RTO files for its certificate with RCA

The Railbelt Transmission Organization has filed an application for its certificate of public necessity and convenience with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska. Mandated by House Bill 307, passed into law earlier this year, the RTO is being formed within the Alaska Energy Authority. The organization is tasked with developing and overseeing a new Railbelt electricity transmission tariff arrangement that removes current impediments to competition in the bulk power market in the Railbelt. Because of the manner in which the current tariffs for the use of different sectors of the transmission grid stack on top of each other, the current tariff arrangements tend to obstruct the development of new power generation that could transmit power over long distances.

Under the statute the organization has to file a new transmission tariff protocol by July 1. And, although the RTO is not a utility, the statute requires the organization to be regulated under the same terms as those for a utility. Hence the need for an RCA approved CPCN.

The RTO is governed by a committee consisting of an AEA representative, a representative from each Railbelt electric utility, and a representative from the Railbelt Reliability Council. According to the certificate application, the RTO is being organized along similar lines to the arrangements for managing the Bradley Lake hydropower facility in the southern Kenai Peninsula -- the RTO's bylaws are modeled on the Bradley Lake bylaws.

The certificate application says that, for the development and oversight of a new tariff system, the RTO has access to staff in the utilities who have expertise and experience in the holding and administration of open access transmission tariffs. In addition the Alaska Legislature is providing funds for the hiring of a financial analyst and an RTO director.

The application also comments that the open access transmission tariff will be a complex document involving, among other things, a definition of what transmission assets fall within the definition of the Railbelt's "backbone transmission system," and the revenue mechanism for the system as required under HB 307.

"Although progress has been made, the RTO is still in the early stages of this process and will need all of the time between now and the July 1, 2025, deadline to get the OATT ready to file," the certificate application says.

--ALAN BAILEY