Bluff Spur Pumped Storage, LLC; Notice of Preliminary Permit Application Accepted for Filing and Soliciting Comments, Motions To Intervene, and Competing Applications

Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Energy Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Project No. 15425-000] On February 24, 2026, Bluff Spur Pumped Storage, LLC, filed an application for a preliminary permit, pursuant to section 4(f) of the Federal Power Act (FPA), proposing to study the ( printed page 37975) feasibility of the Bluff Spur Energy Storage Project (Bluff Spur Project or project) to be located in Wise County, Virginia. The sole purpose of a preliminary permit, if issued, is to grant the permit holder priority to file a license application during the permit term. A preliminary permit does not authorize the permit holder to perform any land-disturbing activities or otherwise enter upon lands or waters owned by others without the owners' express permission. The proposed Bluff Spur Project would consist of the following: (1) a new excavated upper reservoir having a surface area of 70 acres and a total storage capacity of approximately 2,400 acre-feet at a normal maximum water surface elevation of 3,620 feet North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88); (2) a new 1,140-foot-long, 150-foot-high earthen embankment type dam forming a lower reservoir having a surface area of 70 acres and a total storage capacity of approximately 2,400 acre-feet at a normal maximum water surface elevation of 2,280 feet NAVD88; (3) a 15-foot-diameter, 5,000-foot-long concrete and steel-lined tunnel connecting the upper and lower reservoirs and bifurcating at the powerhouse; (4) a new 100-foot-diameter circular ope…