HomeMy WebLinkAbout130924_Letter of Support_MF
September 24, 2013
Sara Fisher‐Goad, Executive Director
Alaska Energy Authority
813 West Northern Lights Boulevard
Anchorage, Alaska 99503
RE: Tsaina Lodge Cascade Creek Hydro – Feasibility Study
Dear Ms. Fisher‐Goad:
RIM First People supports and asks the state for funding the Tsaina Lodge (Blue Hole Properties, LLC) to
conduct a feasibility study for a proposed run‐of‐river hydroelectric project on Cascade Creek near the
Tsaina Lodge in Thompson Pass north of Valdez. The project would sell power to Copper Valley Electric
Association, Inc. (CVEA), displacing fuel burned for power generation.
Cascade Creek drains approximately 6.7 square miles of the Chugach Range. The proposed run‐of‐river
hydro project would divert an estimated 5 to 20 cfs from Carlo Creek at an elevation of approximately 2,100
to 2,300 feet, divert it through an approximately 2,000 to 4,000 foot long penstock to a powerhouse on the
lodge property at MP 35 Richardson Highway. Estimated installed capacity is 200 to 800 kW, and annual
energy generation is estimated at 1,000,000 to 3,000,000 kWh. The feasibility study would define the most
economic project configuration.
Tsaina Lodge has already completed initial environmental screening and resource agency consultations, and
has not identified any regulatory or permitting barriers to this project. These reconnaissance assessments
indicate the project would be beneficial to the CVEA system and ratepayers by reducing diesel fuel
consumption and increasing the renewable energy used on the CVEA system.
Thank you for your support of this project and do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further
questions.
Sincerely,
Michael Fredericks
President
cc: Jeff and Ingrid Fraser, Tsaina Lodge