AEA files Revised Study Plan for Susitna-Watana Hydro

Alaska Energy Authority has submitted its Susitna-Watana Hydro Revised Study Plan to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Included are 58 individual studies that focus on many resource areas, including: geology, water quality, ice processes, geomorphology, in-stream flow, aquatic resources, wildlife, salmon and fish species, botanical resources, recreation, aesthetics, cultural resources, socioeconomics, subsistence, transportation, project safety and more. This is in addition to the historical data gathered from the 1980s Susitna River project and the 18 studies conducted this past summer.

The deadline to comment on the Revised Study Plan is Jan. 18, 2013. You can file your comments online with FERC eComment (Project P-14241). FERC is anticipated to make its study plan determination Feb. 1, 2013.

Wayne Dyok, project manager, said that “filing the Revised Study Plan is the culmination of nearly a year’s worth of work. The project team and licensing participants, including state and federal resource agencies, should be commended for a tremendous effort that lead to achieving this milestone.”

Located at River Mile 184 above Devils Canyon, the Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project would be an estimated 700 feet tall, 39 miles long and 2 miles wide. The project is expected to provide long-term, stable electric rates for generations of Alaskans while diversifying the state’s energy portfolio and moving Alaska toward its goal of using 50 percent renewable energy for 2025.

Preliminary studies include three generating units with an installed capacity of 600 megawatts. The powerhouse, dam and related facilities, expected to be online by 2023, will be linked by transmission lines to the Railbelt Intertie and produce an annual average of 2.5 million megawatt hours.

The Revised Study Plan is available online at Susitna-WatanaHydro.org and through FERC’s eLibrary.

The FERC licensing and the study planning process included multiple opportunities for public involvement. Technical workgroup meetings were held over several months and multiple drafts of the study plans were published in an effort to incorporate stakeholder feedback.

Gov. Parnell’s recently released capital and operating budgets include $95 million for Susitna-Watana Hydro. It is anticipated that this funding will provide environmental fieldwork, geotechnical drilling and engineering design work through fiscal year 2014.