Trump freezes funds for backup electrical transmission that would make power supply to Mat-Su more secure

Federal funds for a major state energy project that would provide a backup for power supply to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough have been frozen by President Donald Trump. The action is among many of the president’s orders to halt funding even on projects that have been approved.

The project in question is the planned subsea power line to be built from the Kenai Peninsula to the west side of Cook Inlet that would create a new route for low-cost hydro power from the Bradley Lake hydro project near Homer to flow to Mat-Su and by way of a new loop, ultimately Anchorage.

Currently hydro power moves north from Bradley Lake to Anchorage and Mat-Su through aging transmission lines on the Kenai Peninsula. Those lines are constrained as to how much electricity they can move, which means Mat-Su, and even Anchorage, do not get the full benefit of the less-costly hydro power from Bradley Lake.

The new subsea cable allows an alternate path with more capacity which, when combined with upgrades to transmission lines on Cook Inlet’s west side, would allow Matanuska Electric Association to not only have access to more of the low-cost Bradley Lake power but also have a second transmission system in place in case of an unforeseen disruption along the present Kenai Peninsula transmission lines.

The federal government has awarded $206.5 million for the first phase of the subsea cable new west Cook Inlet transmission lines but Trump’s order has halted access to the money just as the state’s Alaska Energy Authority begins to gear up for construction.

The freeze is intended to be temporary until federal officials can clarify that projects conform with the president’s political goals but it’s not clear how long that will take. Meanwhile the state energy authority is working to keep the project on schedule with planning and early engineering with limited state funds that are available.

Soon, however, major procurements will be needed for critical long lead-time items like the specialized cable to be used and this will involve substantial amounts of money.

Overall, Trump’ freeze order affects $504 million in federal funds for Alaska energy projects administered through the state’s Alaska Energy Authority. The increases when renewable energy projects being developed by other Alaska groups mainly in rural Alaska, are included.

The president has particularly targeted wind energy and there are concerns that a planned large wind project near Mount Susitna could be affected. The project is on state land and could provide new wind power to MEA and Chugach Electric to help offset the effects of declining future natural gas, but Trump’s directive may delay or impede any federal permits for the project.

A project that has actually been cancelled, not just put on hold, is development of electric vehicle recharging stations on the Parks Highway. About $52.4 million has appropriated to support construction of charging stations from Anchorage to Healy along the highway. The locations for these have been chosen but the facilities have not yet been built. They would have been operated by private vendors.

A number of other planned Alaska energy programs are also frozen. One is $37.2 million for home energy efficiency rebates where homeowners could receive grants to help pay for residential improvement to lower costs for heating and electricity. Another is $37.1 million program to help Alaska consumers buy energy-efficient home appliances.

Another program on hold is “Solar for All” that would help support community solar facilities and help low-income homeowner install rooftop solar to lower electricity costs with a $62.4 million federal program in Alaska. A number of other smaller federal programs to aid wood energy and energy grid resilience, to prevent power outages, are also on hold.