Editorial: Assembly should pass power regs

July 17, 2007

The balance of power in the Mat-Su Borough is shifting. No longer can area residents be content with the simplistic and narrow view that life's all good as long as the light switch works.

Responding to Matanuska Electric Association's plans to build 200 megawatts of electricity generation, the Borough Assembly will consider for the first time tonight an ordinance that would regulate the building and permitting of power projects. Under the ordinance, any plant that would generate more than 20 megawatts of power would first need to go through the Borough to get a permit.

With MEA proposing a pair of 100-megawatt plants - one gas-fired and another coal-fired - the electric cooperative is crying foul, charging the Borough with railroading through a bad ordinance to affect MEA's projects.

This is true. Borough Manager John Duffy admits the power regulations are a reaction to MEA, and he's not apologetic.

Nor should he be.

No matter how much MEA is frustrated by the Borough and insists it has no business making decisions in a field it has no expertise, our assembly would be irresponsible to not see the writing on the wall. First, allowing up to 200 megawatts of power generation to a single entity without any local regulation could backfire. While any plant MEA builds would need to meet state and federal guidelines, along with EPA standards, the residents of the Mat-Su Borough may deserve better.

As growth is already transforming the Valley, more people means more demand for power. It was inevitable that MEA or another power company proposed electric generation plants for the Mat-Su Valley. By acting before these plants are built, our assembly members can make sure those generation plants are doing more than the bare minimum in keeping our communities safe and clean.

Whether MEA likes it or not, if it wants to build it will have to go through the Borough first. That may cost $1 million or more to come into compliance with the Borough's ordinance above and beyond what the projects would normally cost. In the scope of a $350 million plan, $1 million to satisfy the locals isn't out of line.

If the assembly doesn't act to approve its power generation ordinance tonight, it soon will.

We support the Mat-Su Borough's efforts to exercise some regulation over large-scale power generation before it's too late to do so. We also trust those regulations won't be so out of line for any entity wanting to generate power in our backyard.

While the Borough was not obligated to include MEA into its planning discussions while drafting its ordinance, it should have. Conversely, when confronted with more hoops to jump through, MEA would have been better served with a &#8220how may we help” instead of reacting with anger and venom.

As this moves forward, we hope the powers that be at the Borough and MEA can turn the current down a bit and work together. For the most part, they serve the same customers - us.