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RRC is making progress
Railbelt electrical system reliability standards work proceeding; CEO still needed
Alan Bailey for Petroleum News
The Railbelt Reliability Council, the electric reliability organization for the Alaska Railbelt electricity system, is progressing with the development of reliability standards for the Railbelt electrical system but has yet to appoint a chief executive officer, RRC board Chairman Joel Groves told Petroleum News on August 26.
In 2022 the Regulatory Commission of Alaska approved the formation of the RRC as the electric reliability organization for the Alaska Railbelt generation and transmission system. The RRC has a role 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 idea is to achieve more unified management of the system, thus minimizing electricity costs while also maintaining an acceptable level of supply reliability. The RRC will also presumably be able to develop a regional strategy for the appropriate use of renewable energy sources. The transmission system and most of the power generation are owned and operated by five independent utilities and the state of Alaska.
The RRC 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.
Still seeking a chief executive officer While the RRC has been forming it has been taking much longer than anticipated to appoint a chief executive officer for the organization. Groves said that there are some really good candidates and that the organization had found a preferred candidate for the position. However, that candidate had withdrawn in July for health reasons, he said.
"We are continuing to negotiate with another candidate and are very hopeful that we will have someone on board before year end, to really take the reins and start leading the organization down the various roads it needs to go down," Groves said.
At this point, in the absence of a CEO, the RRC has not hired any employees and has not made any decision on obtaining office space. However, the board is doing everything it can to advance the requirements of the organization, as specified in the state statute that mandated its formation and has been hiring contractors to conduct ongoing work, Groves said. To date the implementation of the RRC has proven an exciting process, he commented.
Has started work on reliability standards Earlier this year the board authorized the interim appointment of a chief administrative officer and a chief technical officer to work on a contract basis. That has enabled work to start on the reliability standards. The RRC has also established a technical advisory council, comprised of appropriate consultants. The technical advisory council has convened working groups to work through some of the reliability standards, updating the reliability standards that the utilities had developed in 2018. The work involves taking into account changes that have happened on the Railbelt since those earlier reliability standards were produced. A working group with representatives from several entities including the electric utilities, independent power producers, consumer groups and other interested parties is also providing input to the standards development, Groves said.
Integrated resource planning Groves said that within the next six months the RRC hopes to launch the integrated resource planning component of its role, another process that will be driven by appropriate consultants. He said that he anticipates that by the end of this year the RRC will have achieved some clarity around the scope of work involved in the planning process and started engaging consultants.
In terms of its statutory requirements, the RRC also has a role in ensuring open access to the transmission grid, including access for independent power producers. However, the recent passage of House Bill 307 has mandated the formation of a Railbelt Transmission Organization within the Alaska Energy Authority, to develop and oversee a transmission system cost recovery arrangement that will remove tariff impediments to open access to the system. Groves commented that while the RTO will have responsibility for the mechanism for transmission system cost allocation and tariffs, the RRC will have oversight of the planning functions and over the standards for open access to the system.
Currently there are major issues relating to the future of the transmission system, with plans, for example, to upgrade the transmission interties between the southern, central and northern sectors of the system. Upgrading of the system is seen as essential for improving the reliability of electricity supplies and for the cost-effective implementation of new power generation, including renewable energy.
Coordination of activities These actions, and others, will presumably need to be coordinated with the RRC integrated resource planning -- Groves commented that Chugach Electric Association recently issued its own integrated resource plan and that the AEA is preparing a transmission plan update.
"There's a lot of existing information that we'll need to integrate and then coordinate," Groves said, adding that the RRC's governance structure ensures that all relevant entities are involved, with communication channels that facilitate information flows. That is distinct from past processes, in which information has been siloed in various entities, he added.
Groves also commented that, rather than using the term "integrated resource planning," the broader electricity industry is transitioning to what it terms "integrated systems planning," pulling together the planning of generation and transmission along with increasing stakeholder collaboration. This type of approach is already embodied in the way that the RRC has evolved, Groves said.
Stakeholder engagement In terms of stakeholder engagement with what the RRC is doing, the RRC board has 13 voting members, representing various stakeholders in the electrical system, Groves commented. And this engagement, by the nature of the board, is obligatory. However, thus far there has been little engagement from the general public. Groves said that he anticipates more public engagement once the integrated resource planning is underway -- people tend to be particularly interested in topics such as the potential locations of the power supply infrastructure.
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