Byron White

“ Nor is there any doubt today that projects generating energy for such transmission, such as Taum Sauk, affect commerce among the States and therefore are within the purview of the commerce power, quite without regard to the federal control of tributary streams and navigation. ”

“ The water in the upper pool may thus be regarded as the equivalent of stored electric energy. Pumped storage installations fall into two categories, those in which pumped storage facilities are added to a conventional hydro installation, and those which are exclusively pumped storage, generating power solely by circulating water between a lower and higher reservoir. Within these categories pumped storage installations vary widely in design and mode of operation. ”

“ In order to insure comprehensive control over the utilization of the Nation's waterways, 'navigable stream' was broadly defined to include the interrupting falls, shallows, rapids and the waterways authorized by or recommended to Congress for improvements; [16] and other recognized sources of federal authority were invoked, such as jurisdiction over public lands and national forests. ”

“ The pumped storage plant, an engineering innovation of growing use, is to supplement the energy produced by other plants during periods of peak demands. During such periods it generates energy through use of hydroelectric units driven by water falling from an elevated reservoir into a lower pool. [3] During off-peak periods it uses energy from other sources to pump water from the lower pool back to the headwater pool. [4] The project is capable of creating up to 350 megawatts and the energy created will be utilized in Missouri, Illinois, and possibly Iowa. ”

“ To focus the inquiry, it is well to state what is not involved in this case. There is no question that the interstate transmission of electric energy is fully subject to the commerce powers of Congress. ”

“ The pure pumped storage installations are of more recent vintage, with the following projects planned or recently constructed: Yards Creek, N.J.; Cabin Creek, Colo.; Muddy Run, Pa.; Ludington, Mich.; Cornwall, N.Y.; and the Taum Sauk project. See id., at 122-123.↑ At Taum Sauk the upper reservoir is a 32-acre pool constructed atop a mountain, at about 1,500 feet above sea level, and the lower reservoir, impounded by a 60-foot dam, covers about 370 acres and has a usable storage capacity of $4,350 acre-feet of water. ”

“ No. 325, 60th Cong., 1st Sess., 25.↑ 26 Stat. 453, 454; 30 Stat. 1121, 1151; 33 U.S.C. §§ 401, 403 (1958) ed.) .↑ 'The increasing need of power, resulting through our participation in the war and growing shortage in certain sections of our coal and oil supply, compelled attention to the urgency of immediate and comprehensive water-power legislation. * * * (T) he need for legislation for the development of hydroelectric power at the present time is clearly set forth by Secretary Houston in a recent report.' H.R.Rep. ”