MEA should continue progress

We take Matanuska Electric Association at its word that it’s filing for a voter referendum this past week to overturn the Mat-Su Borough’s power generation ordinance is not meant to provoke ratepayers or the Borough.

While MEA was under a 90-day crunch to protect its legal right to file for a referendum, the electricity cooperative can’t truly believe its member-owners would vote the ordinance down. How long would plans for a 100-megawatt coal-fired generation plant stay on MEA’s shelf if voters did vote down the ordinance?

The Borough Assembly enacted the ordinance in the wake of overwhelming protests against MEA’s plan to build a coal-fired plant. MEA is still moving ahead with a proposed 100-megawatt gas-fired electricity generation plant. Under the Borough’s regulations, enacted in August, any future power generation of 50 megawatts or greater must meet certain guidelines.

In a report commissioned by MEA to study the impacts of the Borough’s ordinance on its power plant plans, the co-op says meeting those guidelines could cost as much as $12 million and delay the projects up to more than four years. That’s what Anchorage-based consultant Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure Inc. lists as a “worst case” scenario in its 32-page report.

No word yet on how much the report cost, but those estimates are based on going forward on both the gas and coal plants. Compared to the anticipated $350 million price tag of the projects, it’s not unreasonable to anticipate less than 3.5 percent would be spent on mitigation and environmental impact study.

We are pleased, however, to see MEA and the Borough attempting to put aside their differences and move forward on how to make the gas-fired plant happen. The entities have been meeting and the Borough says it is open to drafting a separate ordinance to more fairly regulate a gas plant.

This is a far cry from August when the groups exchanged heated words over the first ordinance. As for MEA’s referendum to overturn the ordinance, drop it. It’s a dead issue, one MEA is sure to lose. It would destroy any trust the co-op has earned back over the past few weeks and again alienate member-owners.

MEA has made serious progress in rebuilding its reputation with its ratepayers. It has tabled the controversial coal plant and is lobbying the Regulatory Commission of Alaska to create a wide-ranging electricity cooperative to include the area’s independent power companies.

We urge MEA leadership to continue to work with the Borough and move forward with development of gas-fired electric generation.