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RRC files its annual report with RCA
Anticipates hiring CEO by year end; meanwhile progressing reliability standards; integrated resource planning to start next year Alan Bailey for Petroleum News
The Railbelt Reliability Council has filed its annual report with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska. The RRC was approved by the RCA in 2022 as the electricity reliability organization for the Alaska Railbelt, with the duty to maintain and mandate reliability standards for the Railbelt's high voltage electrical system; administer rules for open access to the transmission grid; and conduct Railbelt-wide integrated resource planning. The annual report and work plan indicate an intent to continue work on the reliability standards and to commence work on integrated resource planning next year.
The organization is governed by a 15-member board of directors, with 13 members appointed to represent specific stakeholder classes including electric utilities, independent power producers and electricity consumers. Two non-voting members represent the Regulatory Commission of Alaska and the Office of the Attorney General's Regulatory Affairs and Public Advocacy Section.
The annual report says that prior to board meetings the RRC conducts training sessions led by subject matter experts and directors, to allow directors to ask questions and become familiar with RRC processes, product development and board deliverables. Five board committees operate under the direction of the board, to deal with various aspects of operating the organization.
CAO and CTO hired under contract The organization has experienced difficulty in hiring a chief executive office and as a consequence has hired temporary contractors to serve as chief administrative officer and chief technical officer, the annual report says. These two officers are leading efforts to develop reliability standards; to recruit applicants for senior engineering and staff positions; to manage RRC participation in RCA dockets; to implement stakeholder engagement initiatives; and to continue to implement, evaluate and revise key policies and RRC rules, the report says.
Last year the RRC board engaged a professional recruiter to conduct an international search for a CEO. Subsequently in April the RRC made an offer of employment to a candidate. Unfortunately, however, the candidate withdrew in late July because of unforeseen health issues. The RRC is currently negotiating with another CEO candidate and hopes that a CEO will be hired by the end of the year, the report says.
Currently, while the RRC has eight operating and reliability standards under development, the organization plans to start work on additional standards in the coming weeks, with the expectation of filing several of these with the RCA by the end of the year, the report says.
The RRC has also been working on implementing, analyzing and streamlining its rules and policies to improve its public engagement while also improving process efficiency.
A 2025 budget and work plan Meanwhile, the organization has developed and filed with the RCA a budget for 2025 and is finalizing a work plan for the year. And, in preparing the work plan and budget, the RRC has conducted public work sessions to obtain and incorporate feedback from stakeholders in what it is doing.
The report says that initiating the development of an integrated resource plan for the Railbelt electrical system is now a top priority for the RRC -- the organization anticipates starting this soon after a CEO and key permanent members of staff have been hired. Meanwhile the board is taking steps to ensure that the IRP process is thoroughly planned and to ensure that it will be possible to move ahead rapidly once the appropriate staff are on board.
The RRC's draft work plan anticipates the hiring of a CEO, senior engineers and administrative staff by the end of this year. An office for the organization would be leased by early January, with the office facilities then being ready for use in July. Reliability standards development would continue through 2025. Integrated resource planning is anticipated to begin in May, with much of the remainder of the year being required to evaluate and gain board approval of planning approaches, including the identification of electricity system resiliency concerns; the selection of planning tools and system modeling protocols; and determining criteria for the selection of the components of the system portfolio.
The RRC's proposed budget for 2025 estimates total costs for the year of $6.2 million. The organization recovers its costs from surcharges charged to the Railbelt electric utilities.
Alaska Energy Authority activities Although not mentioned in the RRC report, the Alaska Energy Authority is also engaged in activities impacting the operation of the Railbelt high voltage electrical system. Under a mandate in legislation passed this year by the state Legislature, the AEA is implementing within its organization the Railbelt Transmission Organization. The RTO is tasked with developing and overseeing a Railbelt transmission system tariff arrangement that can remove current impediments to competition in the bulk power market in the Railbelt. The organization recently held its first board meeting -- the board chair of the RRC is a member of the RTO board. The establishment of a new tariff arrangement for the transmission grid clearly interacts with the RRC's role in ensuring open access to the grid. Petroleum News understands that the RRC's involvement will entail the planning of the transmission system and oversight of the manner in open access is assured.
AEA is also currently in the process of initiating a project to build a new high voltage direct current transmission line between the Kenai Peninsula and the Anchorage region. Improved transmission interties between major electricity load centers in the Railbelt are seen as critical to improving the efficiency of the electrical system while maintaining the reliability of the electricity supplies. The transmission system upgrade is being funded by a federal grant but requires matching funds, only a portion of which have so far been established.
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