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<br /> <br />,. <br /> <br />projects before final jungments as to their feasibility can be . <br />rendered. Finally, the Grand Mesa project will have to apply to . <br />the Federal Energy Requlatory Commission (FERC) for a preliminary <br />permit prior to being licensed. Once a permit is issued, a 24 or <br />36 months period is provided for the studies to be conducted upon <br />which a license request is based and forwarded to FERC. <br /> <br />project layout and cost estimates could be significantly <br />impacted by these yet to be performed analyses, thereby affecting <br />project feasibility. Furthermore, neither of these projects has <br />yet been studied to the level of detail required in the past <br />before the Board acted to recommend a project for authorization. <br /> <br />Under the circumstances, it may be appropriate to defer a <br />Board decision on authorization until further analyses are <br />completed so that the cost and feasibility of each project can be <br />judged with a higher degree of confidence. If this is done, the <br />Board should financially participate in the needed remaining <br />studies. This, in turn, will raise issues concerning the amount <br />of Board participation (both in terms of dollar amount and <br />percentage participation), since the required evaluations will <br />cost several hundreds of thousands of dollars. Such expensive <br />studies usually exceed the financial capabilities of local <br />sponsoring entities. <br /> <br />The financing issues to be addressed are two fold: (1) <br />outright requests for grants (Buckeye Reservoir) and (2) projects <br />for which Board financing may ultimately prove to be grants if <br />future demands for the total yield of the project (and thus the <br />associated revenues) do not develop. The range of potential <br />responses to the latter circumstance is outlined in my September <br />30 me~o. Also, a table showing the estimated cost of the <br />projects under consideration is enclosed. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />JWM/gI <br /> <br />Enclosures: as stated (2) <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />MEMORANDUM <br /> <br />-2- <br /> <br />11/18/82 <br />