Comments on the $400 million Bradley Lake expansion close Friday

Federal comment on the Bradley Lake hydroelectric expansion closes Friday at 1 pm Alaska time, on a project whose price has been stated three different ways since spring.

The Alaska Energy Authority filed its final license amendment application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on June 30, proposing to divert Dixon Glacier meltwater into the lake, raise the operating pool about 16 feet and lift average annual generation about 38 percent, from roughly 436,000 to 601,000 megawatt-hours. First water is targeted for 2031.

The authority told lawmakers on Aug. 20 the plan would power about 30,000 homes and offset 1.5 billion cubic feet of Southcentral natural gas a year, at roughly $400 million. Committee materials in July put the budget at about $435.9 million, with roughly $403.2 million still to be financed.

Railbelt customers carry that debt. In July the project's management committee authorized up to $100 million in short-term borrowing, repaid by the five purchasers of Bradley Lake power: Chugach Electric, Golden Valley Electric, Matanuska Electric, Homer Electric through Alaska Electric and Energy Cooperative, and the City of Seward.

The 16-foot figure is not arbitrary. Thayer told the committee in June that the raise was sized to qualify for federal tax credits worth up to $200 million. Eligibility remains unsettled.

"The best time to build hydro was 30 years ago," Curtis Thayer, the authority's chief executive, told lawmakers this month. He has also asked utilities to bring their questions to the authority before writing to federal regulators.

Anyone can comment through the commission's eComment form without registering. Only those who file a motion to intervene become parties to the case.