Railbelt utilities making progress on development of transmission business plan
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Railbelt utilities have jointly submitted a report to the Regulatory Commission of Alaska summarizing continued progress on their voluntary efforts toward evaluating how the formation of an Alaska Railbelt Transco can provide overall benefits to the Railbelt. The Railbelt utilities continue to work with American Transmission Co., a Wisconsin-based transmission-only utility formed through a similar effort in 2001 in the Midwest.
The update to the RCA is the second this year and outlines progress made on both the economic analysis and a business plan for potentially transitioning from a network of separately operated transmission assets to an organization whereby the operation, maintenance and upgrades of this network are accomplished by an Alaska Railbelt transmission company. The analysis will continue into 2016. The concept requires approval by the governing bodies of the participating utilities.
The Railbelt utilities’ year-end transmission report can be found on the RCA website.
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Anchorage Municipal Light & Power – ML&P provides electric utility service to commercial, university and medical customers in the downtown and midtown business districts as well as industrial loads in the Ship Creek and port areas. In addition, it serves residential customers in some of Anchorage’s oldest neighborhoods in its roughly 20-square-mile area. ML&P powers Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and sells electricity to other Railbelt utilities. www.mlandp.com
Media contact: Julie Harris, HarrisJA@muni.org, 907-263-5423
Chugach Electric Association, Inc. – Chugach provides power to Railbelt Alaskans through retail, wholesale and economy energy sales. Chugach operates 2,238 miles of energized line, including 539 miles of transmission lines. www.chugachelectric.com
Media contact: Phil Steyer, phil_steyer@chugachelectric.com, 907-762-4766
Golden Valley Electric Association – GVEA operates and maintains 3,202 miles of transmission and distribution lines and 34 substations in Interior Alaska. Its system is interconnected with Fort Wainwright, Eielson AFB, Fort Greely, the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and all electric utilities in the Alaska Railbelt, which extends from Homer, Alaska to Fairbanks. Peak load in 2014 was 201.6 megawatts. System peak of 223 MW was set in December 2007. www.gvea.com
Media contact: Corinne Bradish, cabradish@gvea.com, 907-451-5676
Homer Electric Association, Inc. – HEA is a member-owned electric cooperative that serves the western Kenai Peninsula. The cooperative has over 33,000 meters on its system and maintains 2,407 miles of energized lines. HEA owns and operates three generation plants on the Kenai Peninsula and its transmission services provide all Railbelt utilities access to low-cost energy. www.homerelectric.com
Media contact: Joe Gallagher, jgallagher@homerelectric.com, 907-283-2324
Matanuska Electric Association – MEA is a member-owned cooperative that serves the Matanuska/Susitna and Eagle River/Chugiak areas. MEA serves over 61,000 meters through more than 4,200 miles of power lines. It was formed in 1941 and is Alaska’s oldest and second-largest electric co-op. www.mea.coop
Media contact: Julie Estey, julie.estey@mea.coop, 907-761-9215
City of Seward Electric System – City of Seward runs its own electric utility and purchases power from Chugach Electric Association and has backup generation capabilities. www.cityofseward.us
Media contact: Johanna Kinney, jkinney@cityofseward.net, 907-224-4045
