Energy & Mining

Three departments of the U.S. government have announced they have awarded about $280 million in new funding for transportation and energy projects in Alaska, money made available through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

In its announcement, the U.S. Department of Transportation said on Wednesday that it is sending about $54 million, with the funds made possible by the bipartisan 2021 infrastructure bill, to three Alaska projects.

One project, to get $25 million, is for restoring about 45 miles of the Alaska Highway that has been degraded by permafrost thaw and other climate change impacts, the department said. Another $25 million will go to the City and Borough of Wrangell for a project revitalizing the harbor, the department said. The project involves the design and construction of floating and anchoring systems, water, electrical and fire-suppression systems and relocation of parking, the department said. The third project, which is getting just under $4 million, is for port planning, permitting and design work in the Yukon River village of Nulato, the department said.

The Alaska transportation grants are among the $1.8 billion in awards across the nation announced on Wednesday. The grants are from the department’s Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity program.

Separately, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced that Alaska will receive $25 million to plug and clean oil and gas wells drilled in the past and then abandoned.

Alaska is among five states receiving a total of $127 million for that purpose, Interior said in its announcement. That money is also available through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

These inactive and gas wells are known as “orphaned wells,” since they have been abandoned by the companies that drilled them. There are millions of orphaned wells across the country. Many remain unplugged and are releasing pollutants into the air and the groundwater.

The money for Alaska is to address wells located on state or private land. As of April, there were 46 identified orphaned wells on state or private land, according to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, the agency managing the issue.

The oldest orphaned wells on the AOGCC list date back to the early 1900s, when Alaska’s first oil wells were drilled at Katalla, a Gulf of Alaska coastal site about 50 miles southeast of Cordova.

Work on several wells is already underway. An Arctic Slope Regional Corp. subsidiary, ASRC Consulting and Environmental Services, has been contracted to do plugging and remediation work and submitted a progress report in January.

Another $200 million in money from the Inflation Reduction Act, a bill that passed Congress without any Republicans voting in support, will go to battery energy storage systems in Interior Alaska and on the Kenai Peninsula, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced separately on Wednesday.

The Alaska projects getting the $100 million in funding apiece are a 46-megawatt battery energy storage system to be built by Fairbanks-based Golden Valley Electric Association and a 45-megawatt four-hour battery energy storage system to be installed in Soldotna by the Alaska Electric and Energy Cooperative Inc., a subsidiary of Homer Electric Association.

Correction: The total amount of grants across the nation was $1.8 billion, not million, as initially published. 

On a windy day in Juneau, you can see state flags fluttering along Egan Drive or a bald eagle coasting over Gastineau Channel. On the pier behind U.S. Coast Guard Station Juneau, you might catch the blur of a wind turbine’s blades. 

“It really spins in the wind and it makes a neat little whipping sound as it goes,” said energy educator Clay Good. He works for Renewable Energy Project Alaska. “So everybody notices it and wonders, ‘Hmm. Can we do more wind energy here?’”

For this Curious Juneau, a KTOO listener asked just that.

According to Lt. Kyle Hansen, the 60-foot miniature wind turbine at Coast Guard Station Juneau was installed back in 2010, following an executive order that called for more renewable energy at federal facilities. 

The turbine was also used as a teaching tool for high school students to learn about wind energy through a nationwide program called Wind for Schools. The same program brought a twin turbine to Sitka. 

The educational component is defunct now, but the turbine on Juneau’s waterfront is still producing electricity — about 1,500 kilowatt hours per month. 

“Which turns into about 7% of Station Juneau’s needs,” Hansen said. 

A turbine this size could also easily power the average U.S. household, which needs about 900 kilowatt hours of electricity per month. And Hansen said it’s saved the Coast Guard some money, too. 

“It’s produced about $25,000 worth of electricity for the station,” he said. 

This is just a mini-turbine. The ones you might see on a wind farm can usually power almost 1,000 homes, and the cost of wind-generated electricity is dropping. 

So why not build more wind turbines in Juneau?

It turns out, our rugged landscape is not quite right.

“Wind turbines are often seen in areas of more open space around them, where there’s a smooth laminar wind,” Good said. 

Laminar winds are streamlined and consistent — Juneau’s winds are anything but that. When a breeze hits steep mountains and drops into Gastineau Channel, it often becomes turbulent, irregular and chaotic. And like airplanes, wind turbines don’t like turbulence.

In 2005, the Alaska Energy Authority did a study on wind resources for dozens of communities across the state. They rated the feasibility of wind power on a scale of one to seven. At sea level, Juneau scored one — a poor rating. 

On the mountaintops, it might be a different story. 

“That’s a lovely place to capture the wind,” Good said. “But it’s not a lovely place to build a turbine. It’s not a lovely place to maintain one.”

Wind on the ridges is great for wind power on average, but at the extremes — especially in the winter — it’s too strong for a turbine to withstand.  

So Juneau’s wind, though powerful, is not really the right kind of wind. Perhaps more importantly, wind power faces a big renewable power competitor here. 

The same mountains that create turbulent winds also create rushing creeks and streams, making for really reliable hydropower. Deep mountain basins can store that water throughout the rainy season, and it can be used to create energy later on, during drier times. Wind and solar power, on the other hand, require expensive batteries to store energy. 

“We just had that extraordinary good fortune of having these hydro resources,” Good said. “It’s hard to even think about anything else.”

When a community wants to generate large-scale renewable power, there’s often a high start-up cost to build the infrastructure. That’s especially true for hydropower projects. 

But Juneau got a head start with hydro. Back in the late 1890s, water was the easiest way to power a bustling mining industry. 

“It’s not like 125 years ago, a bunch of conservationists and greenies moved to Juneau and said, ‘We’re gonna have green power here,” Good said. “It was just the power that was available.”

The first hydro powerhouse at Gold Creek later evolved into Juneau’s sole utility, Alaska Electric Light and Power. Today, they provide Juneau with 100% renewable electricity for relatively cheap. But that doesn’t mean Juneau is a renewable utopia.

Hydroelectricity only covers about 20% of the total energy used by the city. A lot of transportation and home heating still relies on fossil fuel like heating oil, diesel and gasoline. 

So eventaully, Juneau might need more renewable power to keep cutting down greenhouse gas emissions.  But there’s a lot more hydropower potential to tap into.

“Southeast Alaska was made for hydro,” Good said. “I think rain was invented here.”

In the Alaska Electric Light and Power office last Friday, a half dozen middle schoolers constructed a village of model homes. Felix Dean and his cousin Sterling Stark stood beside a small ranch-style house with cardboard walls and small plastic windows. 

“This house is supposed to be as energy efficient as possible,” Dean said. “It has two big windmills that can change to the direction of where the wind is coming from.” 

In this case, the wind came from a fan that turned the turbines’ cardboard blades. Inside the house, a little blue LED glowed.

“The lighting is controlled by the solar panels that we installed on the roof,” Dean said. 

The panels actually worked. Red and black cables carried real solar and wind power into the model. 

Dean and Stark spent the week building it while learning about renewable electricity during Discovery Southeast’s “Nature of Energy” summer camp. 

The week-long camp was modeled after a similar camp that happened in Sitka last summer, led by Renewable Energy Alaska Project’s Energy Educator Clay Good. This year, Good brought it to Juneau. 

The camp featured classroom lessons on wind and solar power and field trips to hydropower sites like Salmon Creek Dam. Campers also took a tour of diesel generators with AEL&P’s staff, to see how electricity can be generated with fossil fuel. 

“So the students have seen the full range,” Good said. “Part of it got the kids outside in nature, and part of it was inside learning how we use energy in our society.”

To combat human-caused climate change, experts say technologies that burn fossil fuels — like internal combustion engines and gas-boilers — need to be replaced with things like electric vehicles and heat pumps, a transition that’s known as electrification.

“We’re obviously using more electricity these days as we use less fossil fuels,” Good said. “So where are we going to get our new electricity when we need more? And so having the next generation think about the new generation was sort of the idea.” 

Campers also learned about ways to conserve electricity with things like energy efficient appliances or rooftop gardens – known as green roofs — which can reduce flood risk, clean up air pollution and insulate buildings to reduce energy demand for heating and cooling.

Twelve-year-old Akira Schaefer’s shoebox home featured a Lego green roof with colorful plastic fruits and flowers. His mother, Lyndsey Schaefer, said the camp was perfect for her son. 

“Because he’s very interested in architecture and tiny homes and nature,” she said. “He got to learn about using what we have here — with the abundance of rain and sun and Taku winds — to power our homes. That’s the future — sustainability.” 

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan said he’s added an amendment to an annual defense bill that would override the Biden administration’s rejection of the Ambler Road.

In a press release, Sullivan said the amendment requires the Interior Department to “select a viable path for the project across public land.”

The proposed Ambler Road would run more than 200 miles. It would start west of the Dalton Highway and terminate in a mineral-rich area called the Ambler mining district, surrounding the village of Kobuk. The road corridor would cross federal land, including part of Gates of the Arctic National Park.

The project is controversial in the region. Several tribes say the road is a threat to caribou and the subsistence way of life.

The Biden administration in April rejected the project. NANA Regional Corp. withdrew in May, saying the state-owned entity that’s pursuing the road, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, hadn’t addressed its concerns about resource protection and community benefits.

But Sullivan and Sen. Lisa Murkowski railed against the federal decision to reject the road. They say the project would allow mining of minerals critical to national security and the economy. Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola also criticized the rejection. She called the decision premature, since regional stakeholders were still debating it.

Sullivan’s amendment to revive the road is in a bill called the National Defense Authorization Act, which has cleared the Senate Armed Services Committee. The next stop is the Senate floor.

There is little additional information available. The bill text hasn’t been made public yet and Sullivan did not grant an interview request.

The Red Dog mine has been a huge economic engine for the Kotzebue region for decades. But the zinc and lead deposits the mine relies on are running low and Red Dog may shut down operations as soon as 2031. KOTZ’s Desiree Hagen has been following this story.

Listen:

The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Ava White: If Red Dog closed how big of an economic hit would this be?

Desiree Hagen: So just a little background first. The Red Dog Mine produces about 4% of the global zinc supply. The land is owned by the NANA Regional Corporation, while the mine itself is owned and operated by Canadian mining company, Teck Resources. Red Dog is often held up as a success story for how an international mining company can work with an Alaska Native corporation.

And the economic impact would be enormous if the mine closes down. In 2023, about a thousand NANA shareholders were working for the mine, which equates to about $62 million in yearly wages to shareholder employees.

Here’s NANA’s Vice President of Lands Liz Cravalho.

“We cannot stress enough the impact of Red Dog’s planned closure on shareholders and the region as a whole,” said Cravalho.

As Cravalho said, it’s not just shareholders. Red Dog revenue touches everything in the Northwest Arctic.

The Northwest Arctic Borough receives about 80% of its revenue from what’s known as a payment in lieu of taxes agreement or PILT. So the Red Dog mine contributed around $26 million to the Borough last year. That money helps support the region’s schools, infrastructure projects and things like water and sewer in the villages, even public radio.

Red Dog revenue also supports other Alaska Native Corporations through 7(i) and 7(j) contributions which is a provision of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Since mine operations began in the late 1980s, NANA said the company has shared around $1.8 billion with other Alaska Native Corporations/ANCs.

Ava White: Do you have a sense of how likely it is that Red Dog will shut down?

Desiree Hagen: It’s kinda in limbo. There are two deposits close to the mine that Teck and NANA are looking at developing. If developed they could extend the mine life for decades. But before a decision is made, Teck needs to build a gravel road to access the deposits and do more exploratory work. Right now the company is waiting for a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers before they are able proceed.

Ava White: What can you say about these potential deposits?

Desiree Hagen: They are located about 8 miles from Red Dog’s main operating site, on state land, unlike Red Dog’s current location which is on NANA-owned land. This brings into question how those deposits would pan out economically both for NANA and the state if they are developed. As far as the deposits themselves – they are not easily accessible from the surface and would require underground mining – which is different from the open pit mining Red Dog currently uses. Teck said they aren’t really able to say much about the deposits until more exploration work is done.

Ava White: Do we know when Teck will make a decision?

Desiree Hagen: According to the company, once Teck receives the permits and the exploratory work begins it will take about six years before they can determine if the deposits are “economically and environmentally viable.”

That puts us really close to the planned 2031 closure of the mine. But keep in mind, if Teck moves forward with those deposits there’s still more work that would have to be done. Any major development would require environmental permitting, a haul road to transport ore, and a mine would need to be planned and constructed. It could be a lengthy process.

Here’s what Teck representative Wayne Hall said in a recent interview.

“I can’t really speculate on the timelines,” said Hall. “What I can tell you, it’s in all of our best interests to do whatever we can to shorten these timelines so that there is not a gap in production.”

Ava White: Does the borough have a plan B if the mine doesn’t continue producing ore?

Desiree Hagen: Both NANA and the Northwest Arctic Borough have begun preparing. Last fall NANA shareholders voted to establish a fund modeled after the Alaska Permanent Fund that puts Red Dog revenues aside to invest. This would ensure that NANA shareholders will continue to have sizable dividends once the mine ultimately closes – whether that’s in eight years or decades from now.

The Borough who – remember – receives the majority of its revenue from the mine has begun making budget cuts and is looking more seriously at the programs and services that it funds.  But, the question of what will happen if or when the mine closes is a discussion at every recent Borough meeting. Several Assembly members have called it a “difficult and ongoing” conversation.

In the last 14 months, four men have died while working in the oil fields on the North Slope.

Before that, the area hadn’t seen a death in about five years, according to Anchorage Daily News reporter Alex DeMarban.

DeMarban has covered the oil and gas industry for years, and said it’s unclear what to attribute to the recent spike in deaths. However, he said a lack of information from local, state and federal officials has left many with more questions than answers.

Listen:

Alex DeMarban: We’re talking about, you know, the North Slope, near the Arctic Ocean, of Alaska. So we’re talking about extremely cold weather and windy weather, uncomfortable conditions, and also a unique environment that involves things like ice roads and snow and massive equipment. So it’s possible that this is just an unusual series of accidents. It’s also possible that something larger is going on. And I would certainly like to know more about whether something larger is going on, in order to prevent more deaths, of course.

Wesley Early: What do we know about the specific incidents?

Alex DeMarban: Well, it’s interesting. So a couple of the deaths have not involved complex operations, it seems. Those deaths could have happened anywhere. So for example, just last month, it sounds like during a snow clearing operation, a front-end loader struck and killed a man, a worker who was walking on the ground. Seems like that could happen in Anchorage, or anywhere. And then last year, in the first death that started in April of last year, a man was unloading pipe, and he slipped and fell on ice. And the pipe somehow came into contact with his head, I assume fell on his head, but it fractured his skull. And so he died that way. So that was a slip on the ice while trying to unload what I’m sure is very heavy equipment in difficult conditions. But those seem fairly mundane.

And then there’s a couple other incidents that involve more complex operations. For example, in this latest incident that occurred this month, a man was killed — this was in Prudhoe Bay — during an assembly of a mission stack. So I assume large pieces of pipe involving a crane. Somehow, a man was caught between two pieces of pipe. It sounds like one rolled on the man and crushed him. In all these cases, we don’t have a lot of information. The state and the federal government, depending on which labor agency is investigating, will just release, you know, a two or three-sentence statement, often without the person’s name even. Just the barest of details. To me, that’s a disservice, I think, to the families and to the idea that if the public actually could know what’s going on, then perhaps the public could, you know… perhaps there’d be more pressure for these kinds of incidents to not happen again.

Wesley Early: Has anything changed lately that would lead you to believe that it’s related to the high number of deaths?

Alex DeMarban: You know, one thing that has changed is that Hilcorp became the major operator in the Prudhoe Bay and nearby fields after it purchased Prudhoe Bay and other oilfield assets from BP in 2020. And Hilcorp, their name comes up in all of these incidents, just because they’re such a big operator now on the North Slope. So they are the operator in three of these cases, in the fields where three of these cases took place. And of course, their oversight would suggest that they set the culture up there on the North Slope. In each case, none of these employees were employed directly by Hilcorp. They were employed by contractors that support oilfield work. That’s not to say that it’s Hilcorp’s direct fault in any of these incidents. But it does raise questions about what’s happening and maybe a workplace culture.

Wesley Early: One of the things I’m wondering is as a reporter, as you’re reporting on these deaths, what’s more information that you’re trying to get at? What are things that aren’t being said that you’re trying to get more information on?

Alex DeMarban: Fortunately, with these more recent deaths, I believe there’s more chatter on social media from employees themselves who are increasingly concerned about what’s going on. And so I believe that higher profile has led to a quicker release of information, but it’s still slow. In the most recent death this month, we saw it on social media one day. We contacted regulators and the companies that might have been involved. Hilcorp, the very next day, let us know that someone had died. So that was extremely rapid. It just took one day to confirm that, okay, a fourth person had died. However, we still didn’t actually know what happened or even have a name for another week, roughly. And the only reason we were able to have a name is because the father had called the Anchorage Daily News and said that he wanted to let people know that his 23-year-old son, who was well known throughout the state —  he was a basketball player at high school in Kenai and had a bright future ahead of him, of course — his father just wanted to let friends and other people who had come across him through their life know that this is the young man who had died. So that was extremely tragic to kind of understand that this is the way that information is being released. It was kind of heartbreaking to hear from the father.

And I’m understanding also that the families themselves don’t always have a lot of information in a very expedient way in these cases. So I think that that lack of information is also a disservice to preventing future accidents. So I think that there’s a lot of room for improvement, both from the oil companies and the contracting companies, as well as state and federal regulators to express specifically what’s happening, to let us know that it was someone with family who has passed, not just an anonymous person. To me, it has less meaning. If the person is anonymous, to me, there’s a chance that it’s easier to dismiss a death.