From Sean Cockerham in Juneau --

The co-chairs of the Senate Resources Committee want to put millions of dollars toward the massive Susitna dam project. Democratic Sen. Bill Wielechowski and Republican Sen. Lesil McGuire want $6 million spent for preliminary work on the Susitna River project, which could cost at least $4 billion to build.

They’re also proposing the state spend $3 million to explore the viability of a competing dam project at Chakachamna Lake across Cook Inlet from Anchorage.

A recent state-funded study said the Susitna project, unless it was greatly scaled back, would provide far more power than the state needs.

Consultants Black and Veatch said even a scaled-back Susitna dam would not be as cost-effective as the Chakachamna project, which has an estimated cost of $1.6 billion.

Wielechowski and McGuire, both of Anchorage, said both projects need to get state funding at this point, because it’s possible that Chakachamna doesn’t pan out and they don’t want to give up on Susitna. The state is also pursuing a “bullet line” to bring North Slope natural gas to the Railbelt, and if that happens it’s hard to see the power need for either big dam project. But the bullet line is far from becoming a reality.

Wielechowski and McGuire are proposing a total of nearly $300 million in state spending for energy work, two-thirds for the “Railbelt Energy Fund” for future power development projects in the region. They also want $25 million more spending for renewable energy projects, $25 million for weatherization, $8 million for rural power system upgrades and millions more for bulk storage facilities and the creation of an emerging energy technology fund to develop new technologies.