Fred Boness, architect of those plans, appeared Wednesday before MEA’s board of directors to outline the plans and assuage fears and concerns held by the local electric cooperative.
Boness said the plan, as he sees it, would have Chugach morph into a company dealing solely in distribution, with ML&P taking over power generation and transmission. ML&P would sell power directly to Chugach’s current customers, including MEA. That would allow power plants to be built with tax-exempt financing that ML&P, a division of the Municipality of Anchorage, enjoys. That financing would save between 1 percent and 2 percent on the cost of building the facilities.
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The plans for Anchorage’s utilities will not be decided until at least November, Boness said. But those plans will have strong implications in the Valley. Now and for the next seven years, MEA buys most of its power from Chugach. If Chugach gets out of the generation business and doesn’t have any power to sell, local officials wonder where that leaves MEA.
Boness said that issue hasn’t been settled, but that it’s one of the elephants in the room as talks move forward.
Even after those seven years, MEA General Manager Wayne Carmony said MEA will likely have its own natural gas power plant online, but will still need to find someplace to buy between 20 and 50 megawatts of energy.
MEA Board President Lois Lester put the question directly to Boness, asking if MEA is required to have a seat at that table.
Boness, noting that the best way to move forward is to head off conflict before it starts, said, “The short answer is ‘no.’ The correct answer is ‘yes.’ The prudent answer is ‘yes.’”
Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiers- man.com or 352-2270.
Comments
7 comment(s)Gas Plant wrote on Aug 6, 2008 9:31 PM:
rd world man wrote on Jul 25, 2008 9:33 PM:
Gas Plant wrote on Jul 25, 2008 7:54 PM:
Gas Plant wrote on Jul 25, 2008 7:47 PM:
What's in your wallet? Less after MEA gets into the G&T business. "
Gas Plant wrote on Jul 25, 2008 7:36 PM:
There's those that do and those that manage.
Well, I worked in a giant investor owned, so there. I hope it was just a reporter oversight. Gas plant anyone? "
Charles Norris wrote on Jul 25, 2008 1:24 PM:
Thank you for being yet another one who holds true to the reporting of the Frontiersman. This is a reporter's error and a small one at that. Is is easy for all of us to mix up energy, watts, etc. who are not in the business. You must have missed the part where Carmony has an electrical engineering degree, and was a Manager of Engineering in one of the largest electrical cooperative facilities in the lower 48 before coming to Alaska. His knowledge of engineering would walk circles around yours. "
Gas Plant wrote on Jul 25, 2008 7:57 AM: