Notice of Utility Tariff Filing

The REGULATORY COMMISSION OF ALASKA (Commission) gives notice that Chugach Electric Association, Inc. (Chugach) filed TA490-8, requesting Commission approval of an Operations Agreement for Power Pooling and Joint Dispatch (Pooling Agreement) between Chugach and Matanuska Electric Association, Inc. (MEA). Order No. U-18-102(44)/U-19-020(39)/U-19-021(39) (Order No. 39), issued May 28, 2020, required Chugach and MEA to file a Pooling Agreement, as a tariff filing, as one of the conditions of the Commission’s approval of Chugach’s acquisition of most of the assets of the Municipality of Anchorage d/b/a Municipal Light and Power.

Chugach has separately filed a request for ruling and a motion for expedited consideration, in Docket Nos. U-18-102, U-19-020, and U-19-021, on whether TA490-8 complies with the requirements of Order No. 39. 

The key provisions of the proposed Pooling Agreement include:

• Dispatch of generation and transmission assets to meet both parties’ load 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 power pool.
• Provisions for the sale of economy energy to other parties without interfering with the operation of the power pool or disadvantaging either Chugach or MEA.
• A joint organizational structure including an Executive Committee, an Operating Committee, and a Central Scheduling Service.
• 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 and begin testing of power pooling operation and other procedures. Before the end of the 15^th 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 to ensure that no party suffers material financial regret. Should Chugach or MEA determine that it has or may experience material financial regret by failing to achieve acceptable savings, either utility may terminate the agreement.
• 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.

Chugach states that implementation of the Pooling Agreement is contingent on several conditions which include: the acquisition closes, Chugach and MEA receive board approvals necessary in connection with the Pooling Agreement, and acceptable Commission approval of the agreement.

With TA490-8, Chugach also proposes to recover costs associated with the Pooling Agreement through its Cost of Power Adjustment surcharge mechanism.

This notice does not contain all requested revisions and the Commission may approve a rate or classification that varies from those proposed. You may obtain more information about this filing by contacting Arthur Miller, Sr. Vice President, Regulatory and External Affairs Department at Chugach, at P. O. Box 196300, Anchorage, AK 99519-6300; phone: (907) 563-7494. The complete filing is also available for inspection at the Commission's office, at 701 West Eighth Avenue, Suite 300, Anchorage, AK 99501; phone: (907) 276-6222, or may be viewed on the Commission’s website at http://rca.alaska.gov by typing “TA490-8” in the Find a Matter search box. 

To comment on this filing, please file your comments by 5:00 p.m., August 21, 2020, at the Commission’s address given above or via our website at:

https://rca.alaska.gov/RCAWeb/WhatsNew/PublicNoticesComments.aspx

Please reference TA490-8 and include a statement that you’ve filed a copy of the comments with Chugach at its address given above.

Individuals or groups of people with disabilities, who require special accommodations, auxiliary aids or service, or alternative communication formats, please contact Valerie Fletcher-Mitchell at (907) 276-6222, toll-free at 1-800-390-2782, TTY/Alaska Relay: 7-1-1 or 1 (800) 770-8973, or send a request via electronic mail to rca.mail@alaska.gov by August 14, 2020.

DATED at Anchorage, Alaska, this 22^nd day of July, 2020.

REGULATORY COMMISSION OF ALASKA

Keven K Kleweno, P.E.
Engineering Section Manager