Better late than never.

After a year of confusion, campaigns and controversy, Matanuska Electric Association has backed off from its plan to build a 100-megawatt coal-fired generation plant. Its decision is to be commended.

The explosive economic growth in China and India has led to sharp cost increases in coal plant-related materials. Given the existing fiscal risks associated with building and maintaining a coal plant in Alaska, the new price increases would have led to substantial MEA rate hikes. MEA should, therefore, be praised for reacting to financial realities, but the journey is far from over. In the past year MEA has burned many bridges. MEA must rebuild these bridges, starting with a bridge to its member-owners.

This past year, MEA spent more than $160,000 trying to persuade member-owners to trust management — to go with the flow — and let MEA build a coal plant. When the people began asking questions, MEA’s management decried the “vocal minority” as greenies. When ratepayers told MEA the costs of a coal plant were substantial, MEA made them out to be radical zealots. Talk about burning your own base.

In order to rebuild the bridge to member-owners, MEA needs to initiate a public forum. The Mat-Su Borough Assembly, local legislators and general public should all be invited. Finger pointing will stop, real dialogue will begin and real solutions will be reached.

In addition to Valley bridge building, MEA must build bridges to the other Railbelt utilities. For too long MEA has been the black sheep of the utility herd. It alone refrained from participating in a Railbelt energy study in 2005. MEA also refused to take part in a Joint Action Agency with Chugach, Municipal Light and Power and Golden Valley Electric Association.  

There are signs, however, that MEA is willing to mend fences. MEA has recently agreed to join the Alaska Energy Authority’s study concerning the Alaska Railbelt Electrical Grid (which will look at ways to improve energy efficiency and coordinate among the Railbelt utilities). MEA is also leading the discussion concerning a possible Railbelt generation and transmission cooperative (albeit in a dictatorial, strong-armed manner).

MEA, therefore, has much to do. It must build bridges to member-owners and Railbelt utilities.

By the same token, though, we — the people of the Valley — must take responsibility for our future. We too must begin to initiate conversations with MEA board members, Borough Assembly members and state legislators. We must persuade our elected officials to take serious and immediate action concerning Alaska’s impending energy shortage. We must urge MEA, the Borough and the Legislature to actively pursue energy conservation and efficiency. Energy efficiency is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to plan for our energy future.

We need to urge our legislators to sign a contract with gas producers who will build a Southcentral spur line. Existing and future gas-fired power plants will be more economical if we bring in gas from the North Slope rather than relying on the disappearing Cook Inlet reserves.

We must also push our legislators to invest in renewable energy. With the recent passage of the 25 percent oil tax, Alaska has hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue. Now is the time for the Legislature to invest this money, to allocate specific funds for certain large-scale renewable energy projects.

In reality, no single utility has the funds to initiate large-scale renewable projects (and financial cooperation among the utilities is hardly endemic); however, with millions of new dollars in the state budget, the Legislature has ample funds to pay for the capital costs of such investments.

The 1991 Bradley Lake Hydro project is a great example of the Legislature and utilities working together to create large-scale renewable energy. The Legislature funded Bradley through specific appropriations and bonds. The utilities eventually bought back the site.  

The cost of Bradley power is now a mere 2 cents per kilowatt.

Folks, this is a model of what can be achieved in throughout our state. We can create clean, low-cost energy that will remain for generations.

For such a destiny to emerge, we must stand up and shape the Valley’s future. We must demand accountability from MEA, from our elected officials and from ourselves.  

Future generations deserve no less.

Darin Markwardt is a Valley resident and member of the group MEA Ratepayers Alliance.