We applaud the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly for stepping up to the plate on behalf of Juneau residents and businesses. The CBJ Assembly recently reached a deal regarding Hydro One’s proposed acquisition of AEL&P and its parent company, Avista Corp.
The resulting package is not perfect, but it does get us a few concrete, enforceable protections that we would not have had otherwise:
• Stronger language about the future of the Snettisham Hydroelectric Project. Although the agreement does not guarantee that the dam (which was built by the federal government) will remain in public ownership, it does improve the process for transferring ownership.
• Increased transparency on local infrastructure planning starting in 2020. It was our hope to receive a full Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) process like Avista has in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Unfortunately, we will not have the public participation that is standard in many jurisdictions. However, any future projects or major changes at AEL&P will need to be shared publicly prior to any action on the ground, which is an improvement.
• More clarity on the interconnection process. The language negotiated about how other power producers can connect to the existing transmission lines was rejected by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) due to a technical issue, but discussions are continuing on this point.
While some protections we supported could be gained through direct negotiations with Hydro One, this sale also highlights changes needed at the RCA.
An electric utility is not just an ordinary business. AEL&P is a loosely regulated monopoly. It is paid for by every household and every business in Juneau. Proponents of the sale argue there’s nothing to worry about because the RCA oversees everything. But that only works if the RCA has the statutes it needs to uphold and protect the public interest, with advocates who can navigate those statutes. Unfortunately, Alaska’s statutes are weak and outdated, and we have very few public advocates familiar with the system.
Part of the reason for this is because AEL&P is one of only two privately-owned electric utilities in the state. The others are all either cooperatives or municipally owned. As a result, the statutes were not written with corporate mega-mergers in mind.
In contrast, Hydro One offered concessions right from the start in Oregon and Washington because their statutes have stronger requirements in order to even consider a sale. On top of that, Washington and Oregon had numerous strong “interveners” at the negotiating table. In Alaska, the CBJ was the only party able to intervene on the public’s behalf.
While shareholders and CEOs will profit handsomely from the transfer of AEL&P and Avista to Hydro One, you, as the average Juneau rate payer, will likely save about 30 cents per month on your electric bill. It’s hard to get excited about approximately $3.60 per year in the midst of an economic downturn. Juneau has lost 500 jobs and 800 residents over the past few years. Meanwhile, AEL&P extracts $8 million per year from our community.
This sale has long-term implications for our future. We at Renewable Juneau think it could be helpful to have a public meeting with Kirk Gibson, the attorney representing CBJ, to explain this agreement. While it is clear that there is more work to be done, we believe the agreement moves us in a positive direction.
Thank the CBJ for stepping up at boroughassembly@juneau.org.
• Danielle Redmond is the Coordinator for Renewable Juneau.
