INTERTIE
PARTICIPANTS GROUP MEETING 1/2/03
SOUTHERN INTERTIE
TESTIMONY OF EARLE AUSMAN
Dear Members
I appreciate the opportunity
to address the IPG this morning.
To briefly give you some
information on my background I am a consulting registered engineer who works in
the energy field and I have a special interest in efficiency and renewable
energy. I am a 53 year resident of
Alaska and have worked on NPRA, TAPS and ANGTS projects. I was a member of AKPIRG and I also am a CEA
member.
As a CEA member, I am very
concerned with the matter of the economics of the Southern Intertie. The apparent approvals were achieved by the
lack of disclosure of an earlier study
that showed the project was uneconomical.
The fact that a new study with different conclusions followed right
after and was used to get approval for the Southern Intertie is highly
suspicious.
However, even assuming that
the second study is correct, which is questionable, the economics are highly
dependent on costs, and assumptions where a slight shift can easily result in
losses to the consumer.
If consideration is given to
the state’s subsidy of 70 million dollars it is clear that the Intertie is a loser. The people who will lose this money are
members of the Railbelt that could use this money for other important needs
such as schooling. For those who argue
that the Intertie has long-term values, so does the education of our
children. And, we have to educate our
children; we do not need to subsidize electricity. The transfer of money, spoils, can be accomplished by asking the
legislature to reallocate the money that has been slated for the Railbelt.
Electric power in the
Railbelt should not be subsidized. It
sends the wrong price signals to the market and results in the misallocation of
economic resources.
There are a number of
powerful interests in the State that want to use your public money for their own benefit. They are not concerned with the costs borne by the general
public. The Southern Intertie project
appears to fall into this category.
Earle Ausman, PE
1503 W 33rd Ave.,
Suite 310
Anchorage, AK 99503
258-2420, Fax 258-2419
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Additional
background
Mr.
Ausman also has worked on a transmission study for the Corps to get power from
He
also was a major designer for the Snettisham Transmission Line, and wrote the
first EIS for that project. It was quite early and there were no guidelines on
what an EIS should be. His firm, Polarconsult
also did the lake tap design and the tunnel mapping of the