Comment Period Open for TA491-8 Revised Power Pooling Agreement Between
Chugach Electric Association, Inc. (Chugach) and Matanuska Electric
Association, Inc. (MEA).
The Regulatory Commission of Alaska has issued a public notice soliciting
comments on TA491-8, Amended and Reinstated
Operations Agreement for Power Pooling and Joint Dispatch between Chugach
and MEA. Comments must be filed by 5:00 p.m., September 8, 2020 (click
through this link
for more details and filing instructions).
The key provisions of the proposed amended agreement pooling agreement
include:
• Dispatch of generation and transmission assets to meet both parties’
native
loads and reliability obligations at minimum cost.
• Savings from more efficient dispatching (estimated to be $4 to $6 million
annually) to be shared equally between Chugach and MEA.
• No wheeling charges for energy transfers through the amended power pool to
either party.
• The formation of a single load balancing area.
• Provisions for the sale of economy energy to other parties without interfering
with the operation of the amended power pool or disadvantaging either Chugach
or MEA.
• A joint organizational structure including an
Executive Committee, an
Operating Committee, and a Central Scheduling Service.
• Provisions that allow either Chugach or MEA to enter into wholesale contracts
to allow either utility to purchase power from entities
that are not parties to
the agreement.
• A term of 20 years, beginning on the date of Commission approval with an
initial eighteen-month implementation period during which Chugach
and
MEA will complete all asset transfers, test power pooling
operation, and
negotiate other relevant procedures. Before the end of the 15th year, Chugach
and MEA will meet to agree on termination at the end of
the term or
extension of the term of the agreement.
• Provisions allowing the parties to evaluate
the efficiencies and cost
savings achieved on a continual basis to address situations
where a party
may suffer Material Financial Regret. Parties remedy such conditions through
renegotiation, arbitration, and ultimately, Commission review and approval.
• Provisions for annual audits of all transactions, outage records, operator
logs,
etc.
• Provisions for a settlement process which will govern and determine the
purchases, sales, and prices of all transactions between and among the parties
and to maintain transmission and generation outage schedules. A
final
monthly report will be delivered by the Settlement Process Committee and
each selling party will provide each purchasing party with an invoice.
Date Issued: 8/17/2020