NEW CONSTRUCTION

◆ Eighteen contracts for line construction awarded to local line contractors.

◆ Built eight miles of new distribution line.

◆ Successful grant application for a 30-mile long 25kV distribution line extension to Black Rapids Arctic Training Site.

◆ Replaced two pad-mount transclosure installations. Transclosure replacements are on hold until we receive an adequate amount of pad mount transformers for inventory.

◆ Completed a LIDAR data gathering project across all of GVEA’s 411 miles of transmission line. Data is being used to pinpoint problem areas for reliability and safety.

◆ University Avenue 138kV transmission line relocation from Airport Road to the Mitchell Expressway was completed.

E-SHOP

Painted the Gold Hill Static Var Reactors to help extend their life by 20 years. Moved the Healy Distribution relays from the plant to the substation. This was a huge undertaking! Installed a brand new transformer at Brockman Substation.

Land Management

Eliminated $72,000 per year “megawatt” fee from the Eva Creek Wind lease. This resulted in an enormous savings for the membership.

Assisted other departments in obtaining funding for the Black Rapids line extension.

Easement and permit work to reenergize the Gold Hill Substation to Ft. Knox tie line utilizing the abandoned Cold-War era Love Site line along Old Murphy Dome Rd.

Mapped 14 of 38 substations.

Mapped access routes to the Southern Intertie. Created clearing and easement maps for Chena Substation.

Engineering & Grid Modernization

Completed the advanced metering infrastructure project. Led the demand side management & distributed generation strategic directive effort.

Applied for and received a grant for installation of meteorological towers needed to verify wind resources near Murphy Dome. Completed the installation of three 200ft meteorological towers (aka met towers).

Issued and awarded a request for proposal (RFP) for development of a wind RFP as part of the Strategic Generation Plan.

Engineering led and collaborated with the Electric Shop, New Construction and Line to install the world’s first commercially available 145kV vacuum cicuit breaker at Gold Hill Substation. Issued RFP for BESS systems as part of the Strategic Generation Plan.

Substantially completed the 2022 Load Forecast (GVEA’s projected electric load for the next 20 years.

Completed a cyber-security project to both secure remote access to protective relays at transmission substations and to automatically retrieve data during power outages. This is used to assist restoration efforts and root cause analysis during power outages.

Drafted and proposed a strategic plan for maintenance and improvements to the Alaska Intertie, which runs from Anchorage to Healy.

In collaboration with the Electric Shop, relocated control and protection systems for the Healy Distribution Substation from the Healy 1 Power Plant to the substation control building.

Facilitated the installation of DC Fast Chargers in Delta Junction, completing an EV charging corridor from end-to-end of GVEA’s service territory.

Completed the removal of transformer installations from building interiors that were received as part of the purchase of the FMUS electric system.

Updated installation plans for mobile substations.

Replaced Brockman transformer T2.

Awarded a contract and began work to upgrade the Jarvis Creek SVC.

Installed improved sectionalizing equipment in collaboration with the Electric Shop and Line. Initiated work on a voltage optimization system for distribution feeders.

CAD & GIS

In addition to the Fast Facts on page 3, the CAD & GIS department has been diligently working to update the landbase and electrical maps for the entire Denali Borough. It is 90% complete with only a small portion of Healy still needing updates. We also started rolling out an ESRI mobile mapping app on iPads for field crews. This will help them to rely less on paper maps, have a more current representation of our system, as well as make it easier to report changes and corrections to CAD/GIS.