The U.S. Department of Energy said Oct. 5, 2026, that it intends to use Defense Production Act funding to help build a second high-voltage transmission line connecting Southcentral and Interior Alaska.
The project, the Alaska Energy Authority's Beluga-Healy Transmission Project, carries a preliminary planning estimate of $418 million. DOE funding would cover up to $150 million of that total, with the remaining $268 million coming from non-federal sources.
What the line would do
Crews would build about 223 miles of new transmission line connecting Beluga and Healy. DOE said the line gives grid operators a second pathway to move power between Alaska's most populated communities and major military installations, which it said would lower electricity costs and strengthen grid reliability for about 75% of the state's population.
Where the funding comes from
DOE said $1 billion in federal funding has been appropriated for energy projects deemed important to national security, money made available after passage of the Working Families Tax Cut. Presidential Determination No. 2026-10 names transmission lines and conductors, substations, and power-control and protection equipment as essential to national defense.
The Defense Production Act lets the federal government fund production of materials and infrastructure the government deems necessary for national defense.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sen. Sullivan arranged a briefing from the Alaska Energy Authority during his August visit to Anchorage, and that briefings from Alaska Command, together with that meeting, confirmed the need for the expansion. He said the project would also support the military expansion under way in Alaska as well as mining and other resource development the administration considers important to national security.
Office of Electricity Assistant Secretary Katie Jereza said "Alaska's weather is unforgiving, and its grid needs another way to keep power moving."
