Mat-Su Borough Partners with Coal Plant Developer Seeking Data Center Options

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly in Alaska has approved a two-year joint international marketing initiative with Terra Energy Center Corporation (TECC) to attract major power consumers, including data centers, to a proposed coal-fired power plant development. The decision, which overrode a mayoral veto in March, allows borough staff to assist TECC in soliciting anchor tenants for its ambitious West Susitna project. TECC, a subsidiary of Flatlands Energy and Alaska Asia Clean Energy Corporation, holds a land-use permit on approximately 1,000 acres near Lake Lorraine at Point MacKenzie, earmarked for an advanced manufacturing and computing campus. TECC's primary focus is a large-scale power plant, now projected at 1.25-gigawatts, fueled by an estimated 521 million tons of coal from the Susitna Basin. General Manager Chad Schleusner highlighted the security and local nature of coal power, positioning it as an alternative to natural gas from Cook Inlet. The company recently announced an "agreement in principle" with Hyundai Heavy Industries Power Systems for power plant boilers and secured a $500 million equity investment from South Korean infrastructure firm KOREIT. The project faces significant infrastructure hurdles, including the development of the West Susitna Access Road, a potentially 100-mile gravel road estimated to cost over $76 million for its initial segment. This road, crucial for accessing the coal reserves, is currently in the permitting phase and requires a federal Environmental Impact Statement, with completion not expected until August 2027. Despite these challenges, TECC promotes its proposed plant as a "new, modern, state of the art" facility that could be cleaner than LNG imports, especially with planned carbon capture technology for use in year-round greenhouses, boosting food security. The joint marketing effort will also involve developing roughly 10,000 acres of borough-managed lands in areas like Fish Creek, Point MacKenzie, and Big Lake for data center and industrial opportunities.