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ARCTEC sets some Railbelt grid targets New generation, transmission co-op wants upgrades to power transmission network; supports Susitna hydro as a future power source Alan Bailey Petroleum News
Characterizing the formation of the Alaska Railbelt Cooperative Transmission and Electric Co., known as ARCTEC, as “one of the greatest successes for a long, long time” for the Alaska Railbelt electric utilities, Joe Griffith, president of ARCTEC and general manager of the Matanuska Electric Association, told an April 13 meeting of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska that the ARCTEC board has been meeting to formulate the co-op’s strategy for addressing the various issues facing the Railbelt power grid.
ARCTEC is a power generation and transmission co-op formed to enable the relatively small utilities that have been operating the grid to pool their resources, achieve economies of scale for grid operations and provide a vehicle for the funding of grid upgrades. Founding members are Chugach Electric Association, Matanuska Electric Association, Homer Electric Association, Seward Electric and Golden Valley Electric Association.
Future options To secure the possibility of obtaining future North Slope gas, if a North Slope gas line is built, ARCTEC, through the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority, filed bids for pipeline capacity in the open seasons for the proposed North Slope gas lines, Griffith told the RCA commissioners. ARCTEC also supports the proposal to build a major hydroelectric power plant at Watana on the Susitna River, and the co-op board passed a resolution supporting proposed legislation giving the Alaska Energy Authority the authority to move ahead with that project, Griffith said.
ARCTEC has also submitted to the Alaska Legislature requests for $76.5 million in state grants for upgrades to the infrastructure associated with the Railbelt grid. Prominent in the list of requests is a series of proposed upgrades to the aging Railbelt transmission network, some components of which are incomplete, out of service or in dire need of refurbishment. Other projects include the diversion of Battle Creek into the Bradley Lake hydropower facility; a Seward power plant upgrade; and utility involvement in a project to enable the east to west flow of utility gas through the Cook Inlet Gas Gathering System under Cook Inlet.
Operating agreement ARCTEC is also developing a new agreement for the operation of the Railbelt grid, including operating standards for the grid, the establishment of transmission capacity rights and the drawing up of new requirements for “spinning reserves,” the reserves needed to assure power supply reliability. The old standard for spinning reserves on the grid was unrealistically low, Griffith said.
The eventual objective of ARCTEC, modeled on a generation and transmission co-op concept discussed in 2010 by the state Legislature but never passed into law, is to take over the entire operation and management of power generation and transmission in the Railbelt, with the existing utilities morphing into local power distribution companies that would buy power from ARCTEC. However, it will take many years for ARTEC to fully transition into that mode of operation, Griffith told Petroleum News April 18. Meantime, individual utilities such as Chugach Electric Association and Matanuska Electric Association are moving ahead with new power generation projects conceived prior to the formation of ARCTEC, while ARCTEC formulates and executes a strategy for future generation and transmission arrangements.
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