Power lines run from the Southcentral Power Project generation station, at right, towards the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport on Wednesday, May 8, 2024 in Anchorage. The 200 megawatt gas-fired power plant came online in 2013.
Matanuska Electric Association and Golden Valley Electric Association both support a new Railbelt Transmission Organization. In recent days, Chugach Electric Association and Homer Electric Association have both publicly opposed elements of the plan. Sharp divides between the utilities is nothing new. For 50 years, there have been attempts to unify the utilities under a single umbrella organization. None of those attempts have succeeded. Theto the Legislature in 2015 that said the Railbelt’s electrical system was “fragmented” and “balkanized.” The commission recommended that the utilities voluntarily improve their coordination.
Using Iceland as a model, the Senate bill developed a more ambitious plan for the grid than originally planned by Dunleavy. SB 217 would transfer responsibility for transmission planning and management of the utilities’ assets to the new transmission organization.