GVEA hosts 61st Annual Members Meeting; members allowed two minutes to comment
Published Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Attendance reached a new high for the 61st Annual Members Meeting of the Golden Valley Electrical Association Tuesday with some 1,400 registered members concerned about skyrocketing electricity rates in the Interior.
During the first twenty minutes of the meeting, local chefs performed a live cooking show as entertainment but left the majority of the audience just hungry as there wasn’t enough to go around.
Members who chose to stay for the meeting — after the cookies ran out — were treated to a presentation “how GVEA serves you” one course at a time. The show gave each member a plateful of facts about increased costs and the discouraging price of oil, along with record-breaking safety statistics and GVEA’s growing Green Power program, which brings attention to alternative ways of generating power.
“The average electric bill for our members is about $150 a month,” CEO Brian Newton said. “When you do the math that’s five dollars a day and that is still a bargain,” he said.
But many left the meeting still hungry for answers about lowering costs and finding alternative power sources.
Members took the spotlight with an opportunity for two minutes to speak, but member Frank Delong and several others who followed spent their two minutes commenting on the organization of the annual meeting. “How does the board expect us to deliver meaningful commentary in just two minutes?” Delong said.
“We need some real dialogue and no more monkey business,” he said, “People are concerned with their bills and we came here tonight to get some answers.”
The on-going battle to capture the Healy Clean Coal Project seemed to be the second main course of the evening. Since 1999, the plant has sat essentially idle with the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority.
Bernie Karl, a long time vocal supporter of GVEA, set the tone for the questioning period when he demanded answers from Chairman Bill Nordmark on the status of the Healy plant.
Nordmark said the plant’s status remains in the hands of a judge and is still being litigated.
“We just can’t talk about it,” Nordmark said, “If we run that plant the way the AIDEA gives it to us then there will be middle people involved and that means it will add a charge to our electric bills.”
“We’re not just going to roll over and play dead on this,” he said.
Healy coal miner Jim Caswell spoke in support of the board but also stressed the importance of turning the non-functioning plant into something useful.
“GVEA is closer to reaching a successful resolution than ever before,” he said.
Recently, the state gave GVEA permission to propose a plan but for strategic reasons, according to Nordmark and Caswell, the board has yet to sign on to it.
Caswell proposed to the co-op that a decision be made within 60 to 90 days.
“Only when the plant is up and running will members start to see some positive results,” Caswell said.
Board candidate Frank Abegg said he expects savings up to $40 million a year for members if the plant project takes off soon.
“We need to be doing more ourselves; the plant will provide good jobs and local, clean energy for all of us,” he said.
Vice Chairman Dan Osborne said the savings will depend on what the price of oil does. “If oil drops, we won’t save a penny,” he said.
Community Discussion
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And still nothing about how GVEA has created companies such as AC Wireless and http://alasconnect.com/ using their tax exempt status to compete against local private businesses. How much have they spent on those two projects?
According to their financial statement at the RCA regulatory website they spent about $1,000,000 last year on wireless internet on Ester Dome. They also bid $500,000 dollars on a FCC wireless license.
The SNAP program seems like a good idea until you look at the facts. All the green power generated last year was only enough to power 3 average houses or enough to power the grid for 8/10ths of a second. When you look at it that way it is just a bunch of hot air. No utility in the United States is as dependent of petroleum as GVEA. If Kodiak can shoot for 95% sustainable power by 2020 I think we can at least shoot for turning off our diesel and naptha generators by 2010. The days of $40 a barrel oil are not coming back and the sooner that GVEA realizes this the better for all of us.
They have spent MILLIONS ... literally. And we will never see any return for it. You can thank the past BOD's for signing off on this and GVEA management for doing it. The current admin and BOD seem to just go along as usual.
Maybe if you were paying attention last night, if you were even there, you would have heard them mention that Alasconnect has put hundreds of thousands of dollars BACK into GVEA and will continue to do so. Also, Alasconnect fully funded the refurbishing of the FE building. Oh hey, look, it's a capital project that benefits GVEA and the members didn't see any increase in their rates.
GVEA was looking out for the members when they decided to diversify and it's paying off.
James, you constantly spew ignorant drivel about Alasconnect. I don't think you have any idea what you're talking about. Ulises, if you would have treated your customers better, you wouldn't have lost them.
I look forward to opening my bills from GVEA every time they come in the mail. Thanks for consistently increasing our energy costs GVEA, your the best! Thank you
Rate increase effective Jan. 1
January 01, 2008
Effective January 1, members will see a 3.12 percent increase in the Energy Charge portion of their electric bills. For the average residential member, this adds approximately $3.00 per month to the bill.
http://www.gvea.com/news/?id=208
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Rate Increase in 2006
GVEA filed for an 8.0 percent rate increase with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska on January 12, 2006. This rate became effective on March 1, 2006. For the average residential member, this will reflect an increase of approximately $6.00 a month.
This increase follows a 5.57 percent rate increase, which took effect in 2004. State regulations stipulate that utilities can not exceed an 8.0 percent increase in a 12-month period, or a cumulative of a 20 percent increase in a three year period.
http://www.gvea.com/billing/addrateinfo....
Folks, do you see a pattern emerging? Oil is supposed to go up to $200 a barrell...I didn't say that OPEC did. Soon we won't be able to afford electricity.
Opec chief warns of $200 a barrel oil price
The president of Opec, the cartel of oil-producing countries, has given warning that the price of crude could hit $200 a barrel, sparking fears that rising fuel costs will force more businesses into bankruptcy.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/bu...
flemm shows some ignorance, too. Over the years, the operating cost that you pay for has remained pretty constant. It's the fuel costs that are rising. But hey, let's blame GVEA for the price of oil, eh?
JoeSmith, I knew my remarks would draw a personal attack but I think I'll stick to the topic.
GVEA has used its not-for-profit status to create a subsidiary that competes directly with private enterprise. The members of the cooperative certainly want the BOD to do the best it can to keep our costs to a minimum. But I for one, would rather GVEA invest in technologies and procedures that are directly related to producing and delivering electricity.
GVEA has a very efficient billing department but I would never advocate for it to start providing billing services to third parties. We already have private sector billing services for that.
Please, stay on topic and GVEA stick to electricity.
How much money would GVEA save a year if they only offered the "perks" of coming to the annual meeting at the end of the meeting? How many concerned members show up and register only to get their ($15) credit, have some free drinks and cookies and go home without staying for the meeting? Let folks register and then pick up their credit at the END of the meeting. Let's reward those that sit through the chest pounding and name calling to try to glean some good information and deny freebies to those that don't care. It's your cooperative. If you don't choose to participate why do you think you deserve free treats and rebates? In a democratic society, we have many freedoms and with freedoms comes a need to participate. If you don't go to the polls to vote your choice on candidates and issues, shut up when you don't like the results. Likewise, if you just think being an owner/member of GVEA is about free cookies and rebates once a year, shut up.
The $4.5 million dollars to renovate the FE building is in GVEA's capitol expenses. Alasconnect is paying GVEA a total of $800,000 a year for "general administration." This $800,000 covers all wages for GVEA/Alasconnect employees, use of GVEA vehicles, billing services for Alasconnect, and rent of the FE building. That seems like a real bargain to me. If I hand you $100 and you give me back $100 I guess I could say that you gave me $100.
JoeSmith, is your real name Jeff Yauney? Don't you think that you should get back to work on building out the wireless internet service that directly overlaps the existing service area of Acetekk? The only difference is that Acetekk built there network without ratepayer funding.
From Alasconnect 2007 financial statement page 15
"The company had net operating loss carryforwards of $1,001,762 and $1,286,830 at December 31,2007 and 2006, respectively, for financial reportìng purposes."
You can lie to the members and even the board of directors, but not the feds.
The idea above about making members stay for the meeting in order to get the free stuff is a very good one. GVEA should look at that for next year.
I used ACS and Ace Tek in the past for Internet and I called them so many times with problems and I would either get messages or someone who didn't care about my problems. Mycalls rarely ever were returned. A few months ago I tried ACWireless Cable and they have done a very good job and their Internet speeds out here on Murphy Dome are great for the price. I don't know about their fiancial stuff but they sure have offered me good service and if it is helping GVEA how can that be a bad thing?
Where can I find statements or more info about the company? They seem to be helping us ratepayers with both service and profits to our co-op. It is a whollyowned by GVEA.
i don't know about you guys but they need to do something. I had a $475 electric bill this winter and I did not use any more energy than I did last year.
I was there last night and had a good time. I didnt hear answers I wanted to hear, but enjoyed listening to people ask their questions, because they asked questions that I was thinking. How can I lower my usage? Ive already done all the things suggested. Ive been doing those things for YEARS but my bill keeps climbing. What I dont understand is that guy who commented toward the end who said his bill is around $40 a month split with a roommate? How is that possible with the "customer charge" and the "energy charge" tacked on? I had a bill that was $40 once, about 6 years ago when I was living alone in an apartment. Now I own a small home and Im one of the "average" people who's bill is about $100-$150 a month depending if my hubby uses the power tools. I also wondered when asked if the GVEA board members are part of a "Good Ol Boys club", the answer was "what is a Good Ol Boys club?" COME ON! if you dont know what a Good Ol Boys club is then you may be part of one (in my opinion!). This article is good but lacks much of what went on last night. Maybe there will be a juicier article tomorrow? thanks.
It's easier to give people cookies and put on a show than to answer the hard questions that people are now asking. The United States generates 3% of all electricity from petroleum. GVEA generates 45% from petroleum. I see a major problem with this as crude heads for $200 a barrel. The North Pole generator burns 3,600 gallon per hour alone!
Did they pay Frank Eagle for his performance last night. Although entertaining I agree witH Frank DeLong, cut out the dog and pony show and have a real meeting
I'm not going to pretend that I know what's going on, because I have no idea. I attended the meeting, but still am kind of in the dark.
But I wanted to bring up the fact that native corporations (Doyon, etc) are the among the richest entities in the state if not the world. They are member-owned in a sense, and they diversify to the hilt, bringing their members thousands of dollars a year...all by owning other companies. What's wrong with GVEA doing the same thing? When the companies make money, the money is put back in the kitty, and we all benefit.
Now I just wish the rising fuel costs would somehow go away.
i used 16 cents of electricity last month for one of my property's. the bill was 28$ and some change. what the???????
I wonder if it is possible for GVEA to switch to natural gas. That is if a natrual gas line ever gets built. What is the benefit of burning petroleum fuel rather than coal? The fuel surcharge is 1/3 of our bill now and a $900 bill in February hurt. As a member / owner, I can't afford the service "my company" provides. Do I have any competitors or am I running a utility monopoly in the interior.
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