GVEA Member Advisory Commission, 12/09/20
by Jim Schwarber
The December 9th GVEA Member Advisory Committee meeting was attended by about 25 people.
GVEA’s Meadow Bailey presented a Safety Moment on the importance of warming up before shoveling snow to help avoid personal injuries.
One member-owner, Jim Schwarber, presented brief comments to the MAC in support of establishing an On-Bill Financing program that is tariff-based, open to as many member-owners as possible, with the lowest possible interest rate, and available to fund a wide range of efficiency and renewable energy option, such as combined heat pump electric hot water heaters for domestic hot water.
GVEA CEO John Burns presented the GVEA Year in Review plus an overview of 75 years of GVEA activities. His PowerPoint presentation is included in GVEA’s December 14 Board Meeting Member Book at https://www.gvea.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/December-14-2020-Member-Book-1.pdf
Main points include need for GVEA to make big decisions within two years on replacing or upgrading old electrical generation equipment, such as Healy 1. GVEA has been a leader in adopting new technologies such as BESS, the largest battery storage system in the world when installed; the largest wind power project in Alaska at Eva Creek with 25 megawatts and room to expand; and a solar PV ‘farm’ that was for a time the largest in Alaska. GVEA’s future will not be the same as its past. There is improved coordination among the Railbelt utilities to potentially lower the cost of power and increase reliability.
Mr. Burns said they are working to add Electric Vehicle Charging stations along the Parks Highway and a Level 3 EV charger to the GVEA Main Campus in Fairbanks. “This is the future.”
Priorities for GVEA include cooperation with other Railbelt utilities, supporting the state Renewable Energy Fund and Power Cost Equalization Program, addressing wildfire liabilities from right-of-ways, paying for Bradley Lake Bond, and urging an Interior member be added to the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, since there is no Interior representation on this important board.
Mr. Burns also announced GVEA is working with a third-party non-profit to establish and manage a “Benevolent Fund” to assist those member-owners who are unable to pay their utility bills. Ways to donate to this fund will soon be posted on the GVEA webpage. Of the 1532 members delinquent with their bill payments, only 725 have submitted the two forms exempting them from current disconnect procedures; over 800 member-owners are facing disconnection now that the shutoff moratorium has expired. GVEA has a total of 36,000 member-owners.
GVEA’s Alyssa Norris reported on progress by the MAC’s On-Bill Financing Task Force. The revised timeline is to submit two OBF documents to the Board of Directors at their January 25 board meeting. The first document spells out the OBF program objectives and recommends technologies that will be eligible for funding. The second document will select between a ‘tariff’ tied to the meter or a traditional loan program tied to the individual. MAC members on the OBF Task Force include: Alison Carter, Russell Johnston, Ben Loeffler, Mathew Mund, and Harmony Tomaszewski. GVEA staff supports the Task Force. Alison Carter recognized facilitator Alyssa for her great job “herding the MAC OBF Task Force.”
GVEA District 4 Director Gary Newman provided a Board Report to the MAC. He mentioned insurance rates for coal plants are going up. MAC member Russell Johnston asked if the electric grid is hardened to withstand an electromagnetic pulse from a solar storm event. John Burns will get back with an answer. Richard Thielmann asked about electric rates for member-owned EV Charging stations, will there be a tariff? “This has not yet been determined how it will work.” Karm Singh asked about the Dept. of Defense idea to complete the intertie loop to connect Copper River with Tok and Delta that will be paid with federal dollars. Mr. Burns will check on this, too.
In closing a couple MAC members expressed concerns for individuals facing electric shutoffs, suggesting GVEA extend time and do more outreach to late members. They prefer there be no disconnects.
