Alaska Railbelt Grid Upgrade Wins Federal Backing: $418 Million for a 223-Mile Transmission Line
The U.S. Department of Energy announced on October 5 that it plans to use Defense Production Act funding to support the Alaska Energy Authority's Beluga-to-Healy transmission project: up to $150 million in federal funds matched by $268 million in non-federal investment, for a planned total of $418 million. The project would build about 223 miles of new high-voltage transmission line linking Beluga in Southcentral Alaska with Healy in the Interior, giving the Railbelt grid — which serves about three-quarters of the state's population — a second high-voltage corridor between its two major load regions. The Railbelt has long depended on a single transmission path, so an outage caused by extreme weather or equipment failure can put large areas at risk of blackouts. The Energy Department said the project is part of a broader effort to use the Defense Production Act to strengthen critical energy infrastructure and grid resilience, with the state energy authority leading design, permitting and construction. In a state where long winters make heating and daily life deeply dependent on electricity, the new line is widely viewed as one of Alaska's most important power projects in years.
(Source: U.S. Department of Energy)
Source: U.S. Department of Energy
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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