Ela Dam License Surrender

Recently, FERC accepted Northbrook’s application to surrender its license for the Ela Dam on the Oconaluftee River in Swain County. That does not mean the license has been surrendered but only that FERC has started to formally process the surrender application. You can see the FERC filing here: https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/filelist?accession_num=20240212-3013. FERC’s acceptance of the application kicks off a 30-day comment and intervention period that concludes on March 13. We thought it would be worth having a quick phone call to update everyone on the next steps in this process and talk about the potential to submit supportive information.  The Southern Environmental Law Center is organizing people to discuss.  If you are interested in learning more or getting involved, then email:

Patrick Hunter (he/him)

Asheville Office Managing Attorney

Southern Environmental Law Center

phunter@selcnc.org