Alaska Energy Authority outlines rail-belt transmission upgrades, Bradley Lake expansion and HVDC subsea cable

Curtis Thayer, executive director of the Alaska Energy Authority, told the Alaska House Energy Committee on Jan. 23 in Juneau that AEA is advancing a suite of rail‑belt transmission and generation projects meant to improve reliability and support future renewable resources.

The projects Thayer described include upgrades to lines AEA owns (including Sterling to Quartz Creek), a planned expansion of Bradley Lake’s storage via the Dixon Diversion, and a proposed high‑voltage direct‑current (HVDC) subsea cable linking Nikiski and Beluga. Thayer said those projects are tied to transmission planning and to a new Rail Belt Transmission Organization that AEA is developing under legislation passed last year.

Those projects matter because Alaska’s rail‑belt transmission system is older and has limited redundancy, Thayer said. “We have a transmission system that we can afford, but it’s a transmission system that is a single point of failure,” he told the committee. The work is tied to the state’s Power Cost Equalization program and to utilities’ ability to add larger renewable or baseload resources in the future.

Thayer gave details on three items lawmakers pressed him about. First, Bradley Lake and the Dixon Diversion: Thayer said the Dixon Diversion would raise Bradley Lake’s dam and increase its usable storage, describing it as “think of it as a large battery” that would allow the hydro plant to operate more hours and displace natural gas burn. He told the committee AEA’s request in the governor’s budget includes a request of approximately $650 million to finish environmental studies and preliminary design; he characterized the Dixon project as “the most shovel‑ready project that we have.” (Numbers described by Thayer during the hearing are recorded in the meeting transcript; see clarifying details.)

Second, on transmission, Thayer described the Sterling–Quartz Creek upgrade (work AEA bought and is upgrading from 115 kV to 230 kV) and other line projects along the rail belt that AEA said are fully funded or underway. He said the Sterling–Quartz upgrade is in construction and that the larger interconnection upgrades are being coordinated with utilities.

Third, on the HVDC subsea cable between Nikiski and Beluga, Thayer said AEA and utilities won a competitive federal grant and that the team currently has roughly $62 million in committed funds and is about $142 million short of the project’s financing target. He described the HVDC cable as a long‑lead, multi‑year procurement that AEA aims to complete within the next decade and said design, permitting and cable procurement scheduling are in early phases.

Thayer also summarized other AEA programs discussed for the committee: the Power Cost Equalization (PCE) program, which he said serves about 192 communities and roughly 80,000 rural Alaskans; bulk fuel upgrades and rural powerhouse replacements; a small battery energy storage program intended to help grid stability; and the Railroad Transmission Organization (RTO) work required by last year’s legislation. On the RTO he said AEA filed bylaws with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska before year‑end and expects to file an open access transmission tariff by the statutory deadline this summer.

Committee members asked for more specificity about costs and prioritization. Representative Gary Copp (Representative Copp for the record) pressed whether AEA had studied specific transmission routes for hypothetical new generation and asked about “clean coal” concepts; Thayer replied that AEA had not funded such a study and that it would require a specific appropriation. Representative Chris Holland raised sequencing and prioritization questions, asking whether AEA had analyses tying projected demand and retirement timing to project schedules; Thayer pointed to existing NREL studies and AEA transmission planning and said prioritization work is ongoing.

Thayer repeatedly framed the rail‑belt work as interdependent: transmission upgrades enable larger generation projects (geothermal, offshore wind, micronuclear and others discussed conceptually), and generation projects change cost metrics tied to PCE. He urged more committee time to review project lists, funding options and timelines, and the committee co‑chairs left room to return AEA for deeper budget and project briefings.

The committee did not take formal action; members requested additional briefings and said AEA will appear before budget subcommittees. Thayer said AEA staff will return for follow‑up discussions and that some projects are on timelines that require prompt legislative consideration of funding options.