Professional Staff

“I love hydropower. From the first time I stepped inside a hydroelectric project powerhouse and heard and felt that wonderful, powerful rumble of water moving through turbines, spinning generators, and pushing electric current out onto the grid, cleanly, smoothly, reliably, steadily…I was hooked. Such an elegant idea; to convert the power of moving water into electricity.  I realize that some hydropower projects have environmental impacts that have to be addressed and resolved, but in the face of climate change and all the environmental consequences that will come from that, I know that there is an important place for hydropower in our energy future that is more than worth preserving and protecting.”

Wendy is a Senior Regulatory Advisor and has been with Kleinschmidt for a little over 3 years. She has more than 30 years of professional experience in environmental planning and over 25 years of involvement in the hydropower industry. Wendy Bley is highly experienced in the area of hydropower project licensing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and has managed licensing activities for both conventional and pumped-storage projects. Wendy is a trained facilitator and an experienced negotiator who has negotiated several significant settlement agreements to resolve a variety of complex environmental resource issues for federal and state regulated projects. Wendy is highly knowledgeable of regulations and requirements under the Federal Power Act, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, and National Historic Preservation Act. Wendy is experienced in dealing with federal regulatory agencies including the U.S. EPA, U.S. Fish, and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, and others.

Some of Wendy’s highlighted projects while working with Kleinschmidt include FERC relicensing; FERC compliance; Santeetlah reservoir shoreline management plan, FERC Catawba-Wateree Hydroelectric Project; Yadkin-Pee Dee River use assessment; Rocky Gorge and Triadelphia reservoir watershed assessment; license amendment; Species Protection Plan (SPP); Atlantic salmon habitat conversation plan and FERC Rollins Transmission Line EIS.

Wendy holds a B.S. in Biology from George Mason University and an M.S. in Natural Resource Economics from the University of New Hampshire and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Hydropower Association.