FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTUU/KTVF) – As energy costs in Alaska continued to rise, a panel of experts at the University of Alaska Fairbanks addressed a decades-old question: does Alaska need a mega-dam.

The panel, moderated by the Susitna River Coalition’s Executive Director Melis Coady, discussed the impacts and need of the proposed Susitna-Watana mega-dam.

The concept was first proposed decades ago and the initial project plan stalled. It is now getting a second look and is currently going through the licensing process.

Some residents and members of the Susitna River Coalition raised concerns about the impacts the project would have on salmon and the area around Talkeetna.

Panel experts weighed the economics, history, environment and energy needs of Alaska today. While there was not an exact answer about the need for the dam, there was consensus on solving the energy crisis in Alaska.

“We are in an energy crisis right now,” said Philip Wight, associate professor of history and Arctic studies at UAF.

Gwen Holdmann, with the Alaska Center for Energy and Power at UAF, said she wants to see less dependence on outside energy sources.

“I would like to see us more reliant on local sources of energy and less reliant on the potential for imported sources of energy,” Holdmann said.

At the end of the panel, Holdmann and Wight both said these decisions require more studies and more conversations about what the state wants as a community.

Railbelt utility looking into hydropower

Power providers on the Railbelt were also looking into the megadam option. Leaders at Golden Valley Electric Association said hydropower could shield customers from price swings tied to fuel shortages.

Ashley Bradish, director of internal affairs and public relations at GVEA, pointed to the Bradley Lake Hydroelectric Project as an example.

“I think a lot about the Bradley Lake Hydroelectric Project. That project passed by one vote, if I recall, and it is by far the cheapest source of power on the rail belt. With the situation we’re in right now with the gas shortage, which definitely impacts Golden Valley as well, it’s definitely something that we don’t want to get lost,” Bradish said.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU/Gray News) – Biologists in Alaska located a brown bear believed to have broken into several garages and vehicles and even attempted to enter a house.

Fish and Game biologists euthanized the adult male brown bear Monday night in Rabbit Creek.

According to the agency, they had received several reports from the neighborhoods in that area of bears damaging garage doors and trying to get into sheds. Fish and Game Regional Supervisor Cyndi Wardlow said one even tried to push a home’s front door open.

Biologist Nick Docken said the bear fit the description in a video sent in by homeowners, and while he was reasonably certain it was responsible for some of the damage, it’s possible there are other bears involved.

“We do not know if the bear that was killed is the same bear previously reported for the garages and vehicles, and we know that at least one additional brown bear has been seen in the area,” Wardlow said in an email.

Biologists received another report of a brown bear in the same area shortly after the first bear had been euthanized, according to Wardlow. Anchorage Police and Fish and Game used drones to search for the second bear but never found it.

Wardlow said the bears’ behavior was very unusual and said it’s unclear what is causing it.

“We don’t know specifically how these bears developed these behaviors, but it definitely started with bears trying to get into garages, and it’s possible they got into trash or received some other kind of food reward when they did that and learned that that behavior could get them access to a food source that they wouldn’t have had otherwise,” she said.

The agency previously told KTUU that the bear or bears causing the destruction posed an unacceptable public safety risk.

“Obviously, that is a very serious public safety situation and something that we are trying to respond to as quickly as we can,” Wardlow said.

The department is asking people to report any brown bear sightings in Anchorage neighborhoods immediately by calling 311 after hours and on weekends. During business hours, sightings and other wildlife issues can be reported to 907-267-2179 or on the Fish and Game website. People experiencing emergencies with wildlife should call 911.