It was originally scheduled as an executive session except for member comments at the beginning. However, when I showed up as a member to make a comment at the beginning, the board chair kindly opened the meeting for the educational session, closing it a few hours later when it came time for the board to discuss what to do moving into the future with a new Integrated Resource Plan for GVEA, proposed to be contracted to Black and Veatch. The latter is scheduled to come up at the executive session for the regular board meeting on April 28, 2014. The Integrated Resource Study typically precedes a Rate Study that will be required once Healy 2 in on line for a year or so. That will be a subject of other blogs in the future.
High points were:
- Anticipated growth (flat*).
- Age and condition of current generation facilities.
- Age and condition of current transmission facilities, including substations
- Challenges in dispatch and balancing generation with demand, optimizing efficiencies with cost of various sources of power (I have great respect for dispatchers).
- Some discussion about what Ft. Knox and Pogo's commitments were and likely future. In the mix: Flint Hills substantially reduced, Ft. Knox reduced, Pogo expanded, Clear AFB added.
- Other large customers and generation folks in the Fairbanks area: Pump 9 in Delta, Ft. Wainwright, Eielson.
- Other generation and transmission in the Railbelt
- Homer Electric (HEA) now on its own generation instead of buying from Chugach.
- Matanuska Electric (MEA) now on its own generation instead of buying from Chugach, and with surplus power available for sale to other utilities.
- Anchorage Munipal Light and Power new generation.
- Opportunities and limitations for GVEA buying natural gas generated electricity from Chugach and in the future from MEA across the intertie.
- Challenges in the Kenai with transmission costs for getting electricity from Bradley Lake.
Some of my observations:
- GVEA has the most diverse fuel-mix generation facilities of any utility in the Railbelt - coal, oil, natural gas from Southcentral, wind, and future trucked natural gas by 2015-16.
- We will have way more generation available to us than needed - out peak load in 2013 was 211 mw with about double that inf capacity.
- We are still paying on quite a bit of this generation facilities - principal, interest and depreciation.
- GVEA still has more debt to be taken on with the restart of Healy 2 - over $190 million that has not impacted our utility charges yet.
- * growth is expected to be flat (except if large projects come on line, such as Tower Hill Gold Mine in Livengood for to 100 mw). GVEA expanded their territory to include up to Livengood in 2013, but I hope that any generation needed is built on-site as, for this large load, it doesn't make sense to incur line loss. Actually, I hope that Tower Hill builds their own generation. Tom Irwin, former GVEA VP, is the local guy in charge of Tower Hill development so he should be aware of the impacts.
- There is a long term objective to see if utilities can pool their interconnecting transmission facilities to provide for a more efficient system for all. A couple of attempts have already been made without bearing fruit. See the Regional Integrated Resource Plan mentioned above. Also, reference the tariff arguments
now in progress before the RCA between HEA and other utilities with HEA now generating their own.
