Alaska Power Association electrifies Alaska: advocating for electric transmission line upgrades and construction.

• Author: Swann, Kirsten
• Position: CONSTRUCTION

To lay transmission across Thompson Pass, Copper Valley Electric Association used helicopters to scale the steep, mountainous terrain. In Kotzebue, the local electric association barged in a massive crane to erect wind turbines on the frozen tundra.

"When you look at what's involved in putting in the infrastructure, that in itself is a testament to some of the challenges that we face and that we've been able to overcome," says Crystal Enkvist, executive director of the Alaska Power Association.

The story of electricity in Alaska is one of perseverance, challenge, and opportunity, backed by the advocacy work of the state's oldest nonprofit electric utility trade association.

Industry Forum

Since it was founded more than sixty years ago, the Alaska Power Association (APA) has grown to include more than thirty-five members, from municipal and corporate-owned utilities to rural cooperatives. APA acts as an industry forum, an information clearinghouse, and a proponent for investment across the grid. It advocates for workforce development, electric energy-friendly policy, and legislative education.

The mission: "To assist our members in accomplishing their goals of delivering electric energy and other services at the best value to their customers."

"We provide information to lawmakers on the need for electric infrastructure development and why consumers benefit from that and how it enhances reliability and how it enhances our energy security and then how it enhances economic development," says Enkvist.

While the organization has a long history in Alaska, the APA name is little more than a decade old. The association was originally called the Alaska Rural Electric Cooperative Association; the group that formed the Alaska Rural Electric Cooperative Association Insurance Exchange in 1983. Today, the name has changed but APA still operates side by side with the Alaska Rural Electric Cooperative Association Insurance Exchange.

The power association is comprised of several tiers of members, each with an important role in Alaska's energy landscape. Active members include large and medium-size electric providers with minimum annual sales of at 800 megawatt-hours. Associate members are smaller utilities, while supporting members are those that provide products and services to the electric industry.

APA member utilities cross the spectrum. They include everything from the massive Chugach Electric Association, with more than eighty-two thousand customers...