HEA Candidate Questions: C. O. Rudstrom

Voting in Homer Electric Association’s election began on March 31. Electronic and mail ballots must be received by 5 p.m. on May 3; members can also vote in person at the HEA Annual Meeting on May 4 at 6 p.m. at Soldotna High School. More information and access to electronic ballots can be found on the HEA Election page.

Here are the answers from C. O. Rudstrom, one of two candidates running in District Two, which encompasses parts of Soldotna, Sterling, and parts of Kasilof. Rudstrom is a Project Manager for Soldotna’s Department of Public Works and has previously worked as an engineer. He is just completing his first term as an HEA Director representing District Two. His full candidate profile can be found here.

C. O. Rudstrom, from his HEA candidate profile

1. Why do you want to be an HEA board member?

Safe, reliable, and cost effective electrical service is essential to our modern lives. I feel that my training as an engineer and my work experience in both project management and facility maintenance are all valuable skills that can be put to use directing HEA. I want to use my experience to give back to my community.

2. Are there any particular policies you would champion as a member of the Board? Are there any current or proposed policies you would oppose?

I support diversifying our energy production, coordinating with the other rail belt utilities, and encouraging beneficial electrification (heat pumps, car charging).

3. What are the biggest challenges HEA will face in the next five to ten years? What can be done to prepare to meet them?

The majority (85%) of the electricity that HEA produces comes from Cook Inlet natural gas.  The future cost of that gas is uncertain. I believe that diversifying our energy production is the best way to mitigate the risk of rising natural gas prices.  The obvious ways to diversify in the near term is with solar, wind, and hydro. An important benefit of this diversification is the potential reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

4. In 2022 HEA’s Board spent 38% of their regular public board meetings in Executive Session. While Executive Sessions are sometimes necessary, their extensive use excludes member-owners from significant discussions of issues such as strategic planning and sources of power generation. Do you believe that cooperative boards have an obligation to their member-owners to maximize the openness and transparency of their decision making? Should HEA’s Board minimize its use of Executive Session? What could be done to achieve this goal?

 The HEA Board of Directors operates with honor and professionalism.  There are three reasons that the Board operates in executive session; to discuss matters that could have an adverse legal or financial consequence, and matters that could effect the character of someone.  Votes are not taken in executive session, any action taken by the board is always in open public session.  The Board enjoys hearing from members and is always open to member comments, whether they are in person, over the phone, by mail, or email. One change that I would like to see is that we get the agenda for meetings set sooner so that it can be posted earlier.

5. Hilcorp has said that it cannot guarantee natural gas supplies from Cook Inlet beyond its current contracts (HEA’s contract with Hilcorp ends in 2024). What strategies should HEA use to address potential future shortfalls in Cook Inlet natural gas?

See question #3 above.  Cook Inlet is not running out of natural gas, we are just running out of cost effective natural gas. Natural gas is the single biggest cost to the utility. HEA needs to reduce our risk from higher gas prices.  Diversifying our energy production, maintaining system efficiency, and coordinating with other railbelt utilities are going to be important answers to this problem.

6. In recent years many have argued that there needs to be greater collaboration among the Railbelt utilities, leading to the creation of the Railbelt Reliability Council (RRC) in 2022. Do you believe that utility Board Directors have a role in fostering greater collaboration and integration among Railbelt utilities, or should they defer to staff on these questions? What can board members do to facilitate greater cooperation?

Coordinating with the other Railbelt utilities is going to be an important part of increasing our integration of renewables.  In order for renewable to work we need large scale projects and a robust transmission network to move power around the state.  The Board of Directors has the same role in this issue as they do in all areas. The Board sets the strategic goals and directs the staff to implement them.

7. The Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) proposal introduced last year by Governor Dunleavy was recently reintroduced in the Alaska Legislature (HB 121 and SB 101). This bill would require utilities to reach 80% renewable power generation by 2040 with intermediate targets along the way. Last year the Railbelt utilities supported amendments that pushed back the milestones and changed the RPS into Clean Energy Standards (CES) that included nuclear power and gas generation technologies (waste heat recovery) that the utilities already have in place. Do you support either the RPS or CES? If so, which do you believe would better serve Alaskans? What role should the Board have in advocacy for either?

I believe that any new renewable mandate from the state should not be tied to an arbitrary year, but rather connected to specific transmission upgrades across the railbelt.  The only way to integrate large scale renewables is by sharing load and spin resources between all the utilities.  This can only be done with state wide transmission upgrades.  No utility by itself will be able to afford these upgrades. It is going to take a combined effort that may require outside (federal) funding.

8. How do you think HEA can best take advantage of the many federal infrastructure incentives and grants created under programs such as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)?

HEA is currently pursuing many federal grant opportunities. As a board member I will continue to direct HEA to seek federal funding of large infrastructure projects. An important part of the new federal legislation is the change to the rules to allow non-taxable entities to participate in clean energy incentives that were previously only available through tax rebates.  These changes will make new projects much more financially viable.