MEA ‘sham' ballot is unfair, immoral

MARK MASTELLER/Spectrum

May 18, 2007

This is an open letter to the Matanuska Electric Association ratepayers in the Eagle River, Chugiak, Sutton and Chickaloon areas: Just because your area wasn't selected for a coal-fired power plant doesn't mean you cannot be involved in MEA's &#8220advisory” vote. Don't waste your ballot - turn that ballot into some spending money!

Here's the deal. I live between Palmer and Wasilla, which means I'm midway between four of the sites MEA has proposed for a coal-fired power plant. Personally, I don't want a coal-fired plant at all, what with the acid rain and mercury and nitrous oxides, not to mention massive amounts of carbon dioxide (think global climate change).

And I can't see saddling future generations with backward, and ultimately very expensive, technology. But the MEA board and management aren't listening, and they are ignoring our pleas for cleaner generation options.

You may think &#8220what do I care, they did not pick my neighborhood for this toxic facility.” But those of us between Palmer and Wasilla want your vote, so we can swamp those poor souls in the Houston area.

And we're willing to buy those votes.

Sure, it may be unethical, but it's not illegal! I figure we can creatively use the &#8220tyranny of the majority” to place this plant as far away from me as possible. Too bad for the people in Houston, but that's life.

It would be impractical for everyone wanting to sell their vote to contact me directly, so I've set up a Web site where vote-trading can occur. Simply go to www.MEAvotesforcash .com and make your best deal. Using the Internet, people near the proposed Palmer and Wasilla sites can bargain directly with people in Eagle River or Sutton or wherever. (And, of course, we hope the folks selling their votes are closer in price to &#8220Representative A” than &#8220Senator B.”)

Seriously, I don't want a coal-fired plant in Houston, or anywhere else. And I don't want you to waste your vote. You WILL waste it if you participate in MEA's sham voting process.

It's an injustice, and immoral, to allow a vote where the majority can force a harmful activity on a minority. We have many better options than a coal-fired power plant. We can work with other utilities in the Railbelt, promote aggressive efficiency and conservation measures, and develop both natural gas and renewable sources.

MEA has seriously underestimated the ultimate cost of this power plant. One study says your electric bill could double. And what's the value of your health, and the health of the systems that support our economy? If I'm going to pay more

in my electric bill, I want to

pay more to support clean

and renewable generation

systems.

MEA will have meetings on Saturday and Thursday (three meetings each day) to &#8220inform” people of their five chosen sites. Times and locations for these meetings can be found at www.mea.coop. Plan to stop in and ask some hard questions, but expect to be told that MEA is not there to discuss what type of generation might be good, only the sites for a coal-fired plant.

One way to show MEA that you don't approve of their process is to send your ballot, marked NO COAL ANYWHERE, to Utility Watch. Full instructions for doing so can be found on the organization's web site at www. utilitywatch.org. You should do this by June 3.

Please talk with your assembly representative, and the MEA board members. This is no time to be shy!

Mark Masteller lives in Palmer.