Atautchikun selected for possible $2.3 million federal grant to design hydro and power line

Atautchikun, the public benefit company of NANA Regional Corporation, has been selected for consideration of a $2.3 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to design a proposed hydroelectric project and power line in the Northwest Arctic, the company announced Friday. It says the projects are being evaluated as potential long-term ways to reduce reliance on diesel-generated electricity.

If awarded, the money from the department's Office of Indian Energy would fund 35% engineering designs for the proposed Kogoluktuk Hydroelectric Project and an Ambler-to-Shungnak power line, plus stakeholder outreach and community engagement. No construction is included, and no decision has been made to build, according to the announcement.

The announcement calls the selection "an important milestone," but it is not a final award. Funding depends on DOE award negotiations. The DOE selection list puts the requested federal funds at $2,298,968 and names Ambler, Shungnak and Kobuk as project locations.

Atautchikun was the lead applicant, with the Northwest Arctic Borough as a key partner. The Alaska Village Electric Cooperative will manage the line's preliminary design. Ambler, Shungnak and Kobuk sent letters of support.

"We are at the very beginning of this process, and community input will be critical in determining what comes next," said Albie Panikpaiq Dallemolle, president of Atautchikun.

Craig McConnell, president of the Northwest Arctic Borough Assembly, said the grant is a chance to invest in the planning and community conversations needed to make informed decisions about the region's energy future.

A 10-mile line completed in 1994 already links Kobuk and Shungnak. Kobuk buys power through it and keeps its own generation only for unplanned Shungnak blackouts, according to a Shungnak community profile, which lists the Alaska Energy Authority as owner and said substantial maintenance would soon be needed. The borough's 2026 Energy and Climate Action Plan says that line needs replacing, with design under way under a separate federal grant and work planned for 2027.

The plan puts Kobuk electricity at $1.08 per kilowatt-hour in 2025, or 32 cents after Power Cost Equalization, a state program that lowers the rates rural customers pay. For 2026 it lists 71 cents, or 27 cents after the subsidy.

The plan describes Kogoluktuk as a project of about 700 kilowatts on the river east of Kobuk, the most feasible option in the area according to a 2014 study. It estimates the project would cut diesel use by nearly 400,000 gallons a year, cost more than $80 million and take more than five years to carry out. It estimates an Ambler-Shungnak line at $20 million and three to four years once funded.

The engagement work would let residents, tribal governments and others share priorities, ask questions and raise concerns before decisions about development are considered, Atautchikun said. Any project would still need more planning, community engagement, evaluation, approvals and funding.