Chugach Electric Proposes A Massive Electrical Dam At Caribou Creek

Dam Site Would Be Located At Terminus Of Dangerous Glenn Highway Switchback

The road to Caribou Creek. Glenn Highway. (Photo, Country Journal)

Apparently Chugach Electric Hasn't Kept Matanuska Electric In The Loop, According To ADN Story

Chugach Electric is looking at getting a go-ahead on 400-foot dam and a 1,000-acre reservoir behind it at Caribou Creek, a well-known switchback on the long and lonely Glenn Highway at Mile 104. The creek marks the gash between the Chugach and Talkeetna Mountains, where the two mountain chains crumple together at the rocky Caribou Creek gorge.

For Copper Valley people, Caribou Creek is known as a dangerous spot on the highway where many trucks and vehicles have run into trouble, going off the highway.

According to a story in the Anchorage Daily News, if the concept goes ahead, work would start as early as 2033.

The plan would affect local people in the Glacier View area, who worry about landslides and flooding. At a recent meeting, they voiced their serious concerns.

The Daily News said Matanuska Electric Association representatives had not 'signed on' to the project and did not know the details. The MEA noted that "projects of this significance should be developed through collaboration," reported the Daily News.

What Exactly Does Chugach Electric Say They Want To Do?

Here's the official project description, as posted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on March 24th, 2026. It's the Application for the Chugach Electric Association 'Caribou Creek Hydropower Project.'

Chugach Electric's Web Banner.

According to the applicant, "The project would not occupy federal land. All lands associated with the proposed project are owned by the state of Alaska or Cook Inlet Region, Inc."

Description of Project: The proposed project would consist of a dam (height is undetermined) located on Caribou Creek approximately two miles upstream of its confluence with the Matanuska River. The proposed dam would consist of a concrete-faced rockfill embankment dam, impounding Caribou Creek to a maximum elevation of up to 2,200 feet, forming a reservoir with a maximum surface area of 980 acres. The proposed dam would be built and operated as a storage-based generation facility and create impoundment capacity suitable for capturing and storing large runoff events in the summer and fall. This would provide stable baseload generation during winter months when precipitation occurs as snow and natural inflows are minimal. A 7-foot diameter penstock would extend approximately 500 feet from the dam downhill to the proposed powerhouse. The penstock would convey flow through an elevation drop of approximately 380 feet to the powerhouse site, with a proposed tailrace elevation of 1,780 feet. The powerhouse would contain two Francis-type turbine-generator units with a rated capacity of 8.8 megawatts (MW) each for a total powerhouse capacity of 18 MW. The potential annual energy generation would be 58 gigawatt-hours (GWh). Adjacent to the powerhouse would be a substation with a new high voltage transmission line spanning approximately 1,500 feet to an existing transmission line running alongside Glenn Highway.

When a Declaration of Intention is filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Federal Power Act requires the Commission to investigate and determine if the project would affect the interests of interstate or foreign commerce. The Commission also determines whether or not the project: (1) would be located on a navigable waterway; (2) would occupy public lands or reservations of the United States; (3) would utilize surplus water or water power from a government dam; or (4) would be located on a non-navigable stream over which Congress has Commerce Clause jurisdiction and would be constructed or enlarged after 1935.