Environmental Assessments; Availability, etc.: Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC

Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment

On July 14, 2025, Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC (Duke Energy) filed an application to relicense the 1,400-megawatt Bad Creek Pumped Storage Project (Bad Creek Project) No. 2740. The project is located adjacent to Lake Jocassee, Oconee County, South Carolina.

In accordance with the Commission's regulations, on February 27, 2026, Commission staff issued a notice that the project was ready for environmental analysis (REA notice). Based on the information in the record, including comments filed on the REA Notice, staff does not anticipate that relicensing the project would constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. Therefore, staff intends to prepare an environmental assessment (EA) on the application to relicense the project. ⁽¹⁾

The EA will be issued and circulated for review by all interested parties. All comments filed on the EA will be analyzed by staff and considered in the Commission's final licensing decision.

For public inquiries and assistance with making filings such as interventions, comments, or requests for rehearing, contact the Office of Public Participation at (202)502-6595 or [email protected] .

The application will be processed according to the following schedule. The EA will be issued for a 30-day comment period. Revisions to the schedule may be made as appropriate.

Any questions regarding this notice may be directed to Sarah Salazar at 202-502-6863, or [email protected].

(Authority: 18 CFR 2.1.)

⁽¹⁾  For tracking purposes under the National Environmental Policy Act, the unique identification number for documents relating to this environmental review is EAXX-019-20-000-1774598314.