White House restates $150 million for Beluga-Healy line; source of $268 million share unclear

A White House release Thursday, Oct. 8, credited Vice President JD Vance with announcing that the Department of Energy "will invest $150 million" in a 223-mile transmission line between Beluga and Healy. The department's own announcement Monday, which Vance highlighted that day at a Fairbanks rally for Sen. Dan Sullivan, said "up to" $150 million, as Alaska News reported.

The department calls the project's $418 million total, which includes $268 million in planned non-federal funding, a preliminary planning estimate. The White House release gives no construction schedule, and neither federal release identifies who will supply the non-federal share.

The corridor has appeared in state planning before. A 2024 Alaska Energy Authority presentation described a 240-mile overhead high-voltage direct current line from Beluga to Healy, estimated then at $730 million. The authority's 2050 Railbelt plan lists $418 million for new Anchorage-Healy transmission, the same figure as this project's planned total.

The 230-kilovolt overhead line would run from the Beluga substation through West Susitna and Willow to existing infrastructure in Healy, according to a release from Alaska's congressional delegation. The Beluga plant, completed in 1974, has eight turbines and 385 megawatts of capacity, according to the Alaska Energy Authority, the project's sponsor.