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pared to a typical municipal water distribution system, is that most of the water lines are located in a protected underground utilidor system rather than direct buried. Fort Wainwright’s wastewater is collected by a series of sewer mains that also run primarily through the utilidor system. Residual heat from the steam and condensate pipes provides freeze protection for the wastewater lines. While Doyon Utilities owns and operates the waste- water collection system, the waste - water is treated off the installation by Golden Heart Utilities. At Fort Greely, Doyon Utilities serves approximately 1,300 residents, mostly soldiers, families and federal workers. The company operates four utilities on Fort Greely. The company’s Fort Greely operations also support the Army’s Northern Warfare Training Center at Black Rapids, 35 miles south of the Army post. This is the nation’s state-of-the-art cold weather and mountain warfare training site. Fort Greely’s electrical distribution system includes overhead and under - ground distribution feeders and street lighting. At this installation, Electric power is normally purchased by the Army from Golden Valley Electrical Association (GVEA), the Interior’s electric cooperative which is inter- connected with both Fort Wainwright and Fort Greely. When GVEA is unable to provide power, or if the installation needs to disconnect from the local grid, DU can meet the installation’s energy demands with backup diesel generation. Similar to Fort Wainwright, heat to Fort Greely’s buildings is provided by steam boilers located in the CHPP and distributed through underground utilidors which also house the installa- tion’s water and sewer lines for freeze protection. Water is supplied by ground wells and is treated at a water treatment facility before distribution. Unlike Fort Wainwright and JBER, the Fort Greely operations team collects and treats wastewater on the installation using an Imhoff-style tank, lagoons and a chlorine disinfection system. At Joint Base Elmendorf-Rich - ardson in Anchorage, Doyon Utilities serves nearly 35,000 people including military personnel and retirees, feder - al employees and families. The com - pany operates four utilities on JBER
providing services primarily to the Fort Richardson side of the Joint Base. Electricity is supplied by Chugach Electric Association and the Doyon Utilities’ Landfill Gas Plant, Alaska’s only landfill gas-to-energy plant (LFG). Constructed in 2012, DU’s LFG power generation plant has provid- ed the installation with energy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Situated on the installation adjacent to the Anchorage landfill, the LFG plant draws methane produced naturally by the waste deposited in the landfill. The plant uses the methane to fuel five 1.4-megawatt generators – a com - bined 7-megawatt of power that can meet nearly all of JBER-Richardson’s summer requirements and about 70% of the power requirements in winter. JBER’s drinking water is obtained from the Ship Creek Surface Water Reservoir and local groundwater wells on the installation. The water is treated at DU’s water treatment plant before it is distributed throughout the entire Joint Base. During 2024, Doyon Utilities produced more than 1 billion gallons of water, making it one of the largest water producers in the state. The existing water treatment plant was commissioned in 1957 and has received several upgrades during the past 65 years. Construction of a new water treatment plant was approved in 2023 and broke ground in June 2024. The new ultrafiltration water treatment plant, with a capacity of 7.5 million gallons per day, will span more than 10,000 square feet. Equipped with advanced treatment technolo - gies, this new plant will bring JBER greater resilience and water security. It is scheduled to commission in the fall. Doyon Utilities’ wastewater collec- tion utility collects JBER’s wastewater through direct-buried sewer lines and transfers it to the City of Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility for treatment. In its 17 years of operation, Doyon Utilities has delivered on the promise of utilities privatization with robust and resilient utilities across the three in- stallations it serves, and looks forward to the next 33 years serving Alaska’s soldiers, airmen and their families.
These contracts are the largest and most complex utility privatization ef - forts ever awarded by the Department of Defense. The three Army installations are critical to the nation’s defense in the Arctic, where geopolitical changes and interests are growing. The Army’s 11th Airborne Division (Arctic), based both at JBER and Fort Wainwright, is the Army’s only division in the Arctic while Fort Greely hosts the nation’s main ballistic missile interceptor installation. While utilities at Alaska’s U.S. Army installations are fully privatized, utili - ties at Alaska’s U.S. Air Force installa- tions are still operated by the govern- ment. These include Eielson Air Force Base east of Fairbanks, JBER-Elmen - dorf (the Air Force side of JBER and formerly Elmendorf Air Force Base) and Clear Space Force Station located southwest of Fairbanks. The Air Force is currently reviewing privatizing utili- ties in Alaska which potentially could create new opportunities for Doyon Utilities. At Fort Wainwright, Doyon Utilities serves nearly 16,000 residents, mostly soldiers, families and federal workers. The company operates four utilities on Fort Wainwright, including a coal-fired cogeneration plant. The Electrical Distribution System is far-reaching, servicing the main cantonment area and extending to re - mote ranges which include the Yukon Training Area and Donnelly Training Area near Delta Junction. Fort Wain- wright is heated by a 22-megawatt coal-fired centralized heat and power plant (CHPP) that generates steam and electricity to meet 100% of the heat and electricity demands of the installation. Its lifeblood is the network of steam and condensate lines dis - tributed throughout the post. Steam from the CHPP circulates to each building and residence, then returns to the plant in the form of condensate. Though most of the system was built in the early 1950s, several upgrades and additions have been made over the years. Fort Wainwright’s drinking water is supplied by an underground aquifer to a water treatment plant. A unique characteristic of the Fort Wainwright water distribution system, as com -
While utilities at Alaska’s U.S. Army installations are fully privatized, utilities at Alaska’s U.S. Air Force installations are still operated by the government. These include Eielson Air Force Base east of Fairbanks.
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