A Canadian energy company that has a proposal to build a 3-megawatt hydroelectric facility along the Yuba River outside of Marysville was granted a preliminary permit by a federal agency. In a decision dated Jan. 7, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted a permit to Archon Energy that grants the company an exclusive option to develop a hydropower plant and permission to gather data and conduct studies for its formal license application, according to a news release issued by the South Yuba River Citizens League. SYRCL has stridently opposed the proposed project since it first became public last year. “Archon …