Railbelt electricity: obstacles to one-utility approach.

AuthorStomierowski, Peg
PositionSPECIAL SECTION: UTILITIES

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Amid uncertain economic times, a task force envisioning a better energy future for Alaskans aims to take an umbrella step forward in the next few years, reducing system fragmentation and proposing ways to consolidate infrastructure to use the state's resources more efficiently.

Change agents Jim Strandberg and Karsten Rodvik, while saying these plans propose to put the State's money where its mouth is, nonetheless agree that getting managers of various certificated utilities, all with their own stakeholders, on board with the endeavor is very challenging.

While there are about 100 certificated electric utilities in Alaska, says Phil Steyer, Chugach Electric Association spokesman, Chugach is the largest and has been in business since 1948. One of six service providers in the Railbelt region from Homer to Fairbanks, it provides power through retail, wholesale and economy energy sales. As electric utilities go, "we are not strongly connected" in Alaska, observes Steyers.

Besides the Railbelt, which harbors three-quarters of the state's population, other major service regions are the Southeast and rural Alaska. The availability and fluctuating price of natural gas remain major drivers of Railbelt utility costs, along with the cost of new generation and transmission projects.

ENERGY PLANNING

When asked about the current energy planning initiative, Bradley Evans, Chugach CEO, poses what to him is a primary question: "How do we finance moving away from fossil fuels?"

"It will probably take a combination of utility financing, State financing, State grants and in some cases, financing from independent power producers," he suggests. Alaska has great potential for alternative energy projects, including wind, geothermal, municipal waste, and both small and large hydro, he says, and "adding more renewable energy projects to our generation mix will remove the volatility of fluctuating fossil-fuel prices."

Task force supporters hope to introduce revised legislation early this year for formation of a generation and transmission company to better serve the state's utilities needs. Utility managers collaboratively were working on "maturing" the plans after then Gov. Sarah Palin in spring 2009 supported a request to pull already proposed legislation so the collaborative efforts of utility boards could continue to push these efforts forward by the start of the new legislative session.

Her administration earlier had introduced plans...

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