Avista issued new hydropower license

Avista Corp. has received a new 50-year license for five hydropower dams on the Spokane River. The new license was issued today by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. It sets out conditions for Avista’s operation of the dams over the next half century, including protections for water quality, flow measures to help native rainbow trout and improvements to recreational facilities along the river. More than 200 stakeholder groups took part in the relicensing effort. The five dams are: Post Falls, Upper Falls, Monroe Street, Nine Mile and Long Lake. They produce about 10 percent of Avista’s electrical generation.