Railbelt utilities seek regulatory approval to form transmission utility
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Four Railbelt utilities, Golden Valley Electric Association (“GVEA”), Anchorage Municipal Light and Power (“ML&P”), the City of Seward (“Seward”) and Homer Electric Association (“HEA”) have jointly submitted an application to the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (“RCA”) for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to form a transmission-only utility in Alaska’s Railbelt region. Today’s filing is the culmination of more than four years of voluntary work by the above parties working in close collaboration with Chugach Electric Association (“Chugach”) and Matanuska Electric Association (“MEA”). The work to date has included an evaluation of how the formation of an Alaska Railbelt Transmission company can provide overall benefits to consumers. The Railbelt utilities have worked closely with American Transmission Co., (ATC) a Wisconsin-based transmission-only utility formed through a similar effort in 2001 in the Midwest.
Today’s filing with the RCA establishes:
- the need to form a transmission-only utility;
- the interest of each utility participating in the formation;
- a tariff that describes how transmission services will be provided to each of the existing Railbelt
utilities and other users of the system, including the allocation of costs; and - the ongoing responsibilities of the Railbelt’s utilities to operate, maintain and invest in the
transmission system.
The next step in the application process is a determination by the RCA that the application is complete, following which there is a 6-month review period prescribed for the Commission’s decision. The Railbelt utilities’ application can be found on the RCA website.
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
Golden Valley Electric Association – GVEA is a member-owned cooperative that serves over 44,800 meters and maintains 3,260 miles of transmission and distribution lines in Interior
Alaska. Its system is interconnected with Fort Wainwright, Eielson AFB, Fort Greely, Clear AFB, the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and all electric utilities in the Alaska Railbelt, which extends from Homer, Alaska to Fairbanks. 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: Bruce Shelley, bshelley@homerelectric.com, 907-283-2324
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: Brenda Ballou, bballou@cityofseward.net, 907-224-4045
American Transmission Co. – ATC is a Wisconsin-based utility that owns and operates the electric transmission system in portions of Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois. Formed in 2001 as the nation’s first multi-state transmission-only utility, ATC has invested $4.5 billion to improve the adequacy and reliability of its infrastructure. ATC now owns and operates $4.7 billion in assets, including more than 9,600 miles of transmission lines and 554 substations. 12% of ATC’s ownership is municipal and cooperative utilities, and 88% is investor-owned utilities. www.atcllc.com
Media contact: Anne Spaltholz, aspaltholz@atcllc.com, 877-506-6117
