**Title**: Energy in the North - Arthur Miller
**Date**: March 11, 2026
**Participants**: Amanda Byrd, Arthur Miller

00;00;00;13 - 00;00;08;03 [Arthur Miller] I mean, we've been look at wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, thermal, tidal. Tremendous opportunities across the, across the board.

00;00;08;03 - 00;00;32;24 [Amanda Byrd] This week on energy in the North, I speak with Chugach Electric Association CEO Arthur Miller. The main source of electrical generation in the Chugach area is natural gas, and as natural gas in the Cook Inlet declines, to get one. Need to find a new source of that energy. I began the conversation that was recorded in 2025 by asking Arthur where he thinks the new energy resource will come from.

00;00;32;24 - 00;01;41;21 [Arthur Miller] Oh, very good question. So first of all, out of Chugach’s total generation requirements for natural gas, 60% is obtained through our direct ownership interest in the Beluga River Unit gas field, with the remaining 40% under a long term contract with Hilcorp ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ. That contract expires at the end of first quarter of 2028. And right now we are working to how do we replace that gas and our short term plan is to import liquefied natural gas. We are working with Harvest and Marathon Petroleum Company and remain very confident and optimistic on this import project. Longer term, however, we're transitioning away from reliance on natural gas to greater reliance on renewable energy. This will take time, but is categorically worth the effort. No question. We support the gas pipeline to from the North Slope to Southcentral ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ. It would be beneficial to all utilities in the Railbelt, as well as for the entire state, and we certainly hope the project moves forward and is successful.

00;01;41;21 - 00;01;50;00 [Amanda Byrd] he long term is more renewables. And so where are those kind of renewables going to be coming from? Is it hydro or wind or solar?

00;01;50;00 - 00;02;44;25 [Arthur Miller] That's, a multifaceted generation, diverse portfolio. So ideally it's everything above. It's hydro, it's wind, it's solar. Further down the road, geothermal or tidal. But we want to make sure that we have a diversified generation mix. And that's that's how we are approaching it right now.
 We did earlier put in the first community solar project in the state of ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ. We also put in solar projects at our South Central Power project power plant, the George Sullivan Power Plant. And then we put in the largest rooftop solar installation on our new operations building. So we've added solar, in those areas. And now we're working on a utility scale solar project located at the beluga power plant. Project design is about 5.5MW of a solar project. And we're looking at that.

00;02;44;25 - 00;02;52;18 [Amanda Byrd] And actually the Beluga solar project was approved by the Chugach Electric Board of directors for up to a ten megawatt design.

00;02;52;18 - 00;03;16;18 [Arthur Miller] We also are continuing to look for additional opportunities for wind generation. We also have been and continue, to refine generation, hydro generation resources in south central ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ. And that remains a very, significant effort and will be really be required to reduce reliance on natural gas just to add in more hydro resources. So that's a big part of our focus.

00;03;16;18 - 00;03;34;18 [Amanda Byrd] It kind of makes me think of ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ maybe becoming an energy tourism location where people might come and see all of the different renewable energy that we have that powers the state. If, when we move towards more renewable energy systems,

00;03;34;18 - 00;03;37;24 [Arthur Miller] Absolutely. I mean, we've been look at wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, thermal, tidal. Tremendous opportunities across the, across the board. And we we are not, tied to any one technology. We are really focused on what technology, is the most economic and that we can integrate into the system, in the most reliable and economical manner that we can.

00;03;57;24 - 00;04;06;17 [Amanda Byrd] Arthur Miller is the CEO of Chugach Electric Association, and I'm Amanda Byrd, chief storyteller for the ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ Center for Energy and Power at ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ. Find this story and more at uaf.edu/ACEP.