Chugach Electric rebuilding lines

Chugach Electric Association said Dec. 18 that it has begun rebuilding a 15-mile section of a regional transmission line along the Seward Highway between the Kenai Peninsula and Anchorage.

The 90 miles of 115-kilovolt line linking Chugach Electric’s Cooper Lake hydroelectric project to Anchorage was completed in 1962. Over those 50 years the line has been subjected to the extremes of weather and has also become a vital section of the regional transmission grid, providing the only transmission line to move hydropower produced on the Kenai Peninsula to utilities to the north.

While the line was built to carry power from Chugach Electric’s then-17.2 megawatt Cooper Lake project, since 1991 it has also carried output of the state-owned 120-megawatt Bradley Lake hydro project. All six electric utilities in the Railbelt pay for and receive power from Bradley Lake, which provides some of the most economical power in the region.

Chugach said that as part of the rebuild, the line is being constructed to 230-kilovolt standards to provide for future growth and operating flexibility, although for the time being the line will continue to be energized at 115 kilovolts.

Buildup of heavy ice from last winter’s unusual storms stretched many spans of the wire to the ground of heavy ice and Chugach said the design of the new line provides additional clearance above the ground.

—Petroleum News