Vote NO on Proposition 2

I am voting NO on the proposed bylaw amendment proposition two.

Last year the membership voted by a significant majority to tighten the qualifications for being on the board.  There were good reasons for those concerns.

 If passed as proposed Prop 2 would allow an IBEW member to be on the board.

It would also allow a board member or board member's relative to be doing up to $250,000 of business with our coop.  That is a lot of money and I think our members had it right last year when they set the threshold  at $10,000.

Voting yes on Prop 2 would allow MEA to knowingly open the door to legal corruption that will be a lot more costly than $250,000.  That would all be paid for by your electric bill.

A constituent has pointed out that the the wording under section e of proposition 2 requires that we submit a positive hair sample!

Integrated Resource Plan

The MEA Final 2009 IRP came out just a few days ago.  I have not digested it enough to comment on it but will post the link for now.

MEA Final 2009 Integrated Resource Plan

I am also going to post the State Regional Integrated Resource Plan which was posted yesterday.  This addresses the IRP concerns but on a global scale including the entire railbelt.  These two documents set the stage for the options for future generation potential.

http://www.aidea.org/AEA/regionalintegratedresourceplan.html

The Future of Natural Gas

Natural  gas generates most of our electricity and heats a lot of our homes.  The graph clearly explains why we have a huge problem right at the time we should be coming online with our own power and why we will probably have to buy imported LNG from some third world country.  The following study commissioned by Chugach Electric Association,  Enstar, and Municipal Light and Power from Petroleum Resources of Alaska is pretty clear.

http://www.akrdc.org/membership/events/special/luncheons/prareport.PDF

The following link is the study released by DNR that comes to the same conclusions:

http://www.dog.dnr.state.ak.us/oil/programs/resource_evaluation/res_eval_pub/Cook%20Inlet%20Reserves_DNR.pdf

The following link is another independent study on gas by Commonwealth North:

http://www.commonwealthnorth.org/documents_cwnorth/Energy%20for%20a%20Sustainable%20Alaska,%20the%20Railbelt%20Predicament.pdf

Cooperative Agreement with Chugach

Following is the link to the GRETC (Greater Railbelt Energy and Transmission Corporation) Cooperative agreement that we signed with Chugach in November.  I am still waiting for numbers to show how MEA coming back under CEA's crushing debt load is in our interest.  It doesn't look smart to me and I voted against it.  You read it and judge for yourself.  Most folks think this is the GRETC legislation but if you keep reading you will see it is much more.  Among other things it has imbedded a Power Sales Agreement with Chugach.  All you need to do is copy and paste this link into your browser to open it.

http://mea.coop/images/stories/greater-railbelt-cooperation.pdf

To actually view the current GRETC legislation (HB 182/ SB 143) use the following link:

http://www.legis.state.ak.us/PDF/26/Bills/HB0182A.PDF

Answers to Member Advisory Questions

Member Advisory Committee Candidate Questions 2010

1.     Do you meet the requirements of Bylaws for “Qualifications”?

I do.  Additionally, I have successfully completed my board certification training as well as additional courses on board leadership and alternative energy options.  At my own expense I travelled to Kodiak and studied their  Pillar Mountain wind project.  I am an avid reader and stay current on economic and energy dynamics that affect our future.  I will be posting a lot of those studies and findings on my blog at www.LDformea.blogspot.com.

2.     Have you studied the GRETC?  3. How do you feel about  HB 182’s concept?

Even though the board did not appoint me to the task force that worked on the language of GRETC (HB 182/SB 143) throughout the summer and winter, I attended many of the meetings and did my best to turn the original legislation from a State Bureaucracy  to a more typical  generation and transmission coop.  As President of the board I  had personally advocated  our other Railbelt coops to do something like this many years ago. 

I support the revised language that came out of the Task Force with two reservations. 

As proposed GRETC  will not be the obligatory repository for State funds for future projects.  That leaves us competing with each other for independent projects and limited State dollars.

I am skeptical about the lack of RCA oversight for ratemaking.

What I strongly opposed was the GRETC Cooperative Agreement that our Board signed on November 13 with the Chugach Board.  Imbedded in that document was a Power Purchase Agreement that ties us to Chugach whether GRETC becomes law or not.  Nobody has yet to show me how that is in our financial interest. 

3.     What is the biggest challenge facing MEA?  What should MEA do about it?

We need to control our spending.  I did not agree with our budget this year that  schedules three rate increases in spite of the fact that the price of fuel for power generation has gone down and in spite of the fact that  our  new services are more than offset by service disconnects.   It is not a time to be adding 18 new permanent employees to the payroll.  

In the longer term we need to secure our power needs for 2015.  We have drug our feet long enough on developing our own generation.  I  strongly believe we need to diversify our generation portfolio so we are not dependent entirely on natural gas.  All the studies indicate we will be experiencing gas shortages in the near future.  Even with bulk gas storage to get through the peak load cycles the availability of  new Cook Inlet gas around 2015 is going to be challenging.  It is entirely possible that we will be purchasing imported LNG at a premium.

4.     If elected to the MEA Board, what will be your first order of business?

The first thing I will put on the agenda is the reconsideration of the GREC Cooperative Agreement.

The  second will be to  impose a hiring freeze.

  

Why Do You Want to Be on the MEA Board?

Why do I want to be on the MEA Board?

I grew up in this Valley and know the importance of cheap, reliable power. When I came to the Board more than six years ago, MEA was a tightly-managed coop delivering power at rates lower than any other Railbelt coop. That is no longer true.  

It is no secret that I now represent a minority perspective on the current Board, probably because my first goal is to hold down the cost of power. Nobody knows better than an Alaskan Farmer the importance of keeping costs down in an economic downturn.  MEA’s membership rolls are static. Frugality on our Board is more important than ever.  

By limiting our fuel options for new power generation to gas, we are hostage to the gas shortages that are now almost certain in the near future.  This was predicted and could have been avoided five years ago. Today we are facing very costly options. I believe my experience will be valuable in making sure the impact our decisions have on you, the members, is not overlooked.

I would appreciate your vote. In any event, thank you for your support for the last seven years. For more information, please visit my blog "http://www.LDformea.blogspot.com."