SEAPA files federal notice to begin Tyee Lake relicensing ahead of 2031 expiration

Three Southeast Alaska communities face a multi-year federal process that will set the operating conditions for their regional hydropower after the Southeast Alaska Power Agency filed a Notice of Intent and Pre-Application Document with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on April 29, formally opening relicensing for the Tyee Lake Hydroelectric Project.

The current FERC license, docket number P-3015, expires July 27, 2031. SEAPA's members are the City of Ketchikan, Petersburg Borough, and the City and Borough of Wrangell. All three member communities rely on SEAPA wholesale power.

What the new license will require is not yet known. Relicensing is not paperwork alone. The process requires environmental studies, agency consultation, and potentially new operating conditions before FERC issues a new license, including a Section 401 water-quality certification from the state or a tribal authority. Specific changes to project operations, environmental mitigation measures, or power costs remain speculative until SEAPA files more detailed licensing studies and proposals.

FERC's Integrated Licensing Process, the default path for subsequent hydropower licenses, requires SEAPA to consult with Alaska Native tribes, state and federal resource agencies, local governments, NGOs, and the public before submitting a full application. SEAPA said the process "encourages collaboration and integrates stakeholders in the license amendment process, including state and federal resource agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), applicable Native American tribes, and members of the public."

The Tyee Lake facility sits on Tyee Creek at the head of Bradfield Canal, about 40 miles southeast of Wrangell. Two conventional hydro units generate an average of roughly 108,560 megawatt-hours per year at 22.6 megawatts of installed capacity.

SEAPA also has a separate amendment application, filed January 27, 2025, to add a third turbine at Tyee Lake and raise total capacity to roughly 36 megawatts. That project is proceeding on a parallel track and is the agency's highest strategic priority.