Pioneer proposes exploration well on MEA property

MAT-SU -- Matanuska Electric Association General Manager Wayne Carmony may enter into negotiations with Pioneer Natural Resources in an effort to reach agreement to drill on MEA property.

The property in question, nearly 29 acres off West Hollywood Road, about three miles from Big Lake, is jointly owned by MEA and Golden Valley Electrical Association.

It's within a subdivision entitled "MEA generation site," and, according to MEA spokesman Tuckerman Babcock, it's a location MEA plans to use for a generation and transmission site. Babcock said the generation and transmission facility, if built at the site, would likely be powered by natural gas -- but probably not gas generated by an extraction well on its site.

Pioneer Natural Resources is the company that recently bought out Evergreen Resources, and now owns that company's lease holdings in the Pioneer Unit, an area leased under conventional oil and gas leasing requirements. The area stretches from Wasilla to Houston.

Pioneer Natural Resources' Alaska branch spokeswoman Corri Feige was asked to speak to the board at its monthly meeting Monday. After the presentation, two board members spoke favorably about the potential development.

Feige did not return a phone call left at her office Friday about the potential development, and Pioneer's national spokeswoman, Susan Spratlen, said she was not aware that the company was pursuing any new applications in the Mat-Su area.

"I'd be surprised if we are," Spratlen said.

Board member Bill Folsom, who said he owned stock in Texas-based Pioneer Natural Resources and would avoid voting on anything associated with the company if it came before the board, said he believes the development could be a boon for the co-op.

"I'm pleased to see the way the approach was made," Folsom said. "If we refused, they'd look elsewhere."

Board member Scott Daugharty said he believes it's important for MEA to explore all energy areas when making plans to potentially generate its own power when its power-supply contract with Chugach Electric Association expires in 2014.

"I think MEA has to look for a power source so it can generate new power," Daugharty said Friday. "CBM might be one potential source."

Although a presentation was made to the board, Babcock said Carmony can determine whether MEA agrees to enter into a surface-user agreement with the company without board approval.

Although a natural-gas extraction well may appear to be of great use to a company considering construction of a natural-gas power generation facility, similar to a facility operated by Municipal Light and Power that's visible to drivers along the Glenn Highway on the outskirts of Anchorage, Babcock said the benefits will be minimal.

The amount likely to be extracted from a well on its site, he said, may be enough to provide gas to a subdivision, but the amount needed to generate power is considerably more.

The co-op, he said, would still need to tap into the Enstar natural-gas pipeline in order to have enough gas to generate power.

"If Pioneer locates there, the only potential benefit is we could get a free water well, as long as they stay outside our [generation facility] footprint," Babcock said.

Babcock said Carmony will decide whether to bring back a report of discussions with Pioneer Natural Resources at the next meeting, or if he will proceed in negotiations and planning without a report. The co-op's next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 8 at 4 p.m.

Contact Rindi White at rindi.white@frontiersman.com.