Natural gas not the best way for MEA

To the editor:

Building a $400 million natural gas powered, power plant to supply the needs of MEA customers is a short-term solution to a long-term problem. Your bill is likely to increase by as much as $50 a month just to pay for the construction. The better solution is to continue to buy power from Chugiak, as we have done for the last 27 year’s, until all the utilities have been able to work together, either by force of the governor’s office, or their collective cooperation on a renewable project across Cook Inlet. A united effort on a hydroelectric or geothermal plant is becoming more and more attractive. The idea is to generate power without buying energy from another energy broker. The supply of natural gas, if and when it is secured, will become more expensive as demands increase over time. The cost of natural gas may go down in the future, but not as likely if there is not plenty of clean renewable hydroelectric or geothermal energy coming on line in 10 years.

The fact that the latest proposal for a power plant coming from MEA management is a second attempt at coming up with a viable plan for a plant, should make everyone take a very close look at what it means to the consumer 10 years down the road. Buying energy from another energy broker, (i.e. natural gas), to power your new plant is not the answer. There is no big hurry to put our local Utility in debt $400 million without taking the time to explore all options. In the long term that $400 million would pay off as a better investment for the consumer when the Utilities are working together to build a renewable project that can keep the cost to the consumer as economical as possible. It may cost a little more in the short term, but this is another reason why the utilities need to work together, to share that initial cost. Once the project is completed the consumer will reap the benefits down the road of a cleaner energy that is more cost stable and not tied to another fluctuating commodity.

The buzz on the street is a call for clean, renewable energy, and this is the direction to go. Canada is able to produce 60 percent of its energy from renewable resources, we can too. Do we want to gamble on the cost of fossil fuel for the production of our energy needs in the decades to come? Find out what the candidates position’s are, voice your opinion, and be sure to vote.

Shane Lee

Wasilla