Pacific Gas & Electric Co. submitted a request to federal regulators Friday to tear down an aging hydroelectric project in Mendocino and Lake counties, a $530 million demolition that would include removal of two dams on the Eel River. The Potter Valley Project, according to PG&E, is no longer financially fit for power generation. However, the project’s greatest asset has become the water it provides, and the beneficiaries of that water, which include cities and towns in Sonoma and Marin counties as well as the region’s celebrated grape-growing industry, have been on edge about losing supplies. … Under PG&E’s proposal, a new agency run by local communities would take over some of the existing project facilities and continue water shipments. The agency, though, wouldn’t be able to ship as much water and would likely charge more for it.

Other Potter Valley Project news:

• Lake County News (Lakeport, Calif.): PG&E files final surrender application and decommissioning plan for Potter Valley Project
• The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.): PG&E files long-awaited application to decommission Potter Valley Project, opening public comment window
• The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.): Editorial: Two-basin solution offers water security
• The Ukiah Daily Journal (Calif.): PG&E files surrender application for Potter Valley Project
• Lost Coast Outpost (Eureka, Calif.): PG&E files its application to surrender its hydropower license, paving the way for the removal of the Potter Valley Dams on the Eel River