In its first meeting of the new year, the governing board for Southeast Alaska Power Agency looked ahead to political reshufflings at the state and federal levels.
Meeting in Petersburg February 8, members of the board learned from SEAPA executive officer Trey Acteson a change in administrations at the federal level could be useful to the agency’s future operations.
For example, only two commissioners sitting on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission – which licenses hydropower projects – remain in place since the swearing in of President Donald Trump last month, with three open seats to be filled. A freeze on several pending environmental regulatory changes could also potentially shift direction for the Environmental Protection Agency from its priorities under the administration of former President Barack Obama.
“It is still very early in the transition, so we can expect to see further initiatives affecting the power industry,” Acteson reported.
One of these areas he would like to see is revival of a bill to amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and others regarding hydroelectric power and geothermal energy, among other things. Proposed by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Senate Bill 2012 died in chamber during the last session. The amendment would have authorized a stay of the hydroelectric license for Mahoney Lake in Ketchikan, giving SEAPA 10 more years to consider the project.
“I have engaged our D.C. legislative counsel and we are securing meetings with the Alaska federal delegation to discuss finding another appropriate vehicle to advance our amendment,” he said.
Acteson has also met recently with the deputy commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, to discuss ongoing issues between it and SEAPA, such as the state reclamation fund and transmission line surveying requirements. Discussions are ongoing.
SEAPA will remain supportive of efforts to reinstate the Tongass exemption to the 2001 Roadless Rule, which Acteson explained has increased overall cost to development and maintenance of energy projects across the region. Administered by the Forest Service, it establishes prohibitions on road construction and timber harvesting on about 58,500,000 acres of inventoried, “roadless” areas on National Forest System lands.
On the state side, Acteson was encouraged by the filing of SB39 and HB80 in the Alaska Legislature this session. Each would allow local governments to create a Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy program, which could allow building owners to finance qualifying energy efficiency and clean energy improvements through a voluntary assessment on their property tax bill. The measures have support from the Fairbanks area due to its encouraging natural gas heating and appliances, but could benefit other municipalities seeking to control energy demands by encouraging similar efficiencies.
The SEAPA board considered and approved purchase of a spare set of flashboards and kickers to keep onsite at the Swan Lake dam. During last year’s dam expansion project, 78 feet of flashboards and a vertical control gate were added. In all, the spillway is 105 feet across at the crest and 14 feet deep, while the new water path will be 23 feet across for the vertical gate. The flashboards are designed to collapse to protect the dam’s integrity during extremely large flood events, or else when the vertical gate is unable to sufficiently pass flows.
Should that occur, having a spare set of flashboards and kickers would allow for speedy reinstallation and water retention. The materials could also be used to repair or replace damaged or degraded panels over time, and Acteson reported the “anticipated cost is approximately the average amount of the anticipated annual savings of the additional storage capacity.” The cost for fabrication, delivery and storage was bid at $544,000.
Reporting on sales for the preceding months, a particularly chilly December led to higher than expected power sales between the Ketchikan, Petersburg and Wrangell boroughs, putting SEAPA ahead of budget for the fiscal year so far. Cumulatively, the rise in usage brought totals for the latter half of 2016 to 92,403 megawatt-hours, or 7.8 percent higher than expected. Of this, 18,547 mWh were used by Wrangell, about 20 percent of the total demand. Petersburg drew 22,777 mWh during that six-month stretch, or 24.6 percent.
In financial terms, sales in December came in nearly $286,000 over budget. Total power purchase revenues from July through the end of December 2016 were $6,283,000, also 7.8 higher than budgeted. Administrative and operating expenses over the same time were considerably lower than expected, at $2,651,539 against $3,234,499 budgeted. That difference was primarily attributed to temporary deferment of transmission and plant maintenance during construction at Swan Lake.
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