MEA moves ahead with Eklutna gas plant

PALMER — The Matanuska Electric Association is moving forward on plans to build a gas-fired power plant in the Eklutna area.

MEA Spokeswoman Lorali Carter said the co-op cleared a major hurdle earlier this month when, on May 12, the Anchorage Assembly unanimously decided to rezone the site of its future plant from residential to industrial with the caveat that the zoning change expires if ground isn’t broken by June 2013.

“They didn’t want to see 70 acres of industrial land out there if it wasn’t going to be used as a power plant,” Carter said.

She said the plan has been moving forward with cooperation from the land’s current owner, the Native corporation Eklutna Inc. There are co-generation plans afoot for when and if Eklutna decides to develop its adjacent parcel of land.

“(Co-generation) is the process by which waste steam can be used to heat nearby facilities or for other purposes,” Carter said. “If they were to put in something there they could potentially take the steam and use it to heat their buildings,” she said.

She said the corporation has been interested in co-generation since the start of the process.

The site in question is nearly 70 acres of land surrounding an existing substation and next to the old Eklutna Power House.

Having hopped the rezoning hurdle, the co-op needs to now formally buy the land from Eklutna. The purchase price MEA’s board of directors agreed on in February is $2.7 million.

MEA is also starting to move ahead on work that needs to be done ahead of breaking ground — emissions testing, permitting requirements, platting changes.

“We’re working with a company that knows a whole lot more about this than we do,” Carter said.

They’ve already completed an archeological study of the area, which turned up one small area of historical significance containing some artifacts.

“We’re going to preserve the site, we’re going to fence the site and then let the village come in and do what they want to do with it,” she said.

Other work to come this summer will possibly include erecting a security fence and doing some initial land clearing. The power plant the utility is seeking to build would put out 180 megawatts of electricity, which Carter said is enough to handle its regular power load, but is less than the utility’s initial plan to build two 180-megawatt plants.

“We will look into power purchasing agreements from other utilities to make up for the peaks,” Carter said. “If the governor gets Chakachamna going, that would definitely be something that we would look into.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.