State seeks more time on dam study

MAT-SU — After Gov. Sean Parnell’s decision to reduce project funding until he’s seen progress, the Alaska Energy Authority has asked for four-month extension to the federal permitting process for the Susitna-Watana dam.

In a letter to the Federal Energy Regulator Commission, which is overseeing the licensing process, AEA requested a 120-day extension to the deadline for submitting its Initial Study Report on the information gathered during fieldwork at the proposed dam site.

“Under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s current Integrated Licensing Process schedule for this project, the ISR is due on Feb. 3, 2014. AEA proposes to extend this deadline until June 3, 2014,” reads a letter to FERC Wayne Dyok, AEA’s project manager.

That report and a follow-up Updated Study Report lead up to a final application for a federal license to build the dam. The proposed dam, which would supply 600 megawatts of power and create a 39-mile reservoir, would cost $4.5 billion or so to build and be sited 87 miles upriver from Talkeetna. It’s the lynchpin in Parnell’s effort to produce 50 percent of the state’s electricity from renewable sources by 2025; a goal he inherited from his predecessor, Sarah Palin.

AEA’s letter, dated Monday, says that the plan to do continued fieldwork this summer will be postponed until 2015. That’s necessary because fieldwork is the most expensive part of the study process and the money that will be on hand isn’t enough to cover the costs.

“The governor’s $10 million proposed project budget for Fiscal Year 2015 demonstrates a continued strong commitment to the Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project. This amount is short of the $110 million required to complete the commission’s approved study plan and prepare the license application,” Dyok says in his letter.

When he announced his proposed budget on Dec. 12, Parnell made it clear that he didn’t want to give AEA the funding it needed to continue until AEA had squared the land access issue it has encountered in the area. The land to which AEA has not yet gotten access is mostly property belonging to Alaska Native corporations.

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