U.S. Hydropower Relicensing and License Surrender Database (2026) -------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY ------- Keywords: relicense, license surrender, hydropower, water power, hydroelectricity, hydropower market, hydropower plants, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Department of Energy, Water Power Technologies Office, ORNL, DOE Originator: Oak Ridge National Laboratory Creator: Megan Johnson (johnsonmm@ornl.gov) and Rocio Uria Martinez (uriamartiner@ornl.gov) Publication Date: 2026-05-04 00:00:00 Updated: nan Online Linkage: U.S. Hydropower Relicensing and License Surrender Data and Metadata, 2026 – Hydrosource Dataset ID: U.S. Hydropower Relicensing and License Surrender database DOI: 10.21951/HMR_RelicenseSurrender/3031244  Description: U.S. Hydropower Relicensing and License Surrender database is a snapshot (as of December 31, 2025) of locations and key characteristics of U.S. hydropower projects that are in the relicensing or license surrender process. Purpose: For use within geographic informatin system (GIS), databases, statistical software, or applications. Coverage: Conterminous United States, Alaska, and Hawaii. Coordinate System: GCS_North_American_1983 (WKID: 4269 Authority: EPSG) Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: Once per year Type: Spreadsheet Format: Microsoft Excel Version: 2026 Contact Instructions: Megan Johnson: johnsonmm@ornl.gov Citation: Megan M. Johnson and Rocio Uría-Martínez. 2026. U.S. Hydropower Relicensing and License Surrender Data and Metadata, 2026. HydroSource. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. DOI: 10.21951/HMR_RelicenseSurrender/3031244  Use Constraints: The distributor shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of this data, based on the description of appropriate/inappropriate uses described in this metadata document. It is strongly recommended that this data is directly acquired from the distributor and not indirectly through other sources which may have changed the data in some way. ORNL should be acknowledged using the citation above as the data source in products derived from these data. Dataset Credit: Funding and support were provided by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, Hydropower and Hydrokinetic Office through Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the DOE under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725. ACRONYMS AND NOMENCLATURE -------------------------- EHA: Existing Hydropower Assets HY: Hydropower PSH: Pumped Storage Hydropower Reclamation: US Bureau of Reclamation TVA: Tennessee Valley Authority USACE: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers NID: National Inventory of Dams NOI: Notice of Intent Status:: Submitted NOI to Relicense - Projects for which submitted a Notice Of Intent (NOI) to file a relicense application to FERC Proc_type: ALP - Alternative Licensing Process FIELD DESCRIPTIONS ------------------ FERC_docket: Unit: nan Unique: Yes Description: The unique reference number assigned by OSEC (Office of the Secretary) for each new case or application filed with FERC. The Docket Number format can have as many as ten characters or as few as four. Both Alpha and numeric characters are used. After issuance, this number cannot be modified. FERC dockets starting with P- correspond to projects seeking a FERC license. Source: FERC EHA_PtID: Unit: nan Unique: Yes Description: Identification code of each hydropower plant feature. Provides functional linkage to other datasets within EHA Source: EHA Project_name: Unit: nan Unique: No Description: Hydropower project name Source: FERC Project_licensee: Unit: nan Unique: No Description: The current licensee of the hydropower project Source: FERC Licensee_type: Unit: nan Unique: No Description: The type of licensee of the hydropower project (e.g., cooperative, investor-owned utility, municipal, political subdivision, private non-utility, or state agency) Source: EHA Waterway: Unit: nan Unique: No Description: Water source where the hydropower project is located Source: FERC Project_type: Unit: nan Unique: No Description: Whether the project is hydropower or pumped storage hydropower Source: EHA Latitude: Unit: Decimal Degrees Unique: Yes Description: Latitude coordinate Source: EHA Longitude: Unit: Decimal Degrees Unique: Yes Description: Longitude coordinate Source: EHA State: Unit: nan Unique: No Description: U.S. state abbreviation Source: FERC NOI_date: Unit: nan Unique: No Description: The date in which the licensee submitted its notice of intent to file a relicense application or a license/exemption surrender Source: FERC Application_date: Unit: nan Unique: No Description: The date in which the licensee submitted its relicense application or a license/exemption surrender application Source: FERC Proc_type: Unit: nan Unique: No Description: The type of licensing process (ALP/TLP/ILP) Source: FERC FcIssue: Unit: nan Unique: No Description: The date in when FERC issued the relicense or surrender(covers relicenses and surrenders issued since 2007) Source: FERC FcExpire: Unit: nan Unique: No Description: The date when the FERC issued relicense expires Source: FERC Mode_new: Unit: nan Unique: No Description: The operation mode according to the newest relicense Source: FERC Status: Unit: nan Unique: No Description: At what point in the relicensing/surrender process the project was in as of December 31, 2025. See Acronyms and Nomenclature for more details. Source: FERC Settlement: Unit: Binary Unique: No Description: If 1, there is a settlement agreement submitted to FERC as a part of the relicensing process, 0 if not. Source: FERC Construction: Unit: Binary Unique: No Description: If 1, there is planned construction as a part of the relicense, 0 if not. Source: FERC T_G_investment: Unit: Binary Unique: No Description: If 1, there is planned investment in turbine(s)/generator(s) as a part of the relicense, 0 if not. Source: FERC Capacity_new_MW: Unit: Megawatts Unique: No Description: Total capacity from hydraulic turbine-generator units within the project for the new license Source: FERC Capacity_old_MW: Unit: Megawatts Unique: No Description: Total capacity from hydraulic turbine-generator units within the project Source: FERC Dam_removal: Unit: nan Unique: No Description: Whether a dam was removed as part of the surrendered license Source: FERC Reason_category: Unit: nan Unique: No Description: Why the owner has decided to surrender the project Source: FERC NOTES ABOUT RELICENSES AND SURRENDERS -------------------------------------- This dataset includes two detailed worksheets: Relicenses and Surrenders. Each row represents an individual hydropower project undergoing relicensing or license surrender processes with FERC. Fields in these sheets follow the definitions above.