Mount Susitna is seen from Anchorage on May 26, 2022. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Mount Susitna is seen from Anchorage on May 26, 2022. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Developers are planning a wind-power project west of Alaska’s ‘Sleeping Lady’

Little Mount Susitna is west of Mount Susitna, known as “The Sleeping Lady” or, in Dena’ina, Dgehlishla

  • By James Brooks Alaska Beacon
  • Tuesday, June 7, 2022 11:41pm
  • NewsState News

By James Brooks

Alaska Beacon

A Fairbanks green-energy company is planning a wind farm on Little Mount Susitna, northwest of Anchorage, with plans to feed some of the power needs of Alaska’s largest city.

Alaska Renewables LLC, owned by Matthew Perkins and Andrew McDonnell, has filed planning documents with the state of Alaska, seeking a wind-farm lease and the ability to construct meteorological towers that are typically used to measure wind speeds ahead of construction at wind power plants.

According to a public notice published May 25, a wind farm at the site “would connect into existing Chugach Electric Association power grid lines with new high voltage transmission lines as a part of CEA’s effort to expand on its affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy portfolio.”

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

McDonnell didn’t answer calls seeking comment, and a message sent through a form posted on Alaska Renewables’ website was not returned. Chugach Electric also did not respond to a request for comment.

State law requires DNR to consider competing bids for a wind-power project at the site, what’s known as a solicitation of interest.

If no competitors send notice before midnight, June 24, the state will negotiate a lease with Alaska Renewables, which has registered to do business as Little Mount Susitna Wind LLC.

On prior projects, developers have been reluctant to speak publicly about their intentions until the solicitation-of-interest window closes.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources has not yet fulfilled a public records request for a copy of the company’s lease application.

Little Mount Susitna is west of Mount Susitna, known as “The Sleeping Lady” or, in Dena’ina, Dgehlishla.

Remote in terms of road access, the site is about 12 miles north of the power lines connecting Anchorage with Chugach Electric’s Beluga power plant near Tyonek.

James Brooks is a longtime Alaska reporter, having previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. This article originally appeared online at alaskabeacon.com. Alaska Beacon, an affiliate of States Newsroom, is an independent, nonpartisan news organization focused on connecting Alaskans to their state government.

More in News

Christine Cunningham, left, and Mary Bondurant, right, both members of the Kenai Bronze Bear Sculpture Working Group, stand for a photo with Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel and a small model of the proposed sculpture during a luncheon hosted by the Kenai Chamber of Commerce in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Model of bronze bears debuted as airport display project seeks continued funding

The sculpture, intended for the airport exterior, will feature a mother bear and two cubs.

The Kahtnuht’ana Duhdeldiht Campus on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninula Clarion)
State board approves Tułen Charter School

The Kenaitze Indian Tribe will be able to open their charter school this fall.

Alaska State Troopers logo.
Homer Middle School teacher arrested on charges of sexual assault and burglary

Charles Kent Rininger, 38, was arrested March 12 by Alaska State Troopers.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski raises her right hand to demonstrate the oath she took while answering a question about her responsibility to defend the U.S. Constitution during her annual address to the Alaska Legislature on March 18, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Murkowski embraces many of Trump’s goals, but questions his methods

Senator addresses flood concerns, federal firings, Medicaid worries in annual speech to Legislature.

Cemre Akgul of Turkey, center left, and Flokarta Hoxha of Kosovo, center right, stand for a photo with members of their host family, Casady and Patrick Herding, at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (Photo provided by Patrick Herding)
International students get the Alaska experience

Students to share their experiences visiting the Kenai Peninsula at a fundraiser dinner on Sunday.

Lisa Gabriel, left, watches as beach seine nets are pulled from the waters of Cook Inlet at a test site for the gear near Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Proposal to use beach seines in commercial fishery killed

The board amended the proposal to remove setnets from the east side setnet fishery before the motion failed 3-3.

An aerial photograph shows the area where the new Seward Cruise Ship Terminal will be constructed. (Screenshot/Seward Company image)
Work begins on new Seward cruise ship terminal

Work has begun at the site of the new cruise ship terminal… Continue reading

The Tlingit and Haida Elders Group performs the entrance dance at the 89th annual Tribal Assembly of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Trump rescinds Biden executive order expanding tribal sovereignty and self-governance

Order giving Natives more access to federal funds cited in awarding of major Southeast Alaska projects.

‘Wáats’asdiyei Joe Yates, Raye Lankford, X̱’unei Lance Twitchell and Rochelle Adams pose with the Children’s and Family Emmy Award award Lankford and Twitchell won for co-writing the an episode of the PBS animated children’s show “Molly of Denali.” (Photo courtesy of ‘Wáats’asdiyei Joe Yates)
‘Molly of Denali’ episode wins best writing honor at 2025 Children’s and Family Emmy Awards

First Emmy win for animated PBS show goes to episode co-writers X̱’unei Lance Twitchell and Raye Lankford.

Most Read