(Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said on Thursday it terminated Boyce Hydro Power Llc’s licenses for the bankrupt company’s Secord, Smallwood and Sanford hydroelectric projects on the Tittabawasee River in Michigan.
Heavy rain in May 2020 caused high inflows in the Tittabawassee, resulting in the breaching and failure of the Edenville Dam, the license for which FERC had already revoked in 2018 for Boyce’s failure to comply with safety directives and other license requirements.
Those floodwaters caused the Sanford Dam downstream to overflow and submerged parts of the central Michigan town of Midland, displaced thousands of residents and spread into a Dow Chemical Co plant in the riverfront city.
Midland is a city of some 42,000 residents about 120 miles (190 km) northwest of Detroit.
Following the flood, FERC said Boyce repeatedly failed to comply with additional safety directives.
As a result, FERC assessed Boyce a $15 million penalty for its inaction, which the commission said would not be paid until the victims of the flood recover from Boyce’s liquidation.
FERC said it revoked the dam licenses because Boyce failed to meet the obligations of its licenses due to its loss of project property in condemnation and bankruptcy proceedings.
Four Lakes Task Force, a nonprofit organization, now owns the property associated with the projects and is coordinating the safe repair and management of the facilities, FERC said.
FERC said Four Lakes has no intent to generate hydropower at the sites.
Together, the dams, including Edenville, were able to generate about 11 megawatts of power. The dams entered service in 1923, according to federal data.
One megawatt can power about 1,000 U.S. homes.
(Reporting Scott DiSavino; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
