PALMER - The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly wants to make nice with the governing board of the Matanuska Electric Association.
On the heels of a recommendation by the MEA general manager that the utility shelve plans to build a coal-fired power plant, the borough Assembly on Tuesday said it wants to meet with the MEA board and bridge their differences.
“I don’t think we serve the community well if we’re in a combative situation, because we do all serve the same people,” said Assemblyman Rob Wells.
Assembly members and MEA executives have exchanged barbs over a borough law passed in August that regulates power plants within its bounds.
MEA general manager Wayne Carmony blamed that law, in part, when last week he recommended shelving plans for the coal-fired plant, one of two new generation plants MEA hoped to have online by 2015. Carmony blamed higher construction costs for coal-fired plants as well as the new borough regulations for making the plant a less viable option for MEA.
“Hopefully, the Mat-Su Borough will recognize that a large portion of their constituents are opposed to the increased government red tape that could stop our local generation projects,” Carmony stated in July.
The MEA board of directors is expected to decide in December whether to act on his recommendation.
MEA board members were away Thursday at a retreat at a Chickaloon bed and breakfast, said spokeswoman Lorali Carter. She was reserved about the Assembly request to meet on power issues.
“It appears maybe the borough is more interested in listening now,” Carter said. “What the board will ultimately decide to do, however, is up to them.”
The borough-MEA feud began with MEA plans to build the two new 100-megawatt generation plants, one coal-fired, one natural gas-fired. MEA in June selected a quarry south of Palmer as the plant sites.
The borough responded with its regulations, patterned after a similar set in California.
Then, in July, MEA administrators spent about $100,000 to poll its membership on the idea of MEA generating its own power.
Of 9,565 members who voted, 7,115 said they favored local generation over importing power from Chugach Electric Association, the Anchorage-based electric cooperative from which MEA currently buys its power.
Two weeks ago, saying she had concerns over how MEA spends ratepayer money, Assemblywoman Michelle Church suggested the Regulatory Commission of Alaska investigate MEA. The commission is the only state entity that oversees utility operations.
“I want the public to know that we, as a body, are concerned with what is going on over at MEA, and that there is an impact to the rates and that they need to be held accountable,” Church said Tuesday.
Borough Manager John Duffy in an Oct. 29 report to the Assembly said the borough spent $4.1 million last year on power at borough and School District facilities.
Carter last week said the borough electric bills last year totaled $2.7 million. Either way, the borough is one of MEA’s largest customers, she agreed.
Church said that’s reason enough to ask questions.
Assembly members on Tuesday voted down Church’s motion to ask for a state investigation, with only Church and Assemblywoman Mary Kvalheim in support. Those opposed said Church’s request was too similar to another case the Regulatory Commission just dispensed with.
MEA member Bill Erickson in May asked the commission to investigate certain actions by the MEA board and management.
In July he expanded his request to include an investigation of MEA financial and management practices.
In a 5-2 decision Oct. 17, commissioners denied Erickson’s request. In their ruling, commissioners said MEA’s decision to generate its own power might affect the quality and cost of service to MEA customers.
But the commission has never required utilities to seek approval before building a new power plant.
Find Daily News reporter Rindi White online at www.adn.com/contact/rwhite or call 352-6709.
