Alaska Army Base Ditches Old Coal Heat for Safer Vibes
Published Date: 1/27/2025
Notice
Summary
Fort Wainwright in Alaska is upgrading its super old coal-fired heat and power plant to keep soldiers, families, and workers safe and warm. The Army is making these changes to avoid dangerous outages, save money, and meet new energy rules. They’ll share more details and ask for public feedback in 2025 before finalizing the plan.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Reduces risk of dangerous outages
The current central heat and power plant has had critical, near-catastrophic failures and unexpected, installation-wide outages. Constructing upgraded heat and electrical infrastructure would minimize the risk of catastrophic failure that could require evacuation and severely affect mission readiness.
Lower utility costs for the base
Fort Wainwright relies on a 68-year-old coal-fired plant that heats and powers more than 400 facilities. The Army says building upgraded heat and electrical infrastructure would reduce utility costs for the installation and help meet energy efficiency and air quality rules.
Plan could change fuel use and emissions
The Army is considering four alternatives: (1) a new coal CHPP; (2) a new dual-fuel combustion turbine CHPP primarily fueled by natural gas; (3) decentralizing heat with distributed natural gas boilers and buying electricity from a local utility; or (4) continuing the current plant with periodic upgrades. The Supplemental Final EIS will update fuel source availability, transportation and infrastructure needs, comparative greenhouse gas emissions, and socio-economic impacts, and the public will be invited to comment in 2025.
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Key Dates
Department and Agencies
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