FALLS CREEK HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT

In September 1998, the US Congress passed an act enabling Gustavus Electric access to the Falls Creek drainage as a source of hydroelectric energy upon successful completion of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) licensing process. Detailed environmental studies began in 1996. An Environmental Assessment and application for the FERC license was submitted in 2001. The FERC license for the project was issued on October 29, 2004.  Construction began April 1, 2006 and was completed in August of 2009.

The Falls Creek Project site is located approximately 5 miles east of Gustavus, Alaska and about 45 miles west of Juneau on land owned by the State of Alaska. The project is a run-of-river facility, consisting generally of 3.1 miles of access road, a low gated diversion structure at about El 670 on Falls Creek, a 9,400 feet long penstock, a powerhouse containing a single 800 kW generating unit, a tailrace conduit for conveying the powerhouse discharge to near the upstream limit of anadromous fish habitat, and a 5-mile long buried transmission cable between the powerhouse and the existing diesel powerhouse in Gustavus.  

Click here to access a variety of construction and operation reporting documents.