Nearly 300 miles south of Anchorage sits a small community where tribal members are descendants of villagers forced to flee an erupting volcano.  Nearly a century after those ancestors were chased away, King Salmon is the home base for an energy discovery tapping into the same forces that caused Mount Katmai to blow in 1912.

In a place best known for its world-class salmon runs, workers are currently in the process of capturing a different kind of catch. Each day, a drilling crew is lifting from a deep hole in the earth enough water to fill nearly 500 bath tubs, at temperatures hot enough to slow-cook spare ribs. In the geothermal world a 250-degree heat source isn't exceptionally warm but it's plenty warm enough to get the job done.

Converting the earth's trapped heat into energy isn't an earth-shatteringly new endeavor. But the project underway on the northern tip of the Aleutian Chain is a first for the state of Alaska. The geothermal wells Naknek Electric Association is drilling are a lead up to the first utility-grade geothermal plant in Alaska history. If successful, the plant is expected to dramatically decrease utility rates in the Bristol Bay region. At first only three communities will tie into the new power source -- Naknek, South Naknek and King Salmon -- but the ultimate goal is to connect all 28 villages in the Bristol Bay region to the alternative energy grid.

The first well, drilled to a depth of more than 10,000 feet earlier this summer, cost $20 million to put in. Drilling on a second well, estimated to cost around $9 million, is expected to begin this fall, and a third well is also in the works. It's hoped a 25-megawatt plant could be up and running in 2012. If predictions are correct, the the plant could drop electric bills by 70 percent. More remote communities that pay even higher premiums for diesel-generated power could see even greater savings.

Because the water temperature is mid-grade, NEA is looking at a power plant model that incorporates a heat exchanger. The hot water rising from the earth is used to heat a secondary liquid with a lower boiling point, the vapors from which are then directed into a turbine.

NEA is in the process of cleaning out its first well. State regulators required the use drilling fluid as a precaution in the event the drill tapped an unexpected petroleum source. As a result, site crews have an extra mess to clean up, according to project manager Donna Vukich. The well liner is full of drilling fluid, a cool, clay-like substance similar in consistency to thick chocolate milk. The "mud" is used to reinforce the hole's walls and cool the drill bit.

Once the well is clean, it should also start producing warmer water. Water just above freezing is mixed with the mud for use during drilling. NEA estimates at least 1.8 million gallons of cold water have been injected during the well's construction, lowering the temperature of the well itself, but it's too early to tell how much hotter the water may become once the mud is removed, Vukich said.