PETERSBURG – Though many of the thirty individuals who showed up at the public meeting held last Wednesday to discuss the Kake-Petersburg Intertie (KPI) expressed their support for the project, a spirited discussion also ensued about the various components included in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) released by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the environmental review process.
The review process is required under NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) for any projects that will have a significant impact on the environment.
Joining a chorus of local voices was Kake’s Mayor, Henrich Kadake, who came to the meeting to express the importance of the project to Kake’s residents.
“We’re hurting guys. If we weren’t we wouldn’t be here,” he said. “I’ve been mayor for 15 years, and I’ve been working on the intertie for 15 years so that my people can survive and live like the rest of the people.”
Kadake teared up as he addressed the room, explaining the hardships the high cost of power cause for Kake residents from a higher cost of living in general to dark homes that can only afford to keep one light on at night.
Also present was Jodi Mitchell, CEO of Kake’s power supplier Inside Passage Electric Cooperative (IPEC), who explained the current power costs Kake residents pay.
Mitchell explained that current residential electric rates are around 65 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), reduced to 25 cents/kWh for the first 500 kWh used, after a state subsidy is applied.
“I don’t know how many kilowatt hours per month many of you use, but I would venture a guess most of you use more than that,” Mitchell said.
Though they feel the strain on their pocketbooks, “It’s a quality of life issue for the people of Kake as well as a financial issue,” she said. “That’s why we want the intertie, to try to get lower cost power to the people of Kake so that they can survive and afford to have some of the things that we in the urban areas take for granted.”
Financial impact and funding outlook
If built the intertie is projected to save the community of Kake an average of $1 million a year, according to a study cited by Mark Schinman of Tetra Tech, a contractor for the KPI.
In order to see any of those savings, some $60 million is needed to fund the construction of the intertie and the NEPA process must be completed.
USFS Supervisory Natural Resource Specialist Tom Parker said they are gaining some traction in the latter, calling the release of the DEIS a “milestone” for the project, which has been in the works under its current iteration since 2010. He projected a final EIS decision may be made as soon as this August.
“What this process will allow us to do is get it (KPI) queued up, get it through the permitting process,” said Trey Acteson, CEO of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA), the project’s proponent.
The result may be a hurry-up-and-wait situation, with no monies yet secured beyond the $3.8 million for the pre-construction permitting process now in motion.
Diverging from the current conversation of State cutbacks in the face of declining oil revenues, Acteson encouraged the audience to take the long view regarding funding.
“It’s been going on for decades and over those decades oil prices have gone up and down and up and down. The fiscal cycle in the State of Alaska will modulate over time,” he said.
Acteson said his and other stakeholder’s sights are ultimately set on the state for KPI’s funding.
“I think everybody that’s been involved in this project over the years clearly recognizes for it to move forward, the actual construction of the job would essentially take 100 percent state funding to get it there,” he said.
The current cost estimates are calculated in 2015-16 dollars, which Acteson said can be expected to increase annually by about 4 percent, which calculates to an added $2.4 million each year.
Are the intertie and road related?
Though Acteson’s opening remarks cautioned attendees not to confuse the power line with the road to Kake – officially the “Kake Access road” – several questioners asked about their relationship. Both projects propose construction in the same geographic area and are undergoing the environmental review process simultaneously, though on different timelines.
While funds remain elusive for the power line, some $40 million was dedicated by the State legislature in 2012 for the road. Given the appropriated funds for a road, Acteson said they are considering its possible placement during the planning process for the KPI.
“I think realistically we can’t ignore it. There is a possibility that there will be a road there at some point in time and that potentially would make O&M (operations and maintenance) costs for Kake cheaper on the line,” Acteson said.
Beyond this consideration, there’s also been some coordination between Federal Highways and the Alaska Department of Transportation – the agencies involved with the road project– and the KPI team, Schinman said.
“We’re sharing some data. They’ve given us some survey data that we’ll be using and we’re also going to be sharing a lot of the environmental data,” he said.
Despite coordination efforts, Parker emphasized that each project is unique and moving at its own pace.
“To make it clear though, these are not connected actions…the information is being shared, but right now Fed. Highways is probably two years back again,” Parker said. “So these NEPA projects and the process are not going at the same time; they’re not even close.”
Parker said that the Kake Access project is revisiting scoping for their project, the first step in the NEPA process, while the KPI has gained momentum and may see a final EIS decision as soon as this summer.
The last day to submit formal comments on the DEIS for the Kake-Petersburg Intertie is Feb. 11. Submit via mail to Sandra Stevens, Deputy District Ranger, PO Box 1328, Petersburg. Comments can also be submitted via e-mail to comments-alaska-tongass-petersburg@fs.fed.us. The DEIS is available for viewing online or at the Petersburg Ranger District.
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