Homer Electric Association Chief Operating Officer Rob Montgomery addressed the joint Soldotna and Kenai Chambers and provided key updates on the energy provider’s strategies and plans.
Montgomery told attendees HEA plans to provide credits to long-time customers beginning this December. “Our board recently approved the capital credits to be distributed to our members. Now, these are capital credits that have to be retired, and that’s the action that our board took,” the COO said. “It’s good news for our members. They’re going to see a credit on their bills coming this December if they have been a member of HEA since 1992, and that’ll be based on the amount of power usage that [they] had back in 1992.”
Montgomery also addressed the issue of power outage mitigation, specifically beetle-killed trees and dead or dying trees on property owners’ right-of-ways.
“The big issue really is the beetle kill that we see here on the peninsula. And the beetle kill affects the trees that are actually outside of our right of way,” Montgomery said. “And so it when you look at 2024, year to date, 99% of the outages that we’ve had in 2024 have come from trees located outside of our right of way. Now, the problem that we have, or the challenge that we have as a utility, is we cannot go and take those trees down because they’re on private property. So, before we can take the trees down, we have to get the permission of the property owner and we work very hard to do that when our contract crews are clearing.”
Also, the HEA COO addressed the energy provider’s dependence on natural gas and ways that it is exploring alternative resource options.
“Here at CTA, and I think for the other Railbelt utilities, natural gas will always be a big part of our energy mix,” said Montgomery. “For HEA, 90% of our electricity is produced with natural gas. That is simply too much. If we were to lose our supplier for some reason, then you know, we’re in a very vulnerable position. So, it’s going to be important for us as we move forward to diversify our energy mix and whether that’s bringing on.”
Montgomery explained that Homer Electric is looking into alternative energy supply options like solar, beginning in 2028, as well as other diverse options to negotiate better energy costs.
