Make room at table for MEA

Matanuska Electric Association is concerned it may be the player left standing as a game of musical chairs plays out with the pending merger of Chugach Electric and Anchorage Municipal Light and Power.

Although MEA is moving forward with plans to build a gas-fired electric generation plant of its own, it is contracted with Chugach for the next seven years to purchase most of its electricity from Chugach. A fundamental shift in operations that would come with the merger of the two Anchorage-area utilities could leave MEA between a rock and a hard place when its contract with Chugach expires.

While not required to include MEA or any other customers in their merger process, we urge Chugach and ML&P to include current and potential future buyers in restructuring. We are encouraged that Fred Boness, who is coordinating the merger for the power providers, also believes MEA should have a seat at the table.

In responding to a question from MEA Board President Lois Lester this week if MEA should be required to be part of those discussions, he said, “The short answer is ‘no.’ The correct answer is ‘yes.’ The prudent answer is ‘yes.’”

While MEA intends to move toward generating the bulk of its own power in the near future, those plans are in the beginning stages and there’s no guarantee the 100 megawatts of electricity a gas-fired plant could produce will be on-line by the time MEA’s contract with Chugach runs out. Even with the new plant, our local cooperative will still need to purchase 20 to 50 megawatts of energy.

One logical source for that electricity would be ML&P, which would be the main generator of electricity under its agreement with Chugach. Because of that, Carmony wants MEA to be part of the discussions, and we agree.

It’s no secret that MEA and Chugach management have had a rocky working relationship, but that shouldn’t preclude any valuable input our local cooperative may have on how the Southcentral power merger could affect thousands of Valley residents.

Boness, a consultant hired to help lead the merger, believes MEA should be at the table, and so do we.