Reputation breeds distrust over proposal

It was with a skeptical ear Thursday that the Regulatory Commission of Alaska heard a proposal from Matanuska Electric Association calling for a “power pool” of Railbelt energy providers.

The RCA was discussing a proposal from MEA General Manager Wayne Carmony that asks the state regulatory agency to compel all the area’s power providers into a Railbelt Generation and Transmission Cooperative that would share resources for all. Anchorage-based Municipal Light & Power is exempt from the proposal.

Espousing about MEA’s plan to create a region-wide cooperative, RCA Commissioner Dave Harbour said he is concerned MEA’s petition to create the power pool is motivated by ongoing disputes between MEA and the other agencies that would be involved. We wonder as well.

MEA’s reputation has never been one of working well and in harmony with others. Now that it wants to cooperate, the other entities, like Chugach Electric (where MEA currently is under contract to purchase power from), have not responded. So basically, MEA is asking the RCA to make them cooperate.

It is because of that suspicion of MEA that Harbour moved to reject the proposal. That the plan revolves around cooperation, yet was brought to the RCA by a single entity also raises questions, Harbour said.

Not that Carmony’s proposal doesn’t merit at least more than a cursory examination. Creating an overall Railbelt cooperative that local power companies can participate in could be a precursor to supplying the entire Railbelt with a more stable and cost-effective supply of power and generation.

That MEA has received no favorable response from the other affected entities is a message. How can any proposed cooperative effectively function without cooperation?

Perhaps the stick in the spokes of this plan is that it comes from MEA. One of bedrock rules of reporting news is “consider the source.” In this case, MEA has a history of not working well with the public and not working well with other agencies. This has caused a fundamental distrust, even among other utilities, that will be difficult to circumvent.

That’s too bad, because there are some legitimate reasons for considering the power pool approach. Larger, more efficient generation projects may become viable under the umbrella of a power pool that could not be pursued individually.

It would be unfair to dismiss the plan out-of-hand simply because it comes from MEA, and the RCA did not kill the proposal. Instead, it will meet again next week to gather more information, specifically from other Railbelt utilities.

MEA shouldn’t be surprised this is the reception its plan has received. Carmony and the utility’s board need to earn the trust of the public, the RCA and other area utilities before expecting widespread support.