Notice of Utility Tariff Filing
The REGULATORY COMMISSION OF ALASKA (Commission) gives notice that Golden Valley Electric Association (GVEA) filed TA345-13, requesting approval of a Power Purchase Agreement (Agreement) with the University of Alaska – Fairbanks (UAF). UAF recently completed construction of a new coal/biomass Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHPP) which fully replaces the 1960s-era Atkinson Heat and Power Plant. UAF anticipates that the CHPP will be able to produce between 5 and 8 Megawatts of power daily above the needs of the UAF campus, which it has agreed to sell to GVEA. The proposed Agreement sets the terms and conditions for the sale of this excess power. GVEA also proposes a new cost element in its quarterly Cost of Power Adjustment mechanism to recover costs associated with purchases from UAF under the Agreement.
GVEA and UAF have an existing special contract for short-term regulation services during the commissioning of the CHPP, which was approved by the Commission in 2018. The term of that contract was set to expire when commissioning was complete. Commissioning is now complete and the transition to normal operations has begun. The Agreement sets new terms for transactions between GVEA and UAF in the current operational phase of the CHPP.
The major provisions of the Agreement are:
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Effective Date: April 1, 2021
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Term: One year
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Base Rate: $112.13 per Megawatt-hour
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Minimum Purchase Commitment: 40,000 Megawatt-hours over the term of the Agreement at the Base Rate
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Excess Energy Rate: $80.00 per Megawatt-hour with parameters. Power purchased at the Excess Energy Rate will not be credited toward the Minimum Purchase Commitment.
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Demand Ratchet: GVEA will exempt UAF from the demand ratchet in Schedule No. GS-3 of GVEA’s tariff for the term of the Agreement. UAF will continue paying actual demand for any power purchases from GVEA.
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 Daniel Heckman, Regulatory Specialist at GVEA, at P. O. Box 71249, Fairbanks, AK 99707; phone: (907) 452-1151. The complete filing is also available for inspection at the Commission's office, at 701 West 8th Avenue, Suite 300, Anchorage, AK 99501; phone: (907) 276-6222, or may be viewed at the Commission’s website at http://rca.alaska.gov by typing “TA345-13” in the Find a Matter search box.
To comment on this filing, please file your comments by 5:00 p.m., April 19, 2021, at either the Commission address given above or at its website:
https://rca.alaska.gov/RCAWeb/WhatsNew/PublicNoticesComments.aspx
Please reference TA345-13 and include a statement that you have filed a copy of the comments with GVEA 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, or TTY/Alaska Relay: 7-1-1 or 1 (800) 770-3973, or send a request via electronic mail to rca.mail@alaska.gov by April 12, 2021.
DATED at Anchorage, Alaska, this 19th day of March, 2021.
REGULATORY COMMISSION OF ALASKA
Keven K Kleweno, P.E.
Engineering Section Manager