LU applies for hydropower exploration at Scott's Mill Dam

Liberty University is one of two entities applying to explore the feasibility of a hydropower facility at Scott’s Mill Dam on the James River.

Located between the John Lynch Bridge in downtown Lynchburg and Daniel’s and Treasure islands, the 15-foot-high Scott’s Mill Dam was built in the 1830s or 1840s, according to The News & Advance archives.

“It may or may not be feasible (to build a hydropower station on the dam),” said Liberty Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. “We don’t know that yet. It’s an old dam, and it might have leaks. But we just want to keep our options open because electricity is expensive, and it’s not getting cheaper.”

Liberty, which owns the nearby islands, is competing against North Carolina-based Piedmont Hydropower LLC for a permit to explore the feasibility of using the dam to produce hydropower.

Both have filed applications for preliminary permits with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which handles licensing for hydropower facilities.

If approved, a preliminary permit grants the holder priority to study the feasibility of building a hydropower facility at the site, said Celeste Miller, spokesperson for FERC.

“So someone else can’t come in in those three years and develop the site,” she said, but “a permit does not authorize construction of any kind.”

Before a plant may be built, FERC requires a “much more involved” licensing process, Miller said, which also involves several options for public comment.

Scott’s Mill Hydropower LLC, a subsidiary of Piedmont Hydropower, filed for the permit in October of last year. The company has four preliminary applications for sites in Danville, North Carolina and Florida, said manager Kevin Edwards. It also owns and operates two hydropower projects in North Carolina, he said.

“The James River has a long history of hydropower,” he said, referring to five facilities operating within about a 30-mile stretch upstream of Scott’s Mill.

“This would just take that dam, right now where that energy is being wasted, and make some clean energy with it,” he said.

Liberty followed Edwards’ application with one of its own in February.

Last month, Falwell said the school has been considering options for generating its own electricity since the school’s utility bill increased 40 percent last fall.

“We’re just reserving our rights by filing this application,” he said Tuesday. “The first (power facility) might be biomass; it might be solar; it might be this. It’s just part of our due diligence to see what will work, and what won’t. It’s not a simple process.”

FERC accepted Liberty’s application for review on March 6, Miller said.

That started a 60-day window in which stakeholders and the public may submit comments to FERC, and any other competing applications may be filed, she said.

As of Tuesday, FERC’s Web site showed comments submitted from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Both cited concerns of fish passage through a hydropower facility.

The DEQ “generally supports the responsible development of clean renewable energy sources,” the agency states in a submitted letter. “However, Scotts Mill dam would be considered as an ideal candidate for removal if not for the proposed hydropower application.”

Luminaire Technologies, the owner of the dam, also has submitted a letter in support of Liberty’s project.

The letter states that Luminaire has granted Liberty “exclusive rights to access” the site, and has made no such agreement with Scott’s Mill Hydropower.

Miller said all comments will be considered when FERC decides on the applications.

The city of Lynchburg also has filed a motion to intervene in the process, stating that “Lynchburg has a direct and sub-stantial interest in the issues and outcome in this proceeding.”

The dam is partially within the city of Lynchburg, and partially in Amherst County, said Tim Mitchell, city utilities director.

The motion states that, “The proposed project will impact or potentially impacts recreational, historical, cultural and other resources in Lynchburg as well as Lynchburg’s water rights and water supply.”

Mitchell said that the city wants “a seat at the table in discussions about the project to make sure that any concerns we may have would be addressed in the process. Our water rights are tied to that dam, so we certainly want to protect our water rights in the process. We want to make sure that there’s no adverse impacts to the James River.”

The only hydropower facility currently in the city, he said, is upstream from Scott’s Mill at Reusens Dam, operated by Appalachian Power Co.

In the early 80s, Apco studied the feasibility of a hydroelectric plant at Scott’s Mill, but ultimately found that the high cost of building a facility would not offset a relatively small amount of power it would generate, according to The News & Advance archives.

Both Falwell and Edwards said they likely would sell the energy that the site produced, if a plant is built.

Miller said the length of time FERC needs to make a decision depends on the number of comments submitted. However, all four preliminary permits that Piedmont Hydropower currently has were granted within six to ten months of filing the application, according to the company’s Web site.