The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is wrapping up a project to replace the giant turbine runners that produce electricity at Glen Canyon Dam.
Rick Clayton works in the bureau's Upper Colorado Region power office. He says energy production from the dam near the Arizona-Utah border is expected to increase by 3 percent when the work is done this year.
The dam holding back Lake Powell produces enough energy to power about 600,000 households annually.
The price tag for replacing the eight turbines is almost $40 million.
Getting them to the dam in Page is no small feat. The 63-ton stainless steel turbines measure 16 feet in diameter. Each had to be driven through a fairly tight 2-mile access tunnel before being lifted in place by a crane.
