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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024.01.26 IMC Executed MinutesAlaska Intertie Management Committee (IMC) REGULAR MEETING MINUTES Alaska Energy Authority Board Room Friday, January 26, 2024 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Andrew Laughlin called the meeting of the Alaska Intertie Management Committee to order on January 26, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. 2. ROLL CALL OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS Ed Jenkin (Matanuska Electric Association); Andrew Laughlin (Chugach Electric Association); Travis Million (Golden Valley Electric Association); and Bill Price (Alaska Energy Authority). A quorum was established to conduct business. 3. PUBLIC ROLL CALL Lance McKimson (MEA); Nathan Minnema (MEA); David Pease (MEA); Rob Wilson (MEA);Joel Paisner (IMC Counsel); Dan Bishop (GVEA); Sara Villon (GVEA); Mike Miller (CEA); Jon Sinclair (CEA); Russel Thornton (CEA); Bryan Carey (AEA); Pamela Ellis (AEA); Mark Ziesmer (AEA); Jennifer Bertolini, (AEA); Kent Sullivan (AEA -Counsel); Joel Paisner (IMC-Counsel); Bernie Smith (Public); Sunny Morrison (Accu-Type Depositions) 4. PUBLIC COMMENTS - none S. AGENDA APPROVAL Chair Laughlin proposed removing Item 7a. GRID Resilience Formula Grant Program Application from the Agenda, as it will be covered in the IOC Committee Report. MOTION: Mr. Jenkin moved to approve the Agenda as amended. Mr. Price seconded the motion. The Agenda was approved as amended. 6. APPROVAL OF PRIOR MINUTES — December 8, 2023 MOTION: Mr. Jenkin moved to approve the Meeting Minutes of December 8, 2023. Mr. Million seconded the motion. The Minutes were approved without objection. 7. NEW BUSINESS - none IMC Meeting Minutes - January 26, 2024 Page 1 8. OLD BUSINESS - none 9. COMMITTEE REPORTS 9a. Budget to Actuals Report- AEA Mr. Ziesmer with AEA reviewed the Intertie Budget to Actual revenue expenses report from December 31, 2023, with committee members. Actual revenues were more than budgeted by $811,833, and that is primarily due to higher than anticipated energy usage. Actual operating expenses were less than budgeted by $1,676,759 mostly due to timing of invoices versus what the budget shows. He noted the Southern Right of Way Remote Sensing line is over budget by $69,665, which is mostly due to when the work was done versus when it was budgeted. He said he expects that variance will decrease as more of the annualized budget is picked up. Actual administrative expenses were less than budgeted by $56,937, which is mostly due to less than anticipated labor indirect costs for internal AEA. Overall, currently the results of revenues and expenses are showing an estimated surplus of $2.8 million, which is actually an increase of $1.6 million from Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23). He explained that is due to having a higher than anticipated energy usage for the current year versus last year. He said last year at this time energy usage was under by approximately 500k, which is why the surplus is quite a bit more. Chair Laughlin asked about the energy usage. Mr. Ziesmer said energy usage for this year is approximately 800k above what was budgeted, as of December 31, 2023. He again stated the surplus is quite a bit more this year because last year it was under 500k. Mr. Jenkin said in the past, when there have been significant variances on usage, the Committee has discussed the potential of doing a midyear change so there is not such a large variance at the end of the year. Mr. Laughlin asked if there were any other questions or comments regarding Budget to Actuals. 9b. IOC Report Mr. Jon Sinclair stated that committee members should have his report in front of them. Primary Frequency Response Standard Update — He said the IOC was requested to work on a primary frequency response policy. He said the IOC made good progress, but the IOC currently does not have a recommendation for the IMC but hopes to have it at the next meeting. AEA Grant Funds - The IOC is recommending approval of $4 million in matching grant funds, broken down into two projects. He said one grant request is regarding snow unloading as Alaska Interties has some significant challenges with uneven snow unloading of the lines, which has resulted in outages for years. HE said the documentation that Golden Valley has provided, IMC Meeting Minutes - January 26, 2024 Page 2 seems to be a unique and innovative solution. He said it does not require a lot of structures are actually needed but is a replacement of insulators, which is a cost effective way to minimize that snow unloading. He qualified there are over 700 structures, and the line is long and therefore it is not cheap. He said the total amount that requested is about a $10 million, of which the IMC would have to match 30% or $3 million. He said the other million is for the matching costs for synchrophasers. He said there is a summary and more detail on the scope in the meeting packet. The IOC is requesting a total of $4 million for the matching funds from the IMC. SSS Ongoing Projects - The synchrophaser project continues to move forward. He said the IBR study is waiting on a discussion with NREL. The SSS is also moving forward with a study on converting the tie to 230 and the associated impacts. Chair Laughlin opened the floor to questions and discussion. Mr. Jenkin asked about the design with the insulator change out to know the level and accuracy of the estimate. Mr. Sinclair responded that he has not seen a design yet and does not know the status. He said Golden Valley has done some modeling and PLS CAD. He said since it is a grant application, the completed design is not required for the application. He said once the design developed, it would be shared with the committee. He said a high level estimate is $5 million for insulators plus $5 million for labor to install. Dan Bishop said this grant application is due February 15, 2024. Mr. Laughlin said he has reviewed the materials and acknowledges the need for this project and recognizes the short timeline of the grant. He expressed concern since there is not details regarding the cost responsibilities He wanted more information regarding the scope and schedule. Mr. Sinclair responded that he understands that all of the 345 would be replaced. He could not confirm if all would be replaced with b insulator or a single insulator. He said his "back of the napkin math" cost estimate of $10 million is the worst case scenario. He explained 5 feet is gained by replacing 345 with 230, which helps with clearance. He further explained the cantilever, since it is a shorter length; there is not as much motion, which it what causes the imbalance. That along with the b structure helps with the swing. He said the design will be fine- tuned and priorities set as the project progresses. Mr. Bishop said the design presented requires 1/2 of the structures would receive the v structure. He said if necessary, the project could focus on the area of the intertie that is most susceptible if not able to afford to do all of it. Mr. Laughlin asked about the duration of the project and when it would be executed. IMC Meeting Minutes - January 26, 2024 Page 3 Mr. Bishop answered the schedule would have to be coordinated and speculated it may be over a couple of years. Mr. Jenkin stated that Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) I, includes the rebuild of this line in order to energize it at 230. He wondered if the expectation when this project is done that this line segment, excluding the substation changes that have to be made to allow it to be energized at 230, would not need any further line work in order to run the intertie at 230 kV? Mr. Sinclair responded that he would not to commit to that, as there are some long spans. He stated if there it might be a good idea in the future to add a couple of additional structures because there are longer spans. He said this project is a unique and economical way to reduce our outages on the line. It would significantly help with the effort to make sure this is a more reliable line. Mr. Jenkin asked if there would be a stamped design for this project. Mr. Sinclair stated that this project would be like any other project with an RFP issued, design, schedule and cost estimate. The committee can be involved in every step and then if there are concerns or issues, we can work through them together. He said approval would allow moving forward with the grant application. Mr. Jenkin asked if this project meets the requirements. Mr. Bishop said Keith is working on the Grant application. Mr. Price said the project meets the criteria of the grant, but whether it is competitive depends on how well the grant is written. He said approximately $175k - $200k per year is spent on snowload monitoring, which does not include what MEA or GVA have to do. The snow load monitoring system is very old and needs upgrades and repairs every year. He suggested the project could be scaled to the funding. Mr. Price asked about the lead-time for purchasing the insulators for the project. Mr. Sinclair responded that the lead-time for insulators is surprisingly long. He speculated even if ordering materials today, it would be at over a year out, possibly longer. He said the project could start in summer of 2025 and with outage restraints, available labor to do the work; it could be a multi -year effort to get this work done. Mr. Price asked if there are structures that need to be repaired beyond just supporting 230; this would also provide an opportunity to address those issues as well. Mr. Sinclair responded that it depends on how we write the scope for this grant application and how flexible the grant language is. His understanding the grant is requesting funds for just IMC Meeting Minutes - January 26, 2024 Page 4 insulators. He acknowledged there are some structures and wires that may need attention. He said if the grant if flexible enough, the scope could change once there is a full-blown design and recommendation. Mr. Million asked where would the funding for these matching funds come from. He wondered if it would be new allocated funds, or from the surplus, that was just discussed. Chair Laughlin responded that's a good question and he does not have an answer. He asked if this would be allocated in the FY24 or FY25 budget. Mr. Sinclair responded that it would be in next year's IMC budget, or even the following year as matching funds for the grant, depending upon when the materials actually arrive and when the work is done. Chair Laughlin commented it would be a good idea to look into whether or not the surplus could be used. He also understood, this project will address the unbalanced snow loading issue, but it may not completely mitigate it. Mr. Sinclair responded that Chair Laughlin is correct in his assessment. He said there are additional maintenance issues that need to be addressed on that line. Chair Laughlin asked if the IOC considered addressing all of the issues at once under this grant, for example, the long spans, the wires, and so on. Mr. Sinclair responded no; this grant application is for funding of these insulators only. He said if it is the wish of the IMC, we could certainly request more funding for additional work. Mr. Price clarified this grant request is $3 million for snowloading and $1 million for synchrophasor. Mr. Sinclair said one grant application if for $3 million for Northern Intertie and insulators for $10 million, with a 30% match from IMC; and another grant application for the Synchrophasor for $2 million, with a 30% match from the IMC. Chair Laughlin asked who is managing the project and the execution of the work. Mr. Sinclair responded that would be Golden Valley for both of these. Mr. Jenkin asked about where the funding mechanism and whether these would be considered capital projects or a structure maintenance type project. He recommended engineering away the snow loading issue because it is a liability issue. Mr. Million said he would prefer to figure out the cost share before committing to anything. IMC Meeting Minutes - January 26, 2024 Page 5 Mr. Jenkin added that is a difficult discussion to have right here and right now. He realized the GRIP had this in scope with a 50% match. So this would seem a better opportunity at 30% match. Chair Laughlin summarized the committee would like to better understand the scope of work to fully address the snow loading issue. He said this is an important project and as utility operators, it is our responsibility to keep the public safe and ensure the lines meet required code clearances. Mr. Jenkin asked if AEA had any guidance on the funding or accounting. Mr. Price responded that is up to the IMC exactly how the funding breaks down. AEAjust provides the accounting of the funds. He suggested, the committee agree to fund the project pending conditions or caveats. The IMC can always change its mind and not go through with the project if terms on a cost share and are not agreed. Chair Laughlin suggested developing the Grant Application, cost estimate and funding allocation and scheduling be a Special Meeting when available. The committee agreed to a Special Meeting at 12:00 on February 12, 2024 to review applications. 9C. Operator's Report Mr. Russell Thornton with Chugach Electric directed committee members to the Operator's Report, which is included with the meeting packet. He said the intertie usage is up from 2022, 41%. There were several events on the intertie between September and the event on November 24. He called attention to the reliability and response section at the bottom of the report. He said there were five events and the frequency response for those events have actually been remarkably good compared to historic responses. He suggested the fairly low frequency and fairly close to 60 Hz frequency deviation for 30 to 40 megawatt events is due to the generation mix and the battery responses on the system. That concludes my operators report. Chair Laughlin asked if anyone had any questions for Mr. Thornton. Hearing none, he thanked Mr. Thornton for his report. 10. MEMBER COMMENTS Mr. Jenkin appreciated the recognition of the IOC that there are opportunities out there and for bringing those before to the IMC. He also appreciated working to try to improve the reliability and the safety of the intertie. IMC Meeting Minutes - January 26, 2024 Page 6 Mr. Price stated the Maintenance Committee is asking for to talk to a number of university groups to develop a framework for the Fire Mitigation Plan. Mr. Price also wanted to thank GVEA for taking the heavy load on getting these applications pushed forward. Mr. Million stated that he echoes Mr. Jenkin's comments earlier and looking forward to our upcoming meeting to figure out this grant application opportunity. Chair Laughlin appreciated the IOC bringing the snow load monitoring system project to us to talk about and move forward. He also echoed the comments about Golden Valley's engineers taking on the extra workload and moving the grant applications forward Committee Assignments Chair Laughlin stated that the Maintenance Committee is authorized and tasked with talking to university staff concerning the Fire Mitigation Plan so they can move forward with the project. 11. NEXT MEETING DATE - March 22, 2024 There is a special meeting of the committee on February 12, 2024. The next regular meeting is on March 22, 2024. 12. ADJOURNMENT With no further business of the IMC, the meeting adjourned at 10:00 a.m. 4Ad rew La u4 ill Price AEA Secretary IMC Meeting Minutes - January 26, 2024 Page 7