Rights to the River: Implementing A Social Cost-Benefit Analysis in the United States Hydropower Relicensing Process
Year: 2019
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Private hydropower operations across the United States are utilizing a public resource, rivers, for power production benefits. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regulates river use through a relicensing procedure that occurs every thirty or fifty years through a cost-benefit analysis framework to determine the best public use of the river. This thesis explores the structure of the current cost-benefit analysis and the effects of timing, public participation and valuation of ecosystem services in the final relicensing decision, and recommends the use of a social cost-benefit framework to distribute the natural resource benefits rivers provide more equally and give fair weight to ecosystem benefits in a market-driven process.
Author: Claire Wendle
Language: English
Subfield: Water Science and Technology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2950420582