‘We take this seriously’: Co-op CEO lays out plan to upgrade system, limit price hikes, help members pay
Golden Valley Electric Association members voiced alarm over the rising cost of electricity Tuesday during the co-op’s annual meeting in Fairbanks. Golden Valley’s top executive and board chair told nearly 800 people at the Carlson Center that management and the board propose investing millions of dollars in system upgrades to help hold down costs.
Golden Valley board chair Tom DeLong told co-op members that generating enough electricity to meet the demand caused by the coldest winter in Fairbanks on record pushed the co-op’s capacity to the limit.
“ We know there are real concerns right now, especially as it relates to cost and reliability,” he said. “We take this seriously.”
CEO Travis Million said the brutal cold and loss of cheaper power from southcentral utilities required GVEA to use all its generating facilities for most of the winter, including those that run on diesel.
“ In 2025, we went from up to 30% natural gas energy to less than 1 percent of our total energy mix from natural gas coming out of the Cook Inlet,” he said. “That natural gas energy not being there, we've had to rely on more costly diesel-driven generation units.”
On many of the coldest days, Golden Valley burned more than a quarter-of-a-million gallons of those fuels, made more expensive because of a shortage triggered by the U.S. war against Iran. The co-op was able to pull that off largely because a nearly 3-million gallon fuel tank in North Pole that GVEA commissioned late last year.
Compounding all those problems, demand for electricity in Golden Valley’s service area grew by 8% last year.
Million says the co-op’s proposed solution focuses on maintenance and upgrades to its aging generation and transmission facilities, including a generator at the North Pole plant. He says the plan also involves investing in an 80 megawatt battery energy-storage system, and a 36 megawatt wind farm in Delta Junction.
“ Reliability is of utmost importance,” he said. “In Interior Alaska, particularly in Fairbanks, when it's 50 below zero in January, we can't not be able to serve our membership.”
Million said Golden Valley will look for grants and low-interest loans to offset the cost of all that work, but members likely will see more increases in their monthly bills’ fuel and purchased-power charge.
“Unfortunately, we're using less efficient units than what we would have used in the past,” he said. “So you have less efficient units with more expensive fuel, which is gonna result in increased cost for the purchase power on your bill.”
He said the next increase in that part of their bills will show up in June.
That was unwelcome news to many co-op members in the audience, including Sarah Furman.
“Our power costs are really high,” she said. “ We're feeling it every month, and the burden particularly falls on low-income families. And renters also, who don't have a voice here, who are often lower income, are facing real hardships.”
Furman said GVEA shouldn’t rely on the Alaska LNG Project to solve the problem. Instead, she said the co-op should continue developing renewable energy sources like wind and solar.
Million agreed, adding Golden Valley will do all it can to hold down the cost of providing power.
“ I'm not betting the farm that the gas pipeline's gonna come through, either,” he said. “But I'm gonna do everything I can to try to help encourage those who are making decisions to potentially bring on lower-cost energy for our members.”
Million said Golden Valley’s management and board knows that its members also have had a rough winter, especially those who are hurting financially. He said that’s why the co-op has developed a new program introduced during the annual meeting to help those members by stretching out payments and other options.
The financial assistance program would be funded through abandoned capital credits at an annual level of $200,000.
Among the other issues raised by members during the meeting were concerns about the effect of more emissions from fossil-fueled power generation and its impact on Fairbanks-area residents’ health.
Another issue, raised by Lou Brown and others, were concerns over the impact of more additional industrial customers on residential members’ bill, like the proposed Livengood Gold Project.
“ It's gigantic,” she said. “But they're not the only ones. I mean, we've got a lot of mines that are being proposed for our town. They're all gonna want energy.”
Million told her and another member who raised the same issue that the co-op’s bylaws insulate them from the cost of adding new industrial customers.
“ They would have to front the bill -- (through a) special contract, whatever -- so it's not on the backs of the rest of our membership.”
