A hydroelectric dam proposed for a lake southeast of Juneau has moved one step closer to construction, and its backers say groundbreaking could take place in summer 2018.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the U.S. Forest Service approved a special land-use agreement for Juneau Hydropower Inc., which is planning to build a 111-foot-tall concrete dam at the outlet of Lower Sweetheart Lake, turning it into a hydroelectric reservoir. The resulting project would generate 19.8 megawatts of electricity, equivalent to about one-fourth of the power Juneau uses today.<\/p>\n
The project has already received permission<\/a> from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Forest Service permit was the final major regulatory hurdle remaining for the project.<\/p>\n “I would say we are now moving into the implementation phase, and I see no reason why they couldn’t begin actual construction in 2018,” said Brad Orr, district ranger for the U.S. Forest Service in Juneau.<\/p>\n “It’s green-light go now, as far as the construction is concerned,” said Duff Mitchell, the project’s managing director.<\/p>\n The dam would be built above a series of waterfalls that block natural salmon passage into the lake.<\/p>\n While the project has few regulatory hurdles remaining, Mitchell and Juneau Hydropower CEO Keith Comstock said the dam still has to finish its financial foundations.<\/p>\n In order to get investors, they need to sign customers willing to buy the dam’s power. In order to get those customers, they need to sign an interconnection agreement with Alaska Electric Light and Power that allows them to link the Sweetheart Dam to a power line used by the Snettisham Hydroelectric Project.<\/p>\n “We’re making progress,” Comstock said of that interconnection agreement. “It shouldn’t take very much longer.”<\/p>\n Through a spokeswoman, AEL&P confirmed the interconnection process is ongoing but declined to offer a timeline.<\/p>\n