Two Homer Electric Association members filed a formal complaint with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) on Nov. 15, regarding HEA’s ongoing deregulation election.
In their complaint, Peter McKay of Kenai and Homer resident Bob Shavelson allege HEA did not openly disclose plans to deregulate its subsidiary, Alaska Electric and Energy Cooperative (AEEC).
AEEC has the same nine-member Board of Directors as HEA. It also has the same General Manager, Brad Janorschke.
According to the deregulation election process detailed in the RCA Docket, the HEA board will take a vote on whether to deregulate AEEC. Shavelson, who is also the Executive Director of Cook Inletkeeper, said HEA has not been forthcoming about its plans to carry out the vote.
“During the summer there were press accounts where the [HEA] General Manager said they would not try to deregulate the subsidiary, which is where most of the assets and most of the debt resides,” Salveson said. “Lo and behold, a couple weeks ago, they go and file for that deregulation. So, we haven’t been given accurate information and again that implicates the issue of trust. That’s why we feel they should not be an unregulated monopoly and there should be some basic oversight from the Regulatory Commission of Alaska.”
David Thomas is an HEA board member. He said the board will only vote to deregulate the subsidiary if HEA members approve deregulation.
Thomas said the board filed the paperwork to deregulate the subsidiary in case members vote to approve local control.
“The intent of the HEA board is to vote as the members voted,” Thomas said. “So if the majority of the HEA members vote for local control, then we would vote that AEEC be locally controlled. So we’ve started that paperwork so we have that option.”
HEA General Manager Janorschke was not available for comment.
RCA Chairman Bob Pickett also declined to comment for this story but said the RCA is actively considering the issue.
Ballots were mailed to HEA members in October and must be returned within 30 days. At least 15 percent of HEA’s roughly 23,000 members must vote in the election for the results to be valid.
The results of the HEA deregulation vote will be announced by Dec. 30.
Shahla Farzan is a reporter with KBBI - Homer.
Shahla first caught the radio bug as a world music host for WMHC, the oldest college radio station operated exclusively by women. Before coming to KBBI, she worked at Capital Public Radio in Sacramento and as a science writer for the California Environmental Legacy Project. She is currently completing her Ph.D in ecology at the University of California-Davis, where she studies native bees.
When she's not producing audio stories, you can find Shahla beachcombing or buried in a good book.
