Juneau’s municipal leaders are advancing plans to install shore-power connections at two publicly owned cruise ship docks, a complex infrastructure project that engineering firm H3 Solutions estimates will take up to 54 months to complete if approved. The initiative aims to let docked vessels plug into land-based electricity, cutting diesel fuel consumption and reducing air pollution.
Juneau Shore Power Project Scope and Costs
The latest design figures for bringing shore power to the Alaska Steamship Dock and the Cruise Ship Terminal Dock had their first public review before the Juneau Docks and Harbors Board on Thursday. Port Director Carl Uchytil stated that initial design work costs about $2 million, with the city funding the effort through an agreement with Alaska Electric Light and Power (AEL&P), which oversees the Pasadena-based engineering firm H3 Solutions. While Uchytil anticipated the full construction bill would surpass $50 million, preliminary design figures presented by engineers surprised local officials.
H3 engineer Vahik Haddadian explained that the design phase paused at 35% completion for board review. Completing the entire initiative will take between four and a half to five years, largely due to seasonal construction restrictions. Global demand for electrical transformers and other heavy equipment has also stretched timelines, with transformers currently requiring a two-year ordering lead time due to competition from data centers and electric vehicle infrastructure.
Engineering Challenges and Site Constraints
Juneau’s geographical and tidal conditions present distinct engineering hurdles compared to West Coast installations. Because municipal docks must service a wide variety of visiting vessels, the electrical design cannot rely on fixed connections. H3 Solutions designed a system where heavy cables move horizontally along the docks to match different ship access points and vertically to accommodate Juneau’s extreme tidal variations.
“An electrified dock designed only for a specific company’s ships of a known size and configuration can be far less expensive to build than a dock that needs to be able to accommodate nearly all current ships or those to be built in the near future,” Haddadian told the board, comparing the adjustable cable system to sliding a kitchen counter outlet behind a toaster.
Additional expenses include driving new steel pilings for an adjacent dock structure and tackling steep infrastructure grades. The existing uphill road connecting to AEL&P transmission lines features a grade exceeding 20%, which is twice as steep as standard trucks can handle while hauling a 100,000-pound transformer. Haddadian noted that a new access road may need to be built to cut that grade in half. Uncertain alluvial soil conditions and mine waste rock require a 30% financial contingency built into the H3 design.
Grid Reliability and Existing Infrastructure
Juneau currently features one operational shore-power facility at the privately owned Franklin Dock, which was installed in 2001 to service Princess Cruises. Cruise Lines International Association reports that every cruise ship scheduled for construction over the next two years will feature shore-power compatibility.
Addressing concerns about grid stability during low reservoir levels or potential landslides affecting transmission lines, AEL&P Chief Generation Officer Bryan Farrell assured the board that cruise ships would face power interruptions before local residents. “We’re never going to burn diesel to serve an interruptible power customer,” Farrell said, adding that revenue generated from selling electricity to cruise ships would be returned to regular AEL&P customers through lower utility rates.
While public comment during the session remained sparse, Steve Behnke of Renewable Juneau described the proposal to the Docks and Harbors Board as a positive step forward.