In reference to Rick Sinnott’s Aug. 7 commentary: Sinnott acknowledged that Chugach Electric and Matanuska Electric are cooperatives. Cooperatives are owned by the ratepayers (us). We the ratepayers therefore benefit financially, to the tune of $19 million per year in excess profits, thanks to the Eklutna Hydro Project operating at full design capacity. Anything less than full utilization of that carbon-free electric generation plant amounts to a direct cost to us, the ratepayers.
Eliminating the Eklutna dam completely, as they did on the Klamath River, therefore could cost us ratepayers something like $380 each year for each salmon added to Eklutna Lake — assuming a 50,000-fish run and the loss of that annual $19 million in excess profits.
How can Sinnott argue this is what most Alaskans want? I doubt it. We have enough salmon runs feeding into Cook Inlet already at a much lower cost than $380 per fish.
Let’s keep an eye on what the Anchorage Assembly is promoting in the feel-good idea of protecting salmon.
— Mark A. Graber
Anchorage
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