HomeMy WebLinkAbout03.22.2019 IMC Meeting MinutesALASKA INTERTIE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
Friday, March 22, 2019
Alaska Energy Authority Board Room
813 West Northern Lights Boulevard, Anchorage, Alaska 99503
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chair Brian Hickey called the meeting of the Alaska Intertie Management Committee to order
on March 22, 2019. A full quorum was established.
2. ROLL CALL FOR COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Brian Hickey (Chugach Electric Association [CEA]); Cory Borgeson (Golden Valley Electric
Association [GVEA]); Tony Izzo (Matanuska Electric Association [MEA]), Mark Johnston
(Municipal Light & Power [ML&P]), Kirk Warren (Alaska Energy Authority [AEA]).
3. PUBLIC ROLL CALL
AEA Staff Members: Curtis Thayer, Jocelyn Garner, David Lockard, Owen Berklund, Brandi
White, and Ashton Compton.
Other members of the public: Kirk Gibson (McDowell Rackner & Gibson PC); Russell Thorton
(CEA); David Pease, (MEA); Jeff Warner, (ML&P), Stefan Saldanha (Department of Law),
Burke Wick (CEA); Bernie Smith (Public); Janice Scott, Dana Gallipeo and Ladonna Lindley
(Accu-Type Depositions).
Members of the Public who participated telephonically: Jay Layne (RCA).
4. AGENDA APPROVAL
MOTION: Mr. Johnston made a motion to approve the agenda. Motion seconded by
Mr. Borgeson. The motion was approved as submitted.
S. PUBLIC COMMENTS
There were no public comments.
6. APPROVAL OF PRIOR MINUTES - FEBRUARY 14, 2019
MOTION: Mr. Warren made a motion to approve the minutes of February 14, 2019.
Motion seconded by Mr. Borgeson. The motion was approved unanimously by voice
vote.
7. NEW BUSINESS
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There was no new business.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
There were no committee reports.
8A. IOC REPORT
Jeff Warner provided the IOC Report which included discussion about adding to the Railbelt
Reliability Standards. IOC is currently not looking at adding any new standards until a
determination is made on forming a Railbelt entity specifically tasked with standards review
and enforcement.
In updating the committee on system modeling, Mr. Warner said work is continuing on
generation testing, control modifications and modeling. The Systems Studies Subcommittee
is commissioning a study to analyze system oscillations at an estimated cost of $150,000.
Mr. Warner noted that high voltage during intertie trips has created problems at the
distribution and transmission levels. The Systems Studies Subcommittee is looking into
what can be done to mitigate those concerns.
Regarding Project Development, Mr. Warner said the IOC had approved AEA's RFP for
engineering services for a new transmission tie from Redington Substation to a substation
near Lake Lorraine. He added that CEA is working to identify what is needed for an
engineering analysis to approve communications link from Teeland to Douglas substation.
Mr. Warner pointed out that IOC members will be discussing a document containing
recommended edits to the Alaska Intertie Agreement Open Access language at its next
meeting.
Regarding ICCP data transfer among utilities, Mr. Warner said the SCADA group under IMC
is working on ensuring visibility of data to better evaluate system conditions.
Mr. Warner noted that IOC has asked GVEA and MEA to provide 10-year load projections at
the next IOC meeting to prompt a detailed discussion on future wheeling rates and other cost
recovery mechanisms based on the amount of energy flowing over the tie.
After discussions at the IOC level and at ML&P, Mr. Warner said he anticipates that IOC will
include a budget item in the next budget cycle for a LIDAR survey. He noted that HEA had
provided a cost for LIDAR surveys on 50 to 57 miles of the Quartz Creek to Soldotna line
segment which was in the $150,000 range. He anticipates 170 miles for the intertie, adding
that GVEA might want to fly over the northern section.
He concluded his written report with Golden Valley's focus on clearing vegetation and
patrolling the northern section of the tie in 2019.
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In items not included in his written report, Mr. Warner noted that the tie has been intact
since January 25, 2019. He then briefed the group about a trip that occurred at Plant 2A on
January 29, which had been a topic of discussion at a recent Regulatory Commission of Alaska
meeting. He explained that Plant 2A had sustained a 4060 breaker trip; the plant lost 107
megawatts which prompted a reportable excess contingency disturbance because it
exceeded what is anticipated in policy by 47 megawatts. That excess called for contingency
reserves to be deployed first, then protection reserves were deployed. At the time of the trip,
the load was 594 megawatts and load shed 64.8 megawatts at stage one which, he said, is
just about right. The disturbance recovery period required in the standards is 10 minutes;
we recovered to 60 cycles in about 6.3 seconds, noting that the standards were met as
required during the event.
Mr. Borgeson asked what the 107 megawatt loss at Plant 2A did to the spinning reserve. Mr.
Warner explained that it was carried amongst the Railbelt which participates in reserve
sharing. Plant 2A, he explained, is ML&P's unit and ML&P had no spin to provide. The utility
has since made internal changes to prevent the rare event from happening again. In further
discussion, he said the IMC could determine if the Railbelt wants to spin for a larger amount
or have a particular utility carry more spin for a particular purpose, adding that we don't
want to carry more spin for events that don't happen often.
Mr. Izzo thought the remedial actions provided to the RCA seemed to satisfy that agency.
Since ML&P had made internal corrections, he didn't think spin requirements needed to be
addressed, unless it happened again for different reasons.
Mr. Gibson strongly recommended that he and AEA's Attorney General review Open Access
language "just to make sure it says what you think it says" before IOC submits the document
to the IMC.
Chair Hickey asked about reestablishing the Machine Rating Subcommittee to accelerate
system modeling. Mr. Warner stated that the IOC was in process of making a proposal to the
IMC, which would change the make-up of the group to include more generation testing folks.
Chair Hickey encouraged the SCADA committee to accelerate its work to get data transfer on
the ICCP link so that spinning reserve numbers are shared and visible to all utilities.
8B. BUDGET REPORT
Jocelyn Garner presented the Alaska Intertie FY19 Status Report for the Period July 1, 2018
through December 31, 2018, adding that the report did not reflect the budget amendment
that occurred in February. The current calculated surplus through December was 1.7
million, which will be addressed with the new budget amendment and billing the utilities at
a lower rate. She noted that there are several major projects that have not submitted billings
yet. Once operating costs get more in line with what's budgeted, she said the surplus will
decrease.
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The budget subcommittee is currently working on compiling the FY20 budget. In response
to Chair Hickey's question about the date when the budget needs to be approved, Ms. Garner
said there needs to be a 30-day public posting period so it has to be approved before the
fiscal year starts so the IMC would need to approve its budget by the end of May.
Her report showed budgeted usage versus actual usage. Once again, the budget amendment
will align the budgeted usage to be more in line with actual usage, so that rates billed now
will address the surplus. The final page of her report showed the balance in the trust fund
as of December 31, 2018.
Mr. Borgeson noted that only $20,179 had been spent on studies year to date when $250,000
was originally budgeted, meaning roughly $230,000 remains to spend.
Mr. Warren received an affirmative response when he asked if $850,000 to repair Tower 748
is still in the budget.
9. NEXT MEETING DATE
Noting that May 24 is the Friday before the holiday weekend, Mr. Borgeson suggested
moving the next regular meeting to May 17, 2019, which committee members concurred.
OFF AGENDA ITEMS: Chair Hickey assigned the IOC to coordinate with Mr. Gibson on the
Open Access language. Additionally, Chair Hickey noted that Curtis Thayer is now the
alternate member for AEA on the Intertie Management Committee.
10. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business of the AIMC, the meeting adjourned.
Bria ickey, Ch man
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