- About Hydropower
- On Your River
- Policy Watch
- About Us
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has the following three types of licensing processes. Learn more about the three types of licensing processes and how they vary.
When it comes to dams, size does not matter. All dams hurt rivers. Learn more about what small hydropower can really mean for our rivers by reading our "Low Power, Big Problems" fact sheet. Also check out our parody video on small hydropower here.
Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)
The Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) is a regulatory framework that requires states to generate a certain amount of electricity from renewable energy sources.
Many states already have a RPS goal while others are developing such a goal.
Many utilities around the nation include hydroelectricity in their green pricing programs- aimed at Green Pricing promoting renewable energy sources. While HRC supports green pricing programs in principle, we do not agree with including damaging hydropower projects.
HRC recommends that only facilities certified by LIHI (or an equivalent program) be included in green-pricing programs. We also call for greater transparency in the program so that customers know that the energy source they are supporting is not damaging to the environment.
A Feed-In Tariff (FIT) is a policy designed to promote the deployment of renewable, electric-power projects by providing assurance to a power producer that a utility will purchase the power at a set price for a set time-period.
Critical Energy Infrastructure Information (CEII)
Due to national security concerns, FERC now restricts access to some information about hydropower dams. Learn how this can affect you and your rivers.