The most recent cost estimate for bringing electric shore power to more cruise ships in Juneau had its first public airing before Juneau’s Docks and Harbors Board on Sept. 24, providing the first public explanation of why the price tag has doubled.
Bringing electric power to two city-owned cruise ship docks will enable ships to cut the cost of diesel fuel while in port, as well as reducing pollution, according to advocates. Those have been goals in Juneau, and increasingly around the world, for more than two decades.
But it may cost as much as $111 million, twice as much as a city estimate in 2024, according to H3 Engineering Solutions.
The California-based company paused its electrification design work at the 35% completion stage to enable analysis and first review by the municipal board
Vahik Haddadian, an H3 engineer, said higher demand for electrical equipment such as transformers has been one of the factors driving up costs. Transformers are in such short supply they have to be ordered two years before they are needed.
Haddadian said the high demand for electrical equipment is due to data centers, growing numbers of electric vehicles and other users..
Completion of this project may take years, he said, in part due to seasonal restrictions on work. “If you say 'go' now it will probably take four and a half to five years,” he said.
A key expense for Juneau is the need to provide electrical service to nearly all ships, meaning cables will have to be moved up and down the docks to reach each ship's varying access points, as well as moving up and down vertically to deal with Juneau's high 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 said.
The Juneau design presented would accommodate nearly all ships. In California, new docks are required to accommodate 100% of ships, at a far higher building cost. “You are lucky you are not in California,” Haddadian said.
Some other costs are specifically designed for or related to the conditions in Juneau, he said.
A new dock next to existing city docks would be needed, calling for new steel pilings to be driven, Haddadian said. An existing uphill road to Alaska Electric Light and Power's transmission lines and equipment would be built at a grade of more than 20%, twice the grade that a truck can be expected to haul a 100,000-pound transformer.
“A new road may need to be built,” said Haddadian. “We need to knock that grade at least in half."
In other cases, the uncertain nature of soil and mine waste rock at the site may complicate construction and drive up costs. H3’s design includes a contingency of 30% to pay for unexpected costs, risks or changes.
Shore power is currently available at Juneau's privately owned Franklin Dock, which was installed in 2001 to provide power specifically to Princess Cruises. Officials in Juneau and beyond hailed the dock as a pioneering achievement, but efforts toward additional electrified docks in subsequent years have been stalled by cost and other factors.
“The global standard is exactly what you have here,” Haddadian said. “You have Princess Cruises to thank for that.”
Bryan Farrell, the chief generation officer for Alaska Electric Light & Power in Juneau, said revenue from selling power to cruise ships would be returned to Juneau’s regular customers through lower rates.
