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2007 Annual Report
2007 Annual Report - PDF (540KB)
A Message from the President & CEO
"At your service"
GVEA President & CEO Brian Newton
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From what I’ve seen since arriving in November 2007, Interior Alaska is well served by its community and its cooperative. Yet in Interior Alaska, we’re like most communities across the nation – we’re struggling with the issues of increasing electric rates, aging power plants and developing a sustainable energy future.
Affordable energy is on everyone’s minds these days, especially in Interior Alaska where we have a high dependence on fuel. It heats our homes, runs our vehicles and fuels Golden Valley’s power plants.
While Interior ratepayers have experienced several electric rate increases in recent years, 75 percent of these increases are related directly to skyrocketing fuel prices. You pay higher prices at the gas pump and we see them at our power plants.
Despite these challenging times, GVEA is doing what we can to control our costs while continuing to plan for the future.
Through hard work and dedication to safety, our employees achieved a milestone working an entire year with no lost time accidents. This resulted in a savings of nearly $200,000 in insurance premiums. We also refinanced much of the debt for capital projects at less than five percent interest rates. This reduced our interest expenses significantly.
While we have the most diversified fuel supply of the Railbelt utilities, we need greater diversity. To that end, we worked with the Railbelt utilities to form a Unified Power Provider to develop more affordable power as we replace aging generation.
With more than 1,000 megawatts of generation that will need to be replaced along the Railbelt in the next decade, Golden Valley is one step ahead. Our 60-megawatt North Pole Expansion Power Plant came online in March 2007. This was the first power plant built in the Interior in over 30 years.
The new North Pole Expansion Power Plant runs more efficiently than the older units. The new plant burns 3,500 gallons of fuel per hour to generate 60 megawatts compared to 4,300 gallons of fuel per hour at the older plant to achieve about the same output. In 2007, this saved members $16 million.
We built this plant with an eye on the future. When natural gas makes its way to the Interior, we can easily modify the plant to burn either natural gas or its current fuel, naphtha. This gives your co-op even greater fuel flexibility.
We’re also working with Interior legislators to make sure they know affordable energy is a top priority. Golden Valley supports a more diversified and sustainable fuel supply focusing on the following:
- Availability of natural gas
- Addition of renewable fuel sources
- Increased hydroelectric capacity
- More coal-fired generation
And our efforts don’t stop here. Whether it is forming innovative partnerships with local leaders, conducting Home and Business energy audits or educating members to use energy wisely, our commitment to GVEA members and to our community is one thing you can count on. We’re at your service!
