MEA votes are in

June 8, 2007

By RUSSELL STIGALL/Frontiersman

MAT-SU - The Valley's electrical co-op has heard from its member-owners on where to build its two proposed electric generators. Matanuska Electric Association's board will hear the results of the advisory vote next week.

MEA sent out 42,000 ballots to its member-owners in mid May to divine public opinion on where to locate 200 megawatts of proposed electric generation.

The five sites MEA has proposed for the location of its new power plants, a 100 megawatt of coal-fired plant and a 100 megawatt gas-fired plant, were selected within a triangle of area designated in advance that covers Sutton to Houston to Eklutna approximately.

One site, the 800-acre Millers Reach site, is south of the city of Houston. A few miles southeast of the Millers Reach site are the 595-acre plots northwest of Blodgett Lake and a 645-acre Pittman gravel pits sites, both in the Meadow Lakes area. These three sites are west of Wasilla and northeast of Big Lake.

The other two sites are split by the Glenn Highway south of Palmer - the 450-acre and 850-acre gravel pits at approximately Mile 37 and Mile 38 on the Glenn Highway, a National Scenic Byway-designated

thoroughfare.

The smaller site is the same proposed by the borough for building the Mat-Su medium-security prison. The prison was eventually sited at Point MacKenzie.

MEA, with help from volunteers collected and counted its returned advisory ballots all day Thursday at the Moose Lodge in Palmer.

MEA's advisory ballots arrived in Valley homes and businesses in mid May. The co-op asked its member-owners to rank the five sites in priority order. Ballots were due back at MEA by June 6. MEA staff will present its member-owners' advice to its board of directors on June 11.

For member-owners who mailed in their ballots MEA gave the incentive of winning either a $250 gift certificate to a preferred garden, hardware or sporting goods store or a free year of electricity from MEA up to 10,000 kilowatt-hours.

Not all member-owners mailed or delivered their ballots to MEA. Some sent them in protest to utility watchdog groups MEA Ratepayers Alliance and Utility Watch. The protest ballots made clear that at least 270 rate-payers do not want a coal plant anywhere in the Valley.

Jim Sykes of Utility Watch said the choice of locations was the wrong question.

&#8220[MEA] Did not ask the important question, whether there should actually be a coal plant,” Sykes said. &#8220It is a fake question on a fake election.”

Sykes said that since the vote was advisory, MEA did not have to take its member-owners' advice.

Board member Peter Burchell said he is not sure if the board will vote on the results at Monday's meeting.

&#8220But I hope that people show up June 11 at 4 p.m. at MEA headquarters to watch the process,” Burchell said.

Lorali Carter, MEA spokesperson said she would not speak on record concerning the vote.

Contact Russell Stigall at 352-2267 or russell.stigall@frontiersman.com