Susitna Hydroelectric

The Alaska Energy Authority's board will vote Nov. 5 on whether to take a new look at the Susitna-Watana dam, the roughly 705-foot hydroelectric project the state shelved more than a decade ago.

"Time is of the essence," the resolution before the board says. A federal clean electricity tax credit, if it applies, could cover up to half of the dam's eligible cost, but certain construction milestones must be met before the end of 2033 to get the maximum.

The authority's 2014 cost estimate of about $5.5 billion works out to about $9 billion today, the resolution says. Tax credits could bring the cost back near $5.5 billion, it says, so the dam could generate power for about 6.5 cents a kilowatt-hour, close to the cost at the authority's Bradley Lake hydro plant, the Railbelt's cheapest power.

The dam would produce about 60% of the Railbelt's current electricity demand, the authority told the Legislature in a January letter. The resolution attributes rising Railbelt power costs to dwindling Cook Inlet natural gas, noting that Golden Valley Electric Association's published residential rates in the Interior are nearly 35 cents a kilowatt-hour. Producers told lawmakers in September that Southcentral won't have enough gas to get through the winter of 2029 without imported liquefied natural gas or North Slope gas.