A small Air Force station in interior Alaska is scheduled to be hooked up this year to a rural cooperative’s power lines.
Golden Valley Electric Association is moving forward with installation of a 2.4-mile high-voltage transmission line to Clear Air Station.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the Department of Defense for three years has sought the connection as a cost-saving measure.
Clear operates radar antennas that track satellites and provide early warning of an intercontinental missile attack.
The station since it was built in 1961 has generated its own coal-fired heat and electricity.
The station’s 22.5-megawatt plant produces far more power than the facility requires with improved radar systems.
The Defense Department will pay an estimated $6.1 million for the transmission line.
