Utility companies, like Matanuska Electric Association, or MEA, are governed by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska. That Commission announced that MEA is proposing curtailment provisions in their tariff. And the other utilities that depend on Cook Inlet gas also are proposing them.
MEA’s Chief Strategy Officer Julie Estey says that any issue with gas delivery in Cook Inlet could cause significant problems if the system doesn’t maintain enough pressure. This is critical for heating homes in the MEA service area.
During the severe cold snap in February 2024, Enstar, the company responsible for delivering the gas, found it difficult to pull enough out of their storage so pressures began to drop. Asking customers to reduce use and adding other fuel sources can help keep the pressure up. Estey says that as a group, the utilities have developed a system to get the info out to the community and address problems in the network.
The proposed curtailment provisions are a last resort. Estey says they first ask residents to reduce the amount they use. During the cold snap, MEA switched to using more hydropower. In addition, they stopped selling gas to Fairbanks. These would be considered first when there are issues with delivery.
Estey says 75% of their members are residential users. And their use reduction at home can be a big help. But if those measures aren’t working to keep pressure in the system, they might next burn diesel and again ask for help from residents.
If none of those actions work and pressure in the system is still an issue, service curtailments would be implemented. Estey says MEA would proactively turn off specific feeders on a 30-minute interval and rotate through them. She says customers would lose power for less than an hour, but rotations might be as soon as four hours later. Estey stresses that this is a last resort.
Emergency support services like hospitals and police stations would be exempt from these curtailment rotations.
Though the comment period for the curtailment provision proposal has ended, Estey says MEA customers can reach out to the Regulatory Commission of Alaska directly.
MEA, along with the other partner utilities are working to diversify the system with the expectation that the current amount of gas from Cook Inlet may no longer be available in 2028. Estey says she expects to know more about that plan next year.
