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King Salmon is a community known for its strong salmon fishing tradition and for the violent 1912 eruption of Mt. Katmai which collapsed into itself, making 2,000 feet of mountain disappear. But nearly a century later King Salmon, the nearest community to the impressively wild and prehistoric Katmai National Park and Preserve has become a home base for energy discovery. Because of this, residents are not only focusing on their fishing tradition, but on the drilling process.

A project converting Planet Earth’s trapped heat into energy is not new. However, the one underway on the Aleutian Chain’s northern tip is going to be Alaska’s first. Naknek Electric Association’s drilling marks Alaska’s first opportunity to have their very own utility-grade geothermal plant. Aside from being host to Alaska’s first geothermal plant residents of the Bristol Bay region will also benefit in other ways, since utility rates are projected to decrease by 50% or more. At first, only three communities; Naknek, South Naknek and King Salmon, will be able to connect with the new power source. However the project’s goal is to bring in all 28 villages of the Bristol Bay region to the new power source.

The first geothermal well measuring 10,000 feet or nearly 2.5 miles in depth was drilled earlier this summer, at a cost of $20 million. The second well is estimated to cost approximately $9 million and will begin this fall. A third well is still in the planning stages.

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