August 28, 2025 Seward Folly Staff

Opinion Piece

The City of Seward’s Electric Department has had a tumultuous few years. After the city’s failed attempt to sell the city’s electric utility in the Fall of 2023, it contracted the management of the utility to Matanuska Electric Association (MEA), with Brian Hickey and Taylor Crocker at the helm until the beginning of 2026. 

In the short time MEA has had control, it has managed to continue with finishing up the major upgrades initiated several years ago for a total projected cost of over 20 million dollars. 

Ongoing and completed upgrades include:

• Replacement and improvement of utility poles and lines on Nash Road
• Vegetation clearing from Daves Creek to Seward
• Substation enhancements at Ft. Raymond, Lawing, and Spring Creek
• Transmission line upgrades to 115kV across the service area
• Preparations for a shore power substation installation

The department has also advanced Seward’s position within the Railbelt through lengthy negotiations. A new contract with Chugach Electric includes several changes including net metering for Seward’s generators, allowing credit for excess energy produced. 

City attorneys and Brian Hickey have worked with the newly formed Railbelt Transmission Organization (RTO). Seward, as the only municipally owned utility on the Railbelt, now participates in the RTO. The Fort Raymond to Dave’s Creek section, now classified as “Backbone,” distributes costs for its operation across Railbelt members. Seward’s share is now about 1% of those costs, resulting in an estimated annual savings of over $1 million, according to Crocker.

Rates are always a big issue for every utility in the state. Seward’s are relatively high at the moment, and with looming Railbelt natural gas shortages, and the utility’s dependence on purchasing power from Chugach, they may rise more. 

The entire Railbelt, from Fairbanks down to Homer, requires around 1000 megawatts of electricity. Seward needs 8-10 mw, or about 1 percent of the load. At present the city purchases that energy. But the city does have assets, including potential ones. Its generators, although older, can produce about 12 mW of electricity, and now can sell it to other communities if the need arises. The upcoming shorepower battery system, itself an asset in the $50 million range, will be continuous stored power that is useful for the entire Railbelt. The revenues on that system include selling electricity to the plugged-in ships, and selling power to other Railbelt entities.

The Seward area also has significant hydropower potential – conceivably enough to meet its needs, and more. The final asset for the city is its share of the Bradley Lake hydroelectric power. 

According to Kevin Dunham, who has over 40 years of experience in the operations side of the industry,  “We have a 1.2% share of Bradley Lake. That produces about 100 mW  that is shared all the way from Homer to Fairbanks.” That comes out to a little over 1 megawatt dedicated to Seward.

As for the future management of the utility, Dunham feels that the current MEA management contract has served the city well, but the best-case scenario is to hire a manager that can stay long term and acquire intimate knowledge of the system. He also thinks the cooperative model might be a good fit, and is excited about the possibility of getting a broad group of interested people involved with the management of the utility. 

Seward’s Electrical Department has a long history of being profitable to the city, despite its recent expensive upgrades. How the city charts its course in the next few years will be discussed publicly in September.

The department has a scheduled town hall meeting coming up at 6 p.m., September 29 at the K.M. Rae Building.