Susitna dam a bad choice for shrinking state funds

To the editor:

With state revenue at $5 billion but spending at $7 billion, Alaskans are asking serious questions about where our state money is being spent.

Public services like education have taken a huge hit, and capital spending was supposed to be prioritized and cut back. Instead, Governor Parnell’s recent supplemental budget request shows more irresponsible spending, with additional funds for the Susitna mega-dam topping the list.

The $32.7 million request is added to the $95 million the project already received this year and accounts for over a third of the entire supplemental budget. The need for such a huge additional outlay of money signals that the troubled hydro project is facing a 34 percent cost overrun in its first year of studies. What will the cost escalation be for the entire $5.2 billion project as this trend continues? Every delay and cost increase due to the state’s mishandling of this boondoggle means that the public will pay the price in lost opportunities for projects that are far more deserving of our dwindling state funds.

Kit Erickson

Wasilla