Elfin Cove continues pursuit of hydroelectricity

The Chichagof Island community of Elfin Cove is dreaming of a hydro-powered future.

Last week, according to a filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Elfin Cove’s electrical cooperative has reapplied for sole hydropower rights at Crooked Creek and Jim’s Lake, a pair of waterbodies just southeast of the town.

Elfin Cove has a year-round population of only 15 people, according to figures from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, but each summer the tiny town booms with seasonal tourism and fishing.

“We want to reduce the cost to our ratepayers and — this is a personal belief — it’s the right thing to do to put in hydro rather than burn fossil fuels,” said Jane Button, project administrator for the Elfin Cove Utility Commission, which manages the town’s power grid.

Last week’s filing is the precursor to an official license application. The initial filing is a statement of intent and stakes a claim — no other competing projects will be considered in the claimed area. Planning for the project has been in the works for the past six years, and last week’s filing renews a claim already staked by the project.

According to the project’s timeline, initial studies could be completed as soon as this summer, allowing the official licensing process to move forward.

“Developing the hydropower potential of these streams … will displace approximately 22,100 gallons of diesel fuel used annually for electricity generation,” the initial filing states. “This will reduce the risk of marine spills from barging this fuel to the community, will avoid the air pollution associated with burning this fuel, and will promote the sustainability of the Elfin Cove community by providing a lower‐cost and more stably‐priced renewable energy supply for the community.”

The initial filing was written by Joel Groves of Anchorage-based Polarconsult Alaska Inc. Button said Groves was in the field, working on the project, and a call to his cellphone was not returned by the Empire’s press deadline.

Small hydroelectric projects are widely seen as a solution for high energy costs in Southeast Alaska. In Hoonah, for example, the Inside Passage Electric Cooperative last year dedicated the Gartina Falls Hydroelectric Project, which supplies enough power to meet 30 percent of Hoonah’s needs.

The Jim’s Lake plant at Elfin Cove is expected to supply about 90 percent of the town’s electricity, even though it is expected to be much smaller.

Initial plans call for the project to be divided into two parts. In the first, a pipe will carry water downhill from Crooked Creek to Jim’s Lake. A small powerhouse would be located at the exit of the pipe.

In the second part of the project, a 14-foot-high dam would be built at the exit of Jim’s Lake, which would serve as a reservoir. A second pipe would carry lake water downhill to a powerhouse built at tidewater.

As with most hydroelectric projects, the biggest issue preventing construction is cost. Hydroelectricity is clean, renewable and relatively cheap over the lifetime of the power plant, but it has a high upfront cost.

Completing all of the licensing involved in the project is expected to cost $377,000, according to the federal filing, much of which has already been paid for with grants from the state’s renewable energy fund.

Construction will cost much more, and the renewable energy fund is no longer providing significant grants, a consequence of state budget cuts. Button said there may be enough community support to seek funding on the open market, even if that brings debt.

“We don’t have the money to pay for it, but I believe the community is behind it enough to, if we even have to borrow the funds and service the debt over time that it will still be possible,” she said. “Even if it isn’t cheaper, it’s still preferable to being in thrall to fluctuating diesel prices.”

• Contact Empire reporter James Brooks at james.k.brooks@juneauempire.com or 523-2258.