Alaska Power Company seeks federal approval for single gate on Gustavus hydro road

Alaska Power Company has asked federal regulators to approve a revised road plan for its Falls Creek Hydroelectric Project, about five miles east of Gustavus, that calls for maintaining a single gate where the access road enters the project. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is taking comments, protests and motions to intervene through 5 pm Eastern time Nov. 27, according to its notice.

The company filed the amended Road Management Plan Aug. 31. The notice says the change is meant to make the road plan consistent with the project's Public Access and Recreation Plan, which FERC amended in 2016, and that it was developed in consultation with stakeholders. The project's federal license requires both plans.

Access on the road has been disputed before. A 2024 Gustavus City Council resolution asserts unfettered public access to Falls Creek lands via the Hydro Road, citing the federal license and both plans.

The resolution says Gustavus Electric bought road easements in 2009 from neighboring owners, including the Olney Trust, which owns the Bear Track Inn. Beginning in 2022, it says, the inn's new management posted the road entrance as a "Private Road." The resolution asks Alaska Power and Telephone, the road's operating authority, to tell the inn's owners they may not interfere with public recreational use.

It also says FERC representatives told the city, the utility and the inn's owners in a Feb. 2, 2024, video meeting that the utility must assure unfettered public access from Rink Creek Road. The council asked the utility to post a notice on its website stating that public access to the Falls Creek area and the national park lands beyond is "an absolute condition of the Federal license."

The 800-kilowatt plant sits on Falls Creek, also known as the Kahtaheena River. The commission's notice says no federal lands lie inside the project boundary.

Anyone may comment, and brief comments can be filed online without registering. FERC will consider all comments and protests, but only those who file to intervene become parties to the case. Comments emailed to commission staff do not count toward the record.