GVEA to extend use of Healy power plant [Video]

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) – Healy Power Plant Unit No. 2 will push megawatts into the Railbelt for longer than expected.

The power plant’s extended use comes as one part of a modification to Golden Valley Electric Association’s (GVEA) Strategic Generation Plan (SGP), which the board of directors voted into place unanimously Feb 27.

GVEA had intended to solidify a plan for sunsetting the plant by the end of this year. The updated SGP doesn’t name a deadline for the Healy No. 2′s new retirement, instead saying it will continue operating “until such time as alternative sources of lower cost energy are available.”

With natural gas supply from Southcentral, specifically the Cook Inlet, coming up short of expectations, the board determined maintaining the unit’s use has proven necessary for the time being.

“It’s a combination of two different things: the lookback at how well our projections line up with our actual …