Preliminary analysis of legal obstacles and incentives to the development of low-head hydroelectric power in the Northeastern United States

• Main Authors: Brown, P. W., Buxton, A. W.
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: 13 HYDRO ENERGY; 29 ENERGY PLANNING; POLICY AND ECONOMY; CONNECTICUT; LOW-HEAD HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANTS; DELAWARE; ILLINOIS; INDIANA; KENTUCKY; LEGAL ASPECTS; MAINE; MARYLAND; MASSACHUSETTS; MICHIGAN; NEW HAMPSHIRE; NEW JERSEY; NEW YORK; OHIO; PENNSYLVANIA; RHODE ISLAND; VERMONT; VIRGINIA; WEST VIRGINIA; WISCONSIN; ECONOMICS; ENERGY SOURCE DEVELOPMENT; FINANCIAL INCENTIVES; NATIONAL GOVERNMENT; POPULATION DYNAMICS; REGULATIONS; STATE GOVERNMENT; USA; CENTRAL REGION; GREAT LAKES REGION; HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANTS; MID-ATLANTIC REGION; NORTH AMERICA; NORTH ATLANTIC REGION; POWER PLANTS; SOUTHEAST REGION; Low Head; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/6220694; https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6220694; https://doi.org/10.2172/6220694

This report presents a preliminary analysis of the legal obstacles and incentives to the development of the low-head hydroelectric potential of the nineteen states making up the northeastern quandrant of the U.S. The intended subject matters of the report are the statutes and case laws of the nineteen states and the Federal government which affect developers of small dams. The actual subject matters of this report are the legal uncertainty which confronts the developer of small dams and the regulatory burden to which the developer may be subjected once the uncertainty is resolved. The objective has been to locate and describe the laws and doctrines which directly or indirectly affect developers of small dams. The report reaches no final conclusion concerning the nature or impact of any particular law or doctrine on the developer of small dams. For ease of analysis, the mythical State of Hydrovania is described and its regulatory and legal systems analyzed.