The Healy coal powered electric plant could be back online within two years. Golden Valley Electric in Fairbanks spent $50 million on the plant, which sits just outside of Denali National Park. The EPA is giving them 18 months to install $40 million worth of pollution controls. The utility also plans on spending $20 million to improve the safety of the operations. The experimental “clean coal” plant operated briefly in the late 1990s before closing in 2000 because of safety and reliability concerns.
Anne Hillman is the healthy communities editor at Alaska Public Media and a host of Hometown, Alaska. Reach her at ahillman@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Anne here.
