Bad Creek’s “final license application”

A Duke Energy official projects a federal agency will act on the utility company’s request to extend by 50 years the life of the Bad Creek hydroelectric station in northern Oconee County by the middle of the year 2027.  However, Duke’s Alan Stuart says, at this point, the date is not guaranteed by “FERC”—the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.  Duke seeks to continue to produce hydropower electricity using the energy of moving water. Inside a blue granite mountain eight miles north of Salem, Bad Creek contains a 600-foot deep powerhouse, considered to have been an engineering marvel when built in 1991.  By the middle of last year, hydro power accounted 8% of the power generated by Duke Energy in the Carolinas.