KTUU.com | Alaska's news and information source | Alaska's utilities meet to discuss energy resources

Alaska's utilities meet to discuss energy resources

by Ashton Goodell
Tuesday, July 7, 2009

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Alaska's six Railbelt utilities are tapping into renewable resources -- but a lot of energy is still going to waste because of duplicated services and facilities.

So the utilities companies are developing a plan to connect their resources, from Homer to Fairbanks.

The idea is to save energy by sharing energy resources -- so Alaska's utility services could all hook into the same grid.

But the six utilities -- Municipal Light & Power, Chugach Electric, Golden Valley Electric, Matanuska Electric, Seward and Homer Electric -- have six different ideas on how to roll together. 

"Some of the infrastructure is more aged in one utility over another, so how will cost that be shared out over the entire of the group?" Sen. Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorage, Said. "Some people think it's important to have a public member on the board that oversees the larger utility -- at least one utility is concerned about that fact."

"If we can all be looking at this whole area and this region together, rather than having each individual utility planning for their own needs, we might have a lot of redundancy and expense we don't need to have," said Chris Rose with the Renewable Energy Alaska Project.

Lawmakers reviewed a bill that would consolidate the Railbelt utilities, but before it becomes law utilities want to work out some of their concerns. That's the goal at a public meeting being held this week.

"You've got to meet the needs of each utility, and that's not going to be easy," said Brian Newton with Golden Valley Electric. "We have a lot of diverse needs -- it gets 40 below in Fairbanks, you know, Fairbanksans need reliable power. At 40 below, it's the last thing you to worry about is the power going out."

Officials with Alaska Energy Authority say fuel prices are too volatile right now. By moving to renewable energy, they say energy rates will be more certain.

At this point, geothermal, wind, and hydro energy are being developed in Alaska, and engineers say after the initial investment, they would reduce rates.

Green energy is the ideal, but it still raises a lot of questions about how it disrupts the environment, and what role fossil fuels will play in the next few years.

"I think saying that renewables are the answer is probably incorrect because natural gas is important -- you have to transition and transition is not going to come easy," said Carri Lockhart with Marathon Oil.

Lawmakers want the utilities' consolidation plan before the session starts next year. That way the utilities can save their energy right now by overlapping energy resources.

The meeting is open to the public and will run through Wednesday.

Alaska Energy Authority said a lot of communities are weighing in on what types of renewable energies would work best.

All the utility companies said it's very likely that they'll come to an agreement before the session starts next year. 

All six of them attended Tuesday's conference, and they say most of the problems they are facing can be figured out.

Most agree, in the long run, the consolidation will save everyone money.

Contact Ashton Goodell at agoodell@ktuu.com