The City and Borough of Juneau is one step closer to becoming a so-called \u201cintervener\u201d in Canadian power company Hydro One\u2019s purchase of the parent company of Juneau\u2019s electric utility.<\/p>\n
The CBJ Committee of the Whole members voted unanimously to pursue becoming involved in Hydro One\u2019s process of acquiring Avista Corp., which owns Alaska Electric Light & Power (AEL&P).<\/p>\n
Becoming an intervener would basically mean that the CBJ has a say in the sale process. The Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) is currently reviewing<\/a> Hydro One\u2019s application to buy Avista. The city, through an attorney, would represent the people of Juneau in the process.<\/p>\n [City looks at being an \u2018intervener\u2019 in purchase of AEL&P<\/a>]<\/ins><\/p>\n There will be at least a few weeks until the Assembly members make their final decision about becoming involved, as the city would have to appropriate money (about $75,000, the committee members agreed Monday) to pay attorneys to complete the intervener process. There will be a special Assembly meeting held Feb. 26 (the time has not been set yet) to make the final decision about whether to appropriate those funds.<\/p>\n Multiple Assembly members acknowledged that the public comment they\u2019ve heard from the public has been overwhelmingly in favor of the city getting involved. More than 40 people showed up at Monday\u2019s meeting, many of them sporting stickers that called for the CBJ to intervene.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sufficiently convinced that the public of Juneau wants us to intervene,\u201d Assembly member Rob Edwardson said.<\/p>\n The main reason people have given for wanting the city to get involved in the process is the desire to protect the future of the Snettisham hydroelectric project. U.S. Rep. Don Young was among those who wrote<\/a> to the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) with concerns about losing local control of the Snettisham plant, as was Rep. Tammie Wilson<\/a>.<\/p>\n Snettisham is owned by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, but it is managed by AEL&P. Snettisham was built by the federal Alaska Power Administration but sold at a discount by the federal government to AIDEA in 1998. AIDEA sold $100 million in bonds to buy the project, and AEL&P is paying for those bonds with proceeds from power sales. The bonds are expected to be paid off in 2034, and when that happens AEL&P can buy the Snettisham facility on the cheap.<\/p>\n AEL&P President and CEO Connie Hulbert has said there are multiple protections on Snettisham, including the fact that the RCA would have to approve the sale if it ever happens. Both Young and Wilson were wary of letting the facility fall into the hands of Hydro One \u2014 which is 47 percent owned by the Ontario government.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Hydro One is successful in obtaining RCA approval with the Snettisham asset rights, this would set a precedent that Alaska is up for sale and that it is open season to plunder our state,\u201d Wilson wrote. \u201cThis is a bad message.\u201d<\/p>\n Hulbert expressed faith in the RCA\u2019s process, saying that the process is designed to take public input into account.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are confident that the merger on the horizon for Avista will not negatively impact AEL&P or Juneau,\u201d Hulbert said in a statement Monday night, \u201cand that AEL&P will continue to operate as we do today, making local decisions to serve our customers.\u201d<\/p>\n Priorities in the process<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Until the Feb. 26 meeting, City Manager Rorie Watt will negotiate with AEL&P management regarding the city\u2019s goals in this process. At the beginning of Monday\u2019s meeting, Mayor Ken Koelsch outlined his list of priorities in the negotiation process. The first item on the list was asking that the Snettisham facility be kept either in the possession of the State of Alaska or the CBJ.<\/p>\n