00;00;00;21 - 00;00;05;06 Unknown it provides redundancy as a backup. So, for example, if we have a volcano 00;00;05;06 - 00;00;16;22 Unknown and that ash is going over Anchorage, we can shut our power plants down in Anchorage and run Beluga and make sure that we maintain the integrity of our power plants right here in Anchorage. 00;00;16;23 - 00;00;22;08 Unknown This week on energy in the North, they speak with Chugach Electric Association CEO Arthur Miller. 00;00;22;12 - 00;00;25;19 Unknown Chugach Electric Association is AVÀÇÂÛ̳'s largest utility, 00;00;25;19 - 00;00;27;18 Unknown whose service area covers Anchorage, 00;00;27;18 - 00;00;29;10 Unknown the northern Kenai Peninsula, 00;00;29;10 - 00;00;30;26 Unknown Whittier and Tyonek 00;00;30;26 - 00;00;36;11 Unknown This service area is surrounded by the the Chugach mountains, and even volcanoes are visible from Anchorage. 00;00;36;11 - 00;00;41;20 Unknown The utility has access to Cook Inlet natural gas and uses hydro from Bradley Lake near Homer, 00;00;41;20 - 00;00;44;27 Unknown and it has a generation capacity of over 900MW 00;00;44;27 - 00;00;49;21 Unknown and an annual average demand of 350 to 370MW. 00;00;49;21 - 00;00;56;11 Unknown I began the conversation with Arthur by asking him if the average demand is up to 370MW 00;00;56;11 - 00;01;00;18 Unknown what is the status of the remaining 600MW of capacity? 00;01;00;20 - 00;01;08;13 Unknown A lot of that capacity that's not currently used really is in reserve status, to help the system during unforeseen events. 00;01;08;13 - 00;01;13;06 Unknown Most of that is very old generation. That's in standby mode. 00;01;13;06 - 00;01;17;01 Unknown And by in standby mode, it's, spinning reserve like that 00;01;17;01 - 00;01;18;12 Unknown or non spinning reserve. 00;01;18;12 - 00;01;37;11 Unknown Yeah. Most of that it would be a non spinning reserve. But if we have an event on the system, for example several years ago where we had to operate our beluga power plant, those units are not base loaded units but they are available on an as needed basis where it may take 20 minutes, 30 minutes to start those units up, and then we can run them. 00;01;37;14 - 00;02;01;29 Unknown They also provide additional security, for the system as an example. The Beluga power plant is located on the west side of Cook Inlet, but isolated from roads. And, you can only get in there by airplane. Or, boat. However, there's only two lines on the west side of Cook Inlet that interconnect with the Railbelt, or Anchorage. 00;02;01;29 - 00;02;08;21 Unknown I should say one is our transmission lines, but also a gas line, between Beluga and Anchorage. So 00;02;08;21 - 00;02;13;06 Unknown it provides redundancy as a backup. So, for example, if we have a volcano 00;02;13;06 - 00;02;24;15 Unknown and that ash is going over Anchorage, we can shut our power plants down in Anchorage and run Beluga and make sure that we maintain the integrity of our power plants right here in Anchorage. 00;02;24;24 - 00;02;31;11 Unknown It gives us that additional flexibility. Whereas if we didn't have Beluga and we did have ash going over our power plants, that would 00;02;31;11 - 00;02;34;16 Unknown present a very significant challenge for us. 00;02;34;16 - 00;02;38;27 Unknown How many times have you actually had to run beluga in a situation like that? 00;02;38;27 - 00;02;46;01 Unknown None recently. Earlier this year, when Mount Spurr was getting close to erupting again, we were on emergency status. 00;02;46;07 - 00;02;54;16 Unknown We were preparing to run Beluga if that event were to happen, I would say approximately 20 years ago we had, we did run 00;02;54;16 - 00;02;59;17 Unknown power plants in a different operation mode because of volcanic activity. 00;02;59;17 - 00;03;01;12 Unknown And so was Beluga 00;03;01;12 - 00;03;05;06 Unknown a power plant that was designed before the new Chugach plant? 00;03;05;06 - 00;03;06;02 Unknown Yes. 00;03;06;02 - 00;03;13;20 Unknown So that's really amazing that you keep that in reserve for an event that because you do have such a huge service area. 00;03;13;21 - 00;03;26;25 Unknown we do have a huge service area. And another example of the importance of Beluga is let's say we had a gas supply issue. So let's say, the pipe, a gas pipeline on the west side of Cook Inlet that goes to Anchorage. 00;03;26;27 - 00;03;40;12 Unknown There is another pipeline that goes to Anchorage, from the east side. But let's say there was some interruptability in supply of natural gas, well, we can run our Beluga power plant - it literally is located right on top of the Beluga River unit gas field. 00;03;40;12 - 00;03;43;11 Unknown Okay. So that's strategically placed? 00;03;43;11 - 00;03;44;10 Unknown Very much so. 00;03;44;10 - 00;03;48;05 Unknown Arthur Miller is the CEO of Chugach Electric Association, 00;03;48;05 - 00;03;52;25 Unknown And I'm Amanda Byrd, chief storyteller for the AVÀÇÂÛ̳ Center for Energy and Power at UAF. 00;03;52;25 - 00;03;57;19 Unknown Find this story and more at uaf.edu/acep.