FERC Licensing of the Gile Flowage

Gile Dam Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Licensing:  Xcel Energy owns and maintains the hydro-electric facilities on the Montreal River including the Gile Flowage and Dam, and the Saxon and Superior Falls hydro facilities. Xcel was in the  process of a scheduled re-licensing  of the Saxon and Superior Falls facilities, when  the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruled that the Gile Flowage contributes to hydro-electric generation and is therefore required to be federally licensed. Until this point, the Gile Dam had been managed under a "gentleman's agreement."

Friends of the Gile Flowage (FOG) was engaged as a registered stakeholder from the very beginning of the re-Saxon and Superior Falls hydro facilities relicensing because water from the Gile Flowage is necessary for their operation. FOG has become  an even more active local voice on the FERC licensing of the Gile Flowage.

Issuing a first time FERC license for the Gile Dam and Flowage is a major development for the Flowage and Xcel Energy. The FERC licensing process is complex and requires studies and stakeholder consultations. See Xcel Energy’s Gile Flowage hydrorelicensing.com for complete list of Gile Flowage hydrolicensing documents. 

The new FERC license for the Gile Flowage is expected to be issued in fall, 2026. 

As part of the Gile Flowage licensing, Xcel has decided to sell it's riparian (shoreland) property from the elevation of 1490 ft. (also called the Ordinary High Water Mark) of the Flowage to the adjacent upland landowner. The property offered for sale will be from the 1490 ft. elevation to the 1495 ft. or 1500 ft. elevation, depending on the adjacent landowner's deed. Xcel's shoreland properties were surveyed and marked in winter, 2019. Adjacent landowners are not required to purchase Xcel's adjacent riparian land, but all encroachments must be removed, the land restored to its "natural" state, and it will remain open to the public.