GVEA Board Meeting, Aug. 24, 2021
by Jim Schwarber
Among the highlights of the August 24, 2021 Golden Valley Electric Association board meeting was an educational presentation on progress installing ‘electric vehicle chargers,’ a Member Advisory Committee (MAC) report by Matthew Mund on their progress with drafting an On Bill Financing Program for GVEA, and comments to the board from five member-owners.
Renewable information pending
Earlier that afternoon during the Executive Session of the board, they seated the new District 7 director Todd Adams from Nenana; he won the runoff election for that seat. According to the closed session’s agenda, the directors were provided an update to the early 2021 Request for Information for potential renewable energy or storage projects from 15 to 30 megawatts in size. Responses to the RFI were due April 30, 2021. Member-owners are awaiting word from GVEA on what they received and what the next steps will be.
Electric vehicle growth
The Educational Report discussed reducing or removing barriers to electric vehicle (EV) growth. The VW settlement funds are being used by the Alaska Energy Authority to assist the installation of EV chargers by businesses along the Railbelt corridor. Three Bears and Jack River Inn will be installing EV chargers at their locations. Plus GVEA is installing two EV chargers on their Fairbanks campus using the three parking spaces nearest the entrance on Illinois Street. There are delays in the shipping of EV equipment that may affect the GVEA campus installation completion. A third EV effort involves GVEA and ReCharge Alaska working to install a charger at Cantwell. A grand opening of the Cantwell EV charger is scheduled for August 28, 2021.
Regulatory barriers to EV charger adoption are being addressed through a joint letter by the Railbelt utilities submitted to the Regulatory Commission of Alaska on May 19th. This letter proposes a two-part rate that blends the demand charge and energy charge to address this barrier. Ongoing RCA Docket U-21-022 requests RCA action stating that privately owned EV DC charging stations are not public utilities and require electric utilities to revise tariffs addressing resale of electricity. A Final Order is anticipated by December 3, 2021. The RCA is known to operate slowly. Director Gary Newman suggested locating EV chargers near places people can wait or visit while their vehicle is charging, such as a box store.
On-bill financing
MAC member Matthew Mund reported they recently submitted a draft On Bill Financing Program to CEO John Burns, and expect to submit a Final Report for an On Bill Financing Program to the board at their September 28th meeting. In other MAC news, the board took action to approve recommendations for filling 18 MAC vacancies with a mix of reappointments and new members. Seven of the At-Large seats are for a one-year term through September 2022, and the 11 Regular seats are for three-year terms expiring September 30, 2024.
During Member Comments, Lisa Baraff appreciated hearing the On Bill Financing Report is coming soon. She then asked what GVEA’s next steps will be now that the Alaska Center for Energy and Power Final Report on the GVEA Carbon Reduction Study was completed October 5, 2020. Last, she mentioned that GVEA’s net-metering capacity cap of three percent may need to be addressed and raised again, as the latest SNAP Report shows capacity has reached 1.9 percent already. Member Mike Musick stated it is “time for us to go back to electric homes…. And make everything electric.” He said climate change is a serious issue and we need to seek renewables in support of beneficial electrification. North Pole member Joshua Nicely echoed the previous member’s comments about climate change. Member Patricia Rivera is interested in cleaning the air in Fairbanks to address the risk from dirty air to health. She is pro-renewable and encourages GVEA to work together with other Railbelt utilities to develop clean energy sources. She is excited to hear that public electric vehicle chargers are being installed at GVEA. Member Jim Schwarber supports the adoption of a robust On Bill Financing Program. He asked GVEA to move diligently ahead with meeting their 26 percent carbon reduction goal, and continue to decarbonize their sources of electricity, suggesting they adopt a new goal of 100% reduction.
A GVEA Member Night event will take place on October 1st from 3 PM to 6 PM at the GVEA Campus at 758 Illinois Street, Fairbanks. For more information, visit www.gvea.com/membernight.
