From The Denver Post (Mark Jaffe):
…turning flowing water into small hydropower projects is not easy. Even a tiny ranch project requires almost the same paperwork for a federal permit as the Hoover Dam. A bill exempting small projects from the voluminous federal filings — co-sponsored by Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver — passed the U.S. House of Representatives 422-0 in February. Last year, a similar bill, also co-sponsored by DeGette, passed the House unanimously but died in the Senate. But this time may be different.
On March 13, companion legislation to the new hydro bill was introduced in a Senate committee with Democratic and Republican sponsors. “We are always talking about streamlining government,” DeGette said. “This is streamlining government.”
The legislation would exempt projects of up to 5 megawatts from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requirements. Getting rid of the FERC permit could open several hundred sites in Colorado with a combined capacity of 1,400 megawatts — equal to two power plants, according to the commission.
Small municipal and private hydro plants generate about 662 megawatts of electricity in Colorado, according to a Colorado State University study. There are 200 megawatts of small projects that are likely to be developed, said Kurt Johnson, president of the Colorado Small Hydropower Association…
FERC permitting can run from $10,000 to $30,000, which can be more than the cost of many projects, said Johnson.