MSB voting on Coal Power, West Susitna, Recreation Rivers
Whew! Can you believe that we made it to March and have already survived two very active months in 2024?
Tuesday, March 5th is shaping up to be an extremely busy day in the Susitna Valley. Not only will the comment period for the Susitna Basin Recreation Rivers Management draft plan end, but the Mat-Su Borough Assembly will be voting on some highly questionable projects in the Susitna Valley through RS 24-031.
Learn more below and make a statement for the future of the Susitna Watershed!
MSB Assembly Vote: RS 24-031
A Resolution in Support of Coal Development and Associated Infrastructure (West Susitna)
Comment on Tuesday, March 5th at 6PM
Background
The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly is voting on RS 24-031, a bid to support the development of a coal power plant with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) on Tuesday March 5th at 6pm.
See the Agenda here.
Read the RS 24-031 in full here.
The Alaska Railbelt Carbon Capture and Storage (ARCCS) Project is currently being researched for cost and feasibility by University of Alaska Fairbanks. The CCS project plans to capture carbon emitted from a proposed coal plant located in the Susitna River Valley and transport it through a 60-mile pipeline to Beluga where it will be injected into a depleted natural gas field.
Included in this resolution is a bid for the Mat Su Borough to support the West Susitna Industrial Corridor as a means of providing infrastructure to the proposed coal power plant.
For tips on how to testify and craft your statement see below or this handy sheet.
How to Testify and Attend
Attend:
IN PERSON:
Assembly Chambers
350 East Dahlia Avenue, Palmer, AK
OBSERVE: observe the meeting via the live stream video
* Matanuska-Susitna Borough - YouTube
How to Testify:
IN WRITING: You can submit written comments to the Mat Su Borough Assembly at leg.com@matsugov.us
We encourage you to send written comments prior to March 5th to give the Assembly more time to review in advance of the meeting.
TELEPHONIC TESTIMONY:
• Dial 1-855-290-3803; you will hear “joining conference” when you are admitted to the meeting.
• You will be automatically muted and able to listen to the meeting.
• When the Chair announces audience participation or a public hearing you would like to
speak to, press *3; you will hear, “Your hand has been raised.”
• When it is your turn to testify, you will hear, “Your line has been unmuted.”
• State your name for the record, spell your last name, and provide your testimony.
Preparing Your Testimony
1. Testimony is limited to 3 minutes per person. Make notes or write out your testimony before the meeting starts.
2. When it is your turn to testify, state your name and spell your last name for the record. Identify your connection to the area. You can also include who your representative is.
Ex: Hello my name is Susitna River R-I-V-E-R. I am a business owner and longtime resident of the Matanuska Susitna Borough. Ron Bernier is my representative.
3. Following your introductory statement, begin your testimony. In your testimony indicate what you would like the assembly to do, what you are concerned about and why, repeat what you would like them to do, and thank them for the opportunity.
Ex: I ask the Mat Su Borough Assembly to not pass RS 24-031. There are many reasons why I, as your constituent, am asking you to not pass Resolution 24-031. Coal is an outdated mode of power creation that we should not be promoting in the Mat-Su Valley. Additionally, your constituents have spoken out against the fiscal disaster that would be West Susitna many times and the project should be shelved by the Borough
If you'd like us to review or help you draft your testimony, we are here to help.
Please email us to schedule a time to talk or send us your testimony for review at june@susitnarivercoalition.org and margaret@susitnarivercoalition.org.
Talking Points to Consider:
Regarding Coal and Carbon Capture:
Coal-fired Energy Power is in the Past: The IEEFA (Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis) reports: The U.S. is closing half of its coal-fired generation capacity by 2026. 40% or 80.6 gigawatts of remaining U.S. coal-fired capacity is being shut down by the end of 2030.
Recent Coal Plant Closure in Alaska: In 2022, the Golden Valley Electric Association (GVEA) voted to shut down Healy 2, a 50-MW coal plant (the largest in the state) with the support of Pogo Mine and Kinross Ft. Knox, two huge mining companies in Alaska who stated their support for sustainable energy. GVEA plans to replace the coal plant with wind power by the end of 2024 to reduce the co-op’s reliance on fossil fuels.
Coal is Expensive Compared to Wind and Solar: New analysis and studies show that keeping 99% of U.S. coal-fired power plants running is now more expensive than it is to build an entirely new solar or wind power operation nearby. Replacing coal plants would save nearly 150 gigawatts of four-hour battery storage, which is over 60% of the coal fleet’s capacity.
Carbon Capture is Mainly Used for Gas and Oil Extraction: Carbon capture originated in the 1970s as enhanced oil recovery, where CO2 was injected into depleted oil and gas reservoirs to boost hydrocarbon extraction. In response to growing climate concerns, oil and gas industry rebranded this process as “carbon capture utilization and storage” (CCUS) to portray it as climate friendly. However, over 70% of CCS projects are still utilized for enhanced oil recovery.
Despite Substantial Investments, Carbon Capture has a History of Failure: The Plant Ratcliffe facility or " Kemper” carbon capture project in Mississippi, a $6.7 billion dollar project and first attempted commercial scale CCUS project in the U.S. completely failed. The carbon capture portion of it was shut down in 2017 after delays and increased costs, only leaving the natural gas part of the facility open. The Petra Nova carbon capture facility, which cost $1 billion in construction costs, was suspended after 4 years of operation from failure to meet its target in 2022. There were a multitude of technical problems experienced with the facility as well as in the CO2 pipeline and the oilfield where carbon was being captured.
Carbon Capture Uses an Extreme Amount of Energy: A carbon capture system essentially requires building a whole other power plant just to run it. This undermines the entire goal of capturing carbon in the first place. Removing one fifth (about 1 billion tons) of the amount of carbon the U.S. emits in one year by carbon capture would require the entire electricity outlet of the U.S.
Storing Capture Carbon is Risky: There are significant risks associated with the disposal and storage of carbon dioxide. Failure of injection wells or blowouts could lead to the release of large quantities of carbon. Storage sites may also experience leaks, particularly when located near fossil fuel reservoirs, where oil and gas wellbores can provide pathways for carbon to escape to the surface. These leaks have the potential to contaminate groundwater and soil. Furthermore, carbon injections have been linked to induced earthquakes, which have been observed at injection sites.
Regarding the Inclusion of West Susitna:
The Project is Unpopular Among Borough Residents: Individuals in the Borough have repeatedly demonstrated opposition to the West Susitna Industrial Corridor. The DOT draft STIP plan wrapped up a public comment period in September 2023. It drafted the allocation of the first 15 miles of West Susitna Access and a mega bridge across the Susitna for a price tag of 82.5 million. 87% of all online public comments were against this project. The Mat-Su Borough's own outreach, with over 1300 comments, public meetings with over 300 attendees, and 692 online survey takers, showed, on the low end, 75% of Mat-Su Borough residents were against the road whether public or private. Mat Su Borough elected officials have an obligation to oppose a project that the public does not support.
The Assembly doesn't know which project they are voting on: The current talking points being laid out by the AIDEA and by DOT indicate that the West Susitna Road is two separate projects. Which of the projects does this resolution support? 1.) The West Susitna Road that is currently under question in the rejected 2024-2027 DOT draft STIP plan or 2.) the strongly opposed AIDEA industrial corridor? It should be clarified which project the Mat-Su Borough Assembly is referring to.
West Susitna has failed to pass various checkpoints: The West Susitna project has failed to pass numerous checkpoints in the vetting process. These include neglect of AIDEA to provide adequate information to the public and the Army Corps of Engineers resulting in a failure to procure permitting and mischaracterization by DOT in an attempt to gain support.
The Borough is ignoring public process: The Borough has never formally come out in support of the West Susitna Corridor. The inclusion of support for the project in conjunction with the Alaska CCUS Project appears to be a way to sneak in Assembly support of West Susitna by circumventing strong public opposition.
The Borough doesn't know what it is pledging to pay for: The road and cost estimates as presented by AIDEA and DOT are likely far understated. Prior to pledging support, the Borough should find out what the true costs of road construction and what would the Borough and its constituents tax dollars be responsible for.
The Borough is not considering the cumulative impact of industrialization: In recent years, the West-Su Road, the Donlin Pipeline, Susitna Valley Oil and Gas Development, and now the colossal gravel needs for road construction and building pads in a predominately wetland area, weakened habitat protections have all been proposed for this region of the Susitna Watershed. All of these proposals are being looked at individually while the cumulative impacts of these projects need to be addressed as a whole. Individually, these projects will alter and impact the landscape, together they will exacerbate negative impacts from habitat loss, fragmentation, illegal harvest, vandalism, pollution including air, ground and noise, and overwhelming change the face of the region forever.