the hydropower industry came together in the Uncommon Dialogue to help accelerate what we call the three Rs: rehabilitation, retrofit, and removal. These efforts will encourage the Biden administration and Congress to advance the clean energy and electricity storage benefits of hydropower while also ensuring the environmental safety and economic benefits of healthy rivers. hydroleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE NHA.

Zolaikha Strong: I worked at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for almost 6 years on an array of different issues related to the electric utility industry— everything from assessments of mergers and acquisitions and corporate transactions by electricity companies to generator interconnection, the integration of cogeneration facilities, and ancillary resource integration to ensure reliability. After FERC, I worked at Edison Electric Institute, where I was the manager of transmission policy. I essentially worked on transmission planning, transmission siting, investments,

ADVERTISEMENT The coalition’s investment proposal looks at four critical infrastructure areas and is not focused on any particular dam, river, or region. The first area is increasing federal financial assistance to improve dam safety. We propose an investment of $19.46 billion over 10 years to achieve four key pillars of dam safety regulation. We recommend providing $75 million annually for the National Dam Safety Program and $25 million annually for nonfederal dam inspection programs, which would focus on unregulated dams. The bulk of the proposal is for an investment of $18.15 billion over 10 years into dam rehabilitation, focusing on dam safety. That amounts to $200 million annually for high-hazard-potential dam rehabilitation grants, $100 million annually for the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s watershed rehabilitation program, $15 million annually for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ System Wide Improvement Framework program, and $1.5 billion annually for a new emergency rehabilitation and removal fund. It also includes $300 million over 10 years to look at funding for national flood mapping and emergency action plans and $10 million over 10 years for reimagining the National Dam Safety Program and the federal role in providing up-to-date scientific data. The second area is leveraging the federal tax code to incentivize investments on dam safety, environmental improvements, and grid flexibility and availability. There is an opportunity to establish a 30 percent tax credit for investment in qualifying facilities. We also want to make sure that there’s a direct-pay alternative for public power members of the hydropower industry. We propose $4.7 billion to provide those eligible tax credits over 10 years. There are entities that wouldn’t be eligible for the tax credits if they received federal funds for the same activity, so we’ve avoided double counting in our total. That $4.7 billion has qualifiers for dam safety, environmental improvements, and grid flexibility and availability. It leans toward needed investments on existing facilities that would allow the hydropower industry to keep providing clean, renewable energy in order to meet climate change goals, provide voltage support and black start capabilities, and provide flexibility as wind and solar facilities are integrated in some of these dams. Personally, the way that I see this is that tax credits created a lot of market momentum and dynamism in the solar and wind industries, and we want to give another clean energy source, hydropower, the same opportunity. Those tax credits would help a lot of existing facilities to meet their environmental and safety requirements and would provide some cost savings. The third pillar is creating a public source of climate resilience and conservation funding for the removal of dams that have reached the end of their useful lives. The coalition came together to say that Congress should authorize mandatory annual grant funding to remove 2,000 public and private dams over 10 years. We’re looking at a $15 billion expenditure over 10 years to leverage funds through variable cost sharing to ensure that the dams are removed with the consent of the dam owners. In addition to congressional hydroleadermagazine.com

authority, we want to make sure that dam owners are involved in that process. We’d like to see the establishment of interagency and stakeholder advisory committees to coordinate agency systems and dam removal planning and funding, to enable harmonized agency permitting to ensure predictable regulatory process, and to serve as a forum to address any problems. We also propose the establishment of a dam removal advisory council. We propose investment in expanded and clarified authorities to support dam removal through existing programs. The funding should also assist with real or perceived environmental liability in order to facilitate removal. To clarify, we do not propose removing any federal power dams. This concerns only the removal of federal nonpower dams, and that only with the establishment of congressional authority. The fourth piece is investment in existing federal dams and relevant research programs to accelerate decarbonization, increase renewable power generation, enhance environmental performance, improve dam safety, and leverage technologies. This is a $24 billion investment over 10 years and would involve working with the Army Corps and the Bureau of Reclamation. We want the funds for those agencies to be nonreimbursable, thus avoiding cost increases for federal hydropower customers.

FERC Commissioner Richard Glick speaks at the NHA’s 2019 Waterpower Week.

Hydro Leader: How has the coalition been able to bring together hydro industry groups and environmental groups? Zolaikha Strong: Our conversation started over 2 years ago through the Uncommon Dialogue process, which is an initiative of Stanford University’s Woods Institute that is led by Dan Reicher. The dialogue has brought together key players from different ends of the spectrum. Dan Reicher is the former assistant secretary of energy for energy efficiency June 2021| HYDRO LEADER

| 29

ADVERTISEMENT and renewable energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, so he understood the issues and the opportunities for advancing hydropower while also ensuring that rivers and the environment are protected. If the Uncommon Dialogue’s $63 billion proposal is adopted, we approximate that it would create about 500,000 jobs, restore 20,000 miles of rivers, and secure 80 gigawatts of renewable hydropower and 23 gigawatts of electricity storage capacity. Adding in the improvements of the existing hydropower fleet, we’re looking at a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of 5.1 billion tons by 2050. The rehabilitation and removal of 2,000 dams that is discussed within this proposal will also help create a safer environment in those regions. Hydro Leader: Would you expand on how these investments would create jobs? Zolaikha Strong: In total, as I said, we’re looking at about half a million jobs. The tax incentive piece alone could add about 195,000 jobs to the hydropower industry. The well-paying jobs that this investment would create include installing turbines, generators, and other power-generating equipment and implementing dam safety, river restoration, and improvement all across the federal fleet. Hydro Leader: Please tell us about the potential benefits of powering nonpowered dams and why that is an advantageous area for federal investment. Zolaikha Strong: While the proposal focuses on upgrading and improving existing facilities, adding generation to nonpowered dams can play a big role in helping President Biden reach the goal of a zero-carbon grid. Missouri River Energy Services’ new Red Rock Hydropower project is a perfect example of hydropower’s potential. Given the high capital costs of developing on nonpowered dams, we are working on behalf of the industry to provide the tax incentives to help get these projects over the finish line. Hydro Leader: How else can improvements at existing dams improve energy production and reduce environmental effects?

30 | HYDRO LEADER | June 2021

Hydro Leader: What are the NHA’s goals for hydropower investment and growth, and how do those goals fit in with the Biden administration’s stated goals about infrastructure spending and the environment? Zolaikha Strong: The proposals the hydropower industry is making through the Uncommon Dialogue really fit in with the administration’s infrastructure, environmental, and climate change goals. As a part of this coalition, we want to provide leadership and say that the hydropower industry provides a clean energy solution that helps meet the national climate change goals that the administration has put forward, especially since the administration has intercorrelated infrastructure spending and green energy initiatives. That is to say that we need investment in infrastructure and we also want to ensure that the infrastructure that what we’re talking about meets environmental standards and can continue to generate clean energy for the country over the long term. Hydro Leader: What infrastructure spending plans should the hydropower industry expect to see from Congress and the Biden administration in the coming months? Zolaikha Strong: There’s so much up in the air right now that I feel like, in some ways, we’re playing Nostradamus. We do hope to see the coalition’s four major areas of recommendations moving forward through Congress, and in the coming months, we want to see the full Uncommon Dialogue package make its mark on the measures that are put in place to meet the clean energy goals. The hydropower industry can contribute to that either through generation or through investment in the environment and in the restoration of 20,000 miles of rivers. It’s also an opportunity to create 500,000 U.S. jobs on U.S. soil, which is opportune for the goals of Congress and the administration. H

Zolaikha Strong is the vice president of government affairs for the National Hydropower Association. She can be contacted at zstrong@hydro.org or (202) 302‑1507.

hydroleadermagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE NHA.

Zolaikha Strong: Financial support through either tax credits or congressional appropriations can help by optimizing generation efficiency and output in addition to making environmental and safety enhancements. If a hydro project has been around for 50 years, we want to do all that we can to ensure that it is available to the next generation. We can also make environmental enhancements to improve the health of rivers and reduce environmental impacts. It can also help address the national climate change goals, which include adding more clean energy sources like hydropower into the national clean energy mix. Simply said, providing power for local communities while also providing environmental benefits is just a win-win.

I think the biggest takeaway from our time in the coalition is that people on different sides have been able to say, “Holistically, we agree. We don’t want to create any adverse effects on the environment. We want to be good stewards in the community with our dams, but this is what we need to get there.” It’s been a dynamic conversation, and I think that folks have been able to find agreement.

The Forward-Thinking Current PLAN NOW TO PLUG INTO CLEAN CURRENTS Plan to reconnect at the all-new waterpower event that’s by and for the industry. As the official tradeshow + conference of NHA, Clean Currents 2021 is designed for:

• Reinvestment in our Industry

ALL-ENCOMPASSING

All proceeds from Clean Currents will go directly toward funding the activities and work of NHA. It’s for the industry by the industry.

• Innovation and Growth

Clean Currents will showcase promising new technologies along with proven products and solutions to increase hydropower generation.

Conventional Hydropower

• A Mix of Attendee Types

Dozens of North America’s asset owners have already indicated they will participate in Clean Currents 2021—expect a strong balance between owner/operators and vendors.

• A Big Tent

Professionals from conventional hydropower, pumped storage, small hydro, marine energy, government agencies, regulators, NGOs and consultants will convene, communicate and collaborate at Clean Currents.

• Expanded Education

Clean Currents’ comprehensive educational programming will be accessible to all attendees and exhibitors and will cover a wide-range of interests—from technical content to market opportunities, professional management, workforce development and more.

Pumped Storage

Small Hydro

Marine Energy

Registration Now Open

Stay Up-to-Date at: cleancurrents.org

HYDRO LAW

Colorado State Representative Hugh McKean on Passing Legislation to Designate Pumped Hydropower as Renewable

The Colorado State Capitol in Denver.

practical side of things—having to figure things out and apply common sense. Today, I am the state representative for Colorado’s House District 51, which centers on Loveland, Colorado. A lot of my energy focus comes from that fact that Loveland is one of four cities in northern Colorado that owns its own power utility. Over the years, I’ve managed to spend a lot of time talking about hydro, solar, and wind. We actually have one of the cleanest coal-fired power plants anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere. I am fascinated by it and have spent some time in our control room, understanding what the power curve looks like and what the demand and generation side looks like. I got deeply involved in that. I’m currently part of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Energy Executive Leadership Program.

Hydro Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current role.

Hydro Leader: What was the problem that you were trying to address with your new bill?

Representative McKean: I grew up farming in northern Missouri as one of three kids. We had to figure out how to fix stuff, and a lot of what I’m doing now grows out of that

Representative McKean: As I started getting deeper into the state statutory requirements for renewable energy, I became interested in what was counted as renewable and

32 | HYDRO LEADER | June 2021

hydroleadermagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHANGLC.

s of April 2021, energy generated by pumped hydroelectric facilities in Colorado counts as renewable under state energy standards. Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat, made the change official when he signed into law a bill sponsored by two Republicans, State Representative Hugh McKean and State Senator Rob Woodward. The new law will apply to energy generated by facilities that produce less than 15 megawatts (MW), are not located on natural flowing waterways, and do not rely on fossil fuel generation to pump water. In this interview, we speak with Representative McKean, the leader of the Republicans in the Colorado House, about the motivation behind his bill; how he gathered input from all interested parties, including environmental groups; and how he built bipartisan support for the change.

PHOTO COURTESY OF XCEL ENERGY.

recycled energy and what did not. I heard from people that hydroelectricity was not considered true renewable energy because it is produced by a one-way passage of water. As I learned more, I found out that that was not exactly true. There is a distinction between pass-through resources like conventional hydroelectricity and recycled energy resources, such as heat energy harvested off exhaust stacks. It occurred to me that we had never included pump hydro as a recycled energy resource. Last year, I started thinking about introducing a bill on the topic, and I found out that the same kind of bill had been unsuccessfully run at least three times before. Part of the reason it failed was because there was a natural opposition from folks on the environmental side of things to something that might encourage the construction of more dams and reservoirs. Also, the energy to pump the water to the upper reservoir usually came from fossil-fuel-driven resources, which conflicted with the idea of pumped hydro as a green resource. In early February, we had a severe cold wave across large parts of the United States. Everybody knows about how that affected Texas. In Texas, nuclear facilities were taken offline because their safety valves were not operational, and a whole lot of power generation in Texas was shunted to combinedcycle natural gas and natural gas direct-turbine systems, resulting in a huge demand on natural gas for a period of time. Natural gas is one of our backup sources, especially when it gets cold and the wind isn’t blowing and the sun hasn’t been shining. We were faced with the question of whether we would be able to get enough natural gas at a spot price that made sense for our customers. That made me realize that we needed another source and that pumped hydro was the ideal solution—a giant water battery that is available when it needs to be used. Most people who understand pumped hydro know that it’s more of an economic driver than it is a renewable energy driver. You generate electricity during the day to sell at the highest market price by running water from an upper reservoir into an empty lower reservoir. At night, when the spot price is inexpensive, you pump that water back up to the upper reservoir. It represents an enormous source of stored energy that you can call on quickly; you can ramp it within minutes to its full output. By contrast, nuclear and coal have long lag times, and natural gas has a moderate lag time. If you have a demand side that is pulling more power than you’re offering and you want to maintain your cycles, you need an energy source that you can draw on almost immediately, and this is it. Hydro Leader: Would you summarize the changes made by your new bill? Representative McKean: HB 21‑1052 creates a renewable/ recycled energy portfolio credit for pump hydro facilities that have a nameplate rating of less than 15 MW, are not hydroleadermagazine.com

HYDRO LAW

located on a natural waterway, protect wildlife resources, and do not use fossil fuels to operate the lifting pumps. Hydro Leader: How much existing pumped hydro is there in Colorado, and was your new legislation intended more to support existing pump storage or to encourage the development of additional facilities?

XCel Energy's Cabin Creek pump hydro unit, located about 35 miles west of Denver.

Representative McKean: Right now, we have several sources of pumped hydro, most owned by investor-owned utilities. There are some historic structures owned by those utilities that are not really used, partly because the generation to pump the water uphill was dependent on fossil fuel resources, and as long as there were other resources available, it made better sense to do that. To keep them offline was often a maintenance cost issue, so it didn’t really matter. Now they will be considered renewable or recycled energy sources, so they will count toward the renewable energy portfolio requirements. Really, this bill applies to every single system we could possibly have. That means existing projects that are not used much at present, planned projects, and existing facilities that could be converted into pumped hydro facilities. Another change is that, heretofore, we have not had an energy source other than fossil fuels to pump the water back at night. With the amount of wind power that has come on in the last 10 years, we now have a source of energy that at night is currently being dumped on the market for almost nothing and could be used to pump this water into the upper reservoir and store it for future use. Hydro Leader: Are there any efforts to expand the scope of this designation to encompass power from more conventional pass-through hydro dams or larger pumped hydro dams? Representative McKean: Not yet. I think that the legislation has to prove itself. Can we make sure that pumped hydro on June 2021| HYDRO LEADER

| 33

HYDRO LAW

these smaller scales is rampable and practical? Is it a resource that effectively helps with the portfolio of renewable and recyclable energy? The bigger conversation will have to be, “Are we going to be in the business of trying to find ways to use this on a larger scale, or are we just going to use it in the ancillary ways that we do today?” This particular law is aimed at smaller units that could be used today or within the next 10 years or so. We are thinking about units that are small enough in scale to meet all the environmental mitigation measures included in the bill—that they are not located on a naturally flowing waterway, that we take efforts not to affect wildlife or fish stocks, and that we do not use fossil fuels to pump the water. Those are things that will have to be figured out on the practical side. The perfect way to do that is to take something small scale and make sure that our idea is going to work in reality. As good as it might sound to us in theory, we’ve got to make sure it’s actually going to work in the field. Hydro Leader: Please tell us about the experience of building bipartisan support for this bill and getting it passed. Representative McKean: I laugh a little bit about the fact that this is an instance in which Republicans are saying that renewable and recycled energy is really important. I think that makes this a seminal moment in expanding the conversation on renewable energy beyond where it has historically been. Part of our success is due to the fact that we had to reach out to some of the environmental groups, including Colorado Conservation and Trout Unlimited, to ask, “What is it that made this bill fail in the past? What do you need to see? How can we mitigate these concerns?” We found that the people on the other side were willing to say, “We just haven’t been engaged in the conversation, and we’re delighted to come and talk about what we’d like to see.” Bluntly put, everything they asked for made sense. Asking for their input didn’t cripple the effort; I think it was something that actually made the bill better and avoided some of the public perception concerns that have arisen in the past. When we got into committee, we made sure that everybody had a chance to see the bill. We came out of committee and worked on amendments to make sure all those concerns were addressed; then we went back and passed it. I think the vote was unanimous, and when it got to the governor’s desk, he was thrilled to sign it.

Representative McKean: I didn’t spend a lot of time trying to find examples in other states because I thought our case was compelling enough that even if we were the first, we ought to be the first. Colorado is a headwater state—there is no inflow to the state whatsoever. That means we have to

34 | HYDRO LEADER | June 2021

Hydro Leader: Are there any federal restrictions on energy designation that you would also like to see changed? Representative McKean: I actually think that this is part of that bigger conversation. Personally, I am an advocate for an all-of-the-above energy policy. As I said, my utility has an incredibly clean coal-fired power plant. A lot of people don’t like to hear that there are people who advocate for all energy resources, including coal. But that plant is a paid-for asset; my interest is in using it to the end of its life, and then asking if we can bring on things like natural gas, solar, and wind. We will probably do that over a more expansive period of time than the one that is often envisioned politically, but we will do it in a way that makes sense. Our goal here is not to advance an agenda but to help our utilities serve their customers in a way that gives them reliable, inexpensive energy. The best watchword we can have is, “How can we serve our residents better? How can we give them reliable, inexpensive energy in a way that is durable over time?” Hydro Leader: What advice would you have for legislators in other states looking to pass legislation like yours? Representative McKean: Talk to everyone. Invite in the energy companies, invite anyone who will sit down, and talk freely about what is best for your constituents. I truly think we do our best work when we focus on asking, “How does this help a family that sits down every night to figure out how to pay the bills? How does this help them maintain inexpensive energy? How does this make sure they have options available to them?” My utility actually asked us to reduce our consumption because of the natural gas station in February. I said in a speech I gave to the House that we do not want to trade the 21st century for the oil lamps of the 18th century just because we didn’t manage our resources well. H Hugh McKean represents House District 51 in the Colorado House of Representatives. He can be contacted at hugh.mckean.house@state.co.us or at (303) 866‑2947

hydroleadermagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF HUGH MCKEAN.

Hydro Leader: Would you provide a little bit of context about what the situation is in other states and whether similar measures have passed elsewhere?

use every bit of the resource we have in the state, whether for beneficial use or for its ancillary purposes. That’s exactly what this represents. I can’t speak for other states, because I’m a Colorado state representative, but we have heard from other folks that they’d like to take a deeper look at our bill. We know that there’s a lot of interest, and I think that interest is timely. In this moment, everyone is trying to find better and more productive ways of generating carbon-free electricity. If we can show that this is not only effective but practical, that’s huge.

Setting the standard. Troutman Pepper is home to one of the largest and most experienced teams of hydropower attorneys in the United States. Our attorneys have more than 70 years of combined experience in the hydropower industry and have been involved in nearly 40% of all FERC-regulated hydropower projects nationwide. Learn more about our firm, including our hallmark higher commitment to client care, at troutman.com.

troutman.com Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP

HOBAS in CANADA

From Vancouver to Newfoundland

HOBAS’ geographic acceptance is growing, with expansion into Canada. With projects from Vancouver to Newfoundland and many places in between, the HOBAS standard brings corrosion and abrasion resistance, leak-free systems and a long-maintenance free life.

HOBAS PIPE USA | Home of the 100-Year-Life CCFRPM Pipe | 281-821-2200

| www.hobaspipe.com

Sick of having endless time and an endless budget? Probably not the case, so you should give us a call!

Assura Software will help you get time and money back with our asset management and business process solutions. “Assura has provided RWCD with the ability to meet our operational challenges in real time and the opportunity to address them in a 21st century environment.” - Shane Leonard GM, Roosevelt Water Conservation District

 hello@assurasoftware.com

(480) 477-9283

assurasoftware.com

JOB LISTINGS

Hydro Leader Does your organization have a job listing you would like to advertise in our pages? Hydro Leader provides this service to irrigation districts, water agencies, and hydropower facilities free of charge. For more information, please email Kris Polly at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.

PRODUCTION CONTROL PLANNER - ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY HYDRO POWER EQUIPMENT Location: Mansfield Center, CT Deadline: Open until filled Salary: $40,000–$60,000 RESPONSIBILITIES: +S cheduling usage of production materials to ensure optimal production levels +Q uoting, purchasing, and purchase planning; evaluation of suppliers +M anaging stockroom and inventory levels; identifying and resolving problems relating to inventory and production schedule +T racking and issuing all materials and ensure appropriate locations +U sing automated tools, reporting material costs to bookkeeping and finance +A ssisting with routine production handson requirements as needed REQUIREMENTS: +E xcellent verbal and written communication, organizational, and time-management skills +S trong regard for product quality and safety standards +S harp analytical and problem-solving skills; meticulous and diligent +C ompetency with standard office computer applications +A bility to read technical drawings such as machine drawings, product specifications and similar For more information: Email hr@nustreem.com or info@nustreem.com and visit nustreem.com.

EHS LEAN SPECIALIST Location: St. George, UT Deadline: Open until filled RESPONSIBILITIES: +T his new role will support the team by implementing and championing safety, lean, production, and environmental initiatives. +T rain and implement solutions to improve productivity, safety activities, and quality. +L ead safety program to ensure employee safety and compliance with OSHA standards. +C onduct weekly safety meetings with the team. +P rovide direction for the production team in the event that unsafe acts or conditions are observed. +O ptimize manufacturing processes to attain maximum

38 | HYDRO LEADER | June 2021

safety, product quality, efficiency, and repeatability. REQUIREMENTS: + Industrial safety or a technical discipline is desired. + Minimum 3 years business operations, plant engineering, or manufacturing experience, including 1–2 years of proven success with process improvement programs. + Experience delivering OSHA-compliant safety programs in a manufacturing environment. + Understanding of welding concepts and liquid industrial coating applications. + Certification in OSHA General Industry Outreach Trainer program. + Certification in lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, and 5S processes strongly preferred. For more information: Contact Nick Hidalgo, Talent Acquisition, at nhidalgo@nwpipe.com and visit www.nwpipe.com/careers.

QA MANAGER Location: Parkersburg, WV Deadline: Open until filled RESPONSIBILITIES: + Plans, coordinates, and directs quality control program for the Parkersburg manufacturing facility. + Develops and analyzes statistical data and product specifications to determine present standards and establish proposed quality and reliability expectancy of finished product. + Formulates and maintains quality control objectives coordinated with production procedures to maximize product compliance and minimize costs. + Directs workers engaged in inspection and testing activities to ensure continuous monitoring of production in progress as well as finished product. REQUIREMENTS: + Ability to work with mathematical concepts such as probability and statistical inference and the fundamentals of plane geometry, solid geometry, and trigonometry. + Ability to apply concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions to practical situations. + Bachelor’s degree from a 4‑year college or university and 5 years’ related experience or 10 years’ equivalent combination of education and experience with a minimum of 5 years’ managerial experience. + Active AWS CWI certification. For more information: Contact Nick Hidalgo, Talent Acquisition, at nhidalgo@nwpipe.com and visit www.nwpipe.com/careers. hydroleadermagazine.com

JOB LISTINGS PROJECT DESIGNER Location: Adelanto, CA; Tracy, CA; and Portland, OR (travel 30%) Deadline: Open until filled RESPONSIBILITIES: +A ccurately compile the contract requirements, customer preferences, and manufacturing limitations of a given project into a cohesive design drawing package, bill of materials, and track.net. +A bility to work in a fast-paced environment with demonstrated ability to juggle and prioritize multiple, competing tasks and demands and to seek supervisory assistance as appropriate. +A ctive communication with project managers. +S upport the estimating functions. + I f it is determined that an applicant is qualified for a PD III position, additional responsibilities will include managing assigned low profile projects from start to finish. REQUIREMENTS: +A bility to read and understand civil and mechanical drawings. +B asic understanding of civil engineering and surveying terms and methods. +S trength in mathematics through trigonometry. +G ood computer skills, including spreadsheets and CAD. +C ollege degree in engineering, mathematics, or other technical subject or equivalent work experience. +P reference for a licensed professional engineer (PE). +E xperience in the engineering, pipe, steel, construction, or heavy highway industries strongly desired. + 1 –5 years of experience. For more information: Contact Nick Hidalgo, Talent Acquisition, at nhidalgo@nwpipe.com and visit www.nwpipe.com/careers.

DIRECTOR OF PROJECT DEVELOPMENT Location: California, Georgia, remote Deadline: Open until filled Salary: $165,000–$215,000 RESPONSIBILITIES: +O riginate and develop project opportunities; lead Emrgy through project development to close deals. + I nterface directly with landowners, PPA counterparties, government officials, and other project stakeholders. +M anage the permitting and interconnection processes and drive stakeholder engagement. +D evelop new relationships with project partners to increase market reach. +R esearch, conduct self-guided analysis, produce reports, and present information clearly to management. +A nalyze, understand, and apply statutory incentives, rules, and standards in the development process. +S upport market discovery and product requirements for new applications and territories. +R egular travel to project site locations and stakeholder meetings will be required. REQUIREMENTS: +7 + years of work experience in renewable energy project development originating, developing, and closing deals. +B achelor’s degree in business, math, economics, hydroleadermagazine.com

accounting, finance, or engineering (equivalent experience will be considered in lieu of a degree). + An understanding of resource (land, water) development or acquisition, the electric utility industry, solar and energy storage technology, and/or energy markets. + Direct experience developing/negotiating PPAs and utilizing existing regulatory structures to sell power. + Previous experience interacting directly with landowners, and state government officials, and other project stakeholders. + Working knowledge of project-based financial models. + Top-notch written, verbal, and presentation communication skills. + Initiative and a sense of urgency. For more info: Contact Lee Humphrey, operations manager, at lee@emrgy.com, or visit emrgy.com/careers/.

PPA BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Location: Georgia, Remote Deadline: Open until filled Salary: $75,000–$120,000 RESPONSIBILITIES: + Originate customers to purchase power from the Emrgy water turbines at rates necessary to deliver value to meet project hurdle rates. + Understand and develop strategies to navigate applicable regulatory frameworks to sell power. + Work with legal counsel to develop and negotiate PPAs or other off take agreements with customers. + Coordinate with the broader commercial team to prioritize targets and create strategy to connect water resources with customers to purchase power. + Create customer proposals and presentations demonstrating the benefits, value, and financial payback. +U se financial modeling tools to calculate cost of energy, payback period, and project IRR. +M eet with clients, as part of the sales team, for sales presentations, and to develop customer offering. +P rovide timely response to customer requests during the origination and development process. +D evelop and maintain core knowledge of Emrgy’s technology, product offering, and sales strategy. +A cquire new customers by winning them over from competitors and discovering new opportunities. REQUIREMENTS: +B achelor’s degree or equivalent experience. +5 + years of energy experience. +D emonstrated success originating, negotiating, and reaching agreement on PPAs or other offtake agreements. +B e curious and excited to learn about the many disciplines of science and engineering involved in hydropower and renewables. +E xcellent written and oral communication. +E xcellent organizational skills and a keen eye for detail. +P roficiency with Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. +N egotiation, problem-solving, and data analysis/modeling skills. +A bility to travel up 50%. For more info: Contact Lee Humphrey, operations manager, at lee@emrgy.com, or visit emrgy.com/careers/.

June 2021| HYDRO LEADER

| 39

Leader ydro H

Upcoming Events

June 7–8 Nebraska Natural Resources Districts, Papio Basin Tour, Omaha, NE June 13–16 Edison Electric Institute and American Gas Association, Accounting Leadership Conference and Chief Audit Executives Conference, Pueblo, NM June 14–17 Nevada Water Resources Association, Well and Water Week, Reno, NV June 16–18 Texas Water Conservation Association, Summer Conference, Horseshoe Bay, TX June 20–23 American Public Power Association, National Conference, Chicago, IL June 22–23 National Ground Water Association, Fate of PFAS: From Groundwater to Tap Water (virtual) July 6–8 Irrigation Australia, Conference and Exhibition, Sydney, Australia July 6–12 International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage, 24th Congress and 71st International Executive Council Meeting, Sydney, Australia July 12–13 North Dakota Water Resource Districts Association, Summer Meeting and North Dakota Water Education Foundation Executive Briefing, Dickinson, ND July 13–15 North Dakota Water Users Association, Summer Meeting, Grand Forks, ND July 14–16 Hydrovision International, Spokane, WA August 3–6 World’s Large Rivers Conference, Moscow, Russia, and virtual August 9–11 8th International Conference on Flood Management, Iowa City, IA August 10–12 National Water Resources Association, Western Water Tour of the Columbia Basin, Portland, OR August 15–17 Idaho Water Users Association, Water Law and Resource Issues Seminar, Sun Valley, ID August 24–26 Colorado Water Congress, Summer Conference, Steamboat Springs, CO September 13–16 National Rural Water Association, WaterPro Conference, Milwaukee, WI September 14 Husker Harvest Days, Grand Island, NE September 23–24 International Hydropower Association, World Hydropower Congress, San José, Costa Rica September 26–28 Nebraska Association of Resources Districts, Natural Resources Districts Annual Conference, Kearney, NE

To sign up to receive Hydro Leader in electronic form, please contact us at admin@waterstrategies.com. hydroleadermag

hydro_leadr

hydro.leader

hydroleadermagazine.com

Hydro Leader June 2021

Articles inside

Colorado State Representative Hugh McKean on Passing Legislation to Designate Pumped Hydropower as Renewable

The Uncommon Dialogue Coalition’s Hydro Infrastructure Investment Proposal

Justin Wright-Eakes: Funding Innovation in the Water Industry at Oval Park Capital

Idaho’s Cat Creek Energy and Water Project: A Major Planned Pumped Storage and Generation Facility

Juliann Blanford of NuSTREEM: Increasing the Efficiency of Hydro’s Installed Baseload

ydroH Leader