Hydropower Reform Coalition - Alaska

License amendment at Lake Dorothy Project

John Seebach — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 09:06:41 -0600

FERC has approved a license amendment for the Lake Dorothy project. The amendment authorizes the licensee to excavate a "starter tunnel" during construction that could later be used to further expand the project.

FERC solicits comments on Blue Lake license application

John Seebach — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 23:00:00 -0600

Project: Blue Lake : P-2230

FERC is soliciting comments, recommendations, terms and conditions, and prescriptions on the relicense application for the Blue Lake project on Alaska's Sawmill creek. Comments are due on February 6, 2006.

FERC issues preliminary permit for Chakachamna project

John Seebach — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 23:00:00 -0600

FERC issued a preliminary permit for a proposed 330MW project on the Chakachamna River in Alaska. From FERC's Order Issuing Preliminary Permit (for docket P-12660):

The proposed Chakachamna Hydroelectric Project would be located at the existing Chakachamna Lake on the Chakachamna River in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska.

The proposed project would operate in run-of-river mode using the existing Chakachamna Lake, having a surface area of 17,842 acres at the historic maximum normal water surface elevation of 1,155 feet. The proposed project would raise the lake from its present 1,142-foot elevation level to its historic maximum normal water surface elevation of 1,155 feet and would consist of the following new facilities: (1) a proposed 49-foot-high, 600-foot-long rock-fill dam at the Chakachamna Lake outlet, (2) spillway with a crest elevation of 1,155 feet, (3) a 10-mile-long, 24-foot-diameter concrete power tunnel, (4) four 10-foot-diameter steel-lined penstocks with upstream gates located in a gate chamber adjacent to the powerhouse, (5) a powerhouse containing four generating units with a total installed capacity of 330 megawatts, (6) two 230-kilovolt transmission lines, each approximately 42 miles long each, connecting to an existing power line, and (7) appurtenant facilities.

Hydropower License Approved for Alaska's Glacier Bay Nat'l Park

John Seebach — Thu, 28 Oct 2004 07:00:00 -0500

Project: Falls Creek : P-11659

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a surprise on Wednesday when it granted Gustavus Electric Company a license to construct a hydropower project in Glacier Bay National Park.

The project is authorized by a law sponsored by then-Senator now-Governor Frank Murkowski. The law allows for a land exchange between state and federal lands upon joint review and approval from FERC and the National Park Service.

(A copy of the 1998 law is attached at the bottom of this article)

Conservationists, led by the Sierra Club and Friends of Glacier Bay, oppose the boondoggle, and have pushed for Gustavus Electric to mine other less impactful and sustainable energy sources. The 450 beneficiary residents of Gustavus are also skeptical about the merits of this hydropower proposal. In fact, an independent economic analysis shows that the project is a net economic loss for Gustavus, and that it won't help high rates.

From an article published in the Juneau Empire:

"The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission voted Wednesday [October 27] to let the diesel-dependent community of Gustavus build a hydroelectric project in designated wilderness in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.

"Residents in the northern Southeast Alaska town pay some of the highest utility bills in Alaska - recently as high as 51 cents per kilowatt hour - in part because of the Gustavus Electric Co.'s dependence on expensive diesel fuel.

"The project cannot begin until Glacier Bay National Park trades to Alaska about 1,000 acres of designated wilderness along Falls Creek, the proposed site of the project."

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Glacier_Bay_law.pdf	123.24 KB