新会员和老会员都经常对金谷电力协会(GVEA)有疑问。. There is a lot of information to know! While we cannot answer every question in one article, some are asked far more often than others, 所以我们想为我们的会员提供一个常见问题和答案的列表.
What does it mean to be a cooperative?
GVEA is an electric cooperative. That means we are member owned and operated. If you receive electricity from GVEA, You are a member-owner. 世界各地的合作社都根据一套核心原则运作. These principles, 本着提高成员生活质量的合作宗旨, make electric cooperatives different from other electric utilities. The 7 principles are:
- Voluntary and open membership
- Democratic member control
- Member economic participation
- Autonomy and independence
- Education, training, and information
- Cooperation among cooperatives
- Concern for community
What are GVEA’s sources of power?
GVEA owns and operates 8 generation units. In addition, 该合作社在布拉德利湖水电项目中拥有16%的股份, 拥有一个电池储能系统(BESS)，并从阿拉斯加的其他公用事业公司购买电力.
- Zehnder Power Plant, est. 1972. 这个41兆瓦(MW)的柴油发电厂位于费尔班克斯，主要用作备用电源.
- Delta Power Plant, est. 1976. 这个27兆瓦的柴油发电厂本质上是一个非常大的发电机，只能作为最后的手段使用, as it is very costly to run.
- North Pole Power Plant, est. 1976. This is a 120 MW diesel plant that runs two 60 MW turbines.
- North Pole Expansion Power Plant, est. 2006. This 60 MW plant runs an LM 6000 turbine. Naphtha, a pressurized liquid fuel, powers the operation. This plant can quickly start and stop operation, 因此，它经常被用来帮助调节风能等可变能源.
- Healy plants 1 and 2, established 1967 and 2016. 希利电厂由燃煤发电，提供28兆瓦(希利1号)和60兆瓦(希利2号)的电力.
- Eva Creek Wind Farm, established 2012. 伊娃克里克运行着12台风力涡轮机，发电量接近25兆瓦.
- Solar Farm, est. 2018. The 563 kilowatt (kW) solar farm is located in south Fairbanks.
For more information on GVEA’s sources of power, visit our Sources of Power page.
dispatched to restore
outages
What does GVEA do to prevent power outages?
路权工作人员每个季节都要清理电线附近的树木, but we can’t remove the trees that are outside of the right of way. 由于树木倒在线路上而造成的停电几乎总是由于树木生长在正确的道路之外，然后倾斜到线路上造成的. This is happening more often now, as we’ve definitely seen an increased growth in trees in recent years, which is attributed to warming average temperatures.
GVEA的电池储能系统(BESS)在防止由发电或阿拉斯加互联网问题引起的小规模停电方面做得非常出色. In 2021, BESS responded to 57 events and prevented over 211,000 outages. This is an average of 4.5 prevented outages per meter. The BESS responds to transmission and generation events, but can’t prevent distribution outages where a tree has broken a line, pole, transformer, etc.
How does GVEA restore power when there are a lot of outages?
Once aware of a pending storm, GVEA preemptively prepares by notifying line crews and staff to be ready, 根据需要协调后备支持，部署设备和材料. As a storm materializes and electric outages increase, many things happen at GVEA, seemingly all at once.
额外的调度员和所有GVEA线路人员动员起来，GVEA的故障呼叫中心被激活，以处理成员呼叫并与调度员一起工作, 线路人员和公共关系人员确保将当前和准确的停机信息传达给成员. Operations personnel continuously assess road conditions, crew locations, 损坏的大小和数量以及停机的位置来确定最有效的, efficient and safest way to restore power.
调度员按地点和工作跟踪停电情况，以确保GVEA维持输电线的发电. 线路工作人员通常首先被派去修复受损输电线路的中断, then substations, 然后是配电供应线(馈线)，最后是打开水龙头上的保险丝. 这个过程使GVEA能够在最短的时间内激励尽可能多的成员. 如果损坏的龙头管线只推荐十大正规网赌平台于少数成员，则在损坏的馈线之前进行维修, 由于支线向支线提供能量，由支线提供推荐十大正规网赌平台的成员仍然没有电力. 同样的理论解释了为什么损坏的变电站要在馈线之前修复——变电站为成千上万的成员提供电力，并为馈线供电, 馈线为数百个成员提供电力，并为自来水管线供电. Focusing on large outages first, regardless of outage length, is the most effective and efficient way to restore power.
Why can’t we bury the power lines?
This has been looked at in the past as an option, and we frequently reassess considering current conditions. 埋电线是非常昂贵的，这是不现实的. Additionally, 当线路在地下时，确定线路在哪里受损是一项挑战, especially during the winter. While there would be some benefits to burying lines, 到目前为止，成本和对线路的限制使其不值得. Underground wire in permafrost soils also are very hard to install, harder to maintain, and very subject to damage. 在地面结冰的情况下修复电缆既昂贵又耗时. 多年来，使地下电缆更加可靠的技术得到了改进, so we continue to periodically reassess.
If there is a downed power line, why can’t GVEA find it right away?
Our system does show the general area of an outage, but in most cases the cause cannot be determined exactly. 例如，在大多数情况下，我们可以知道哪条线受到影响，但不能确切地知道这条线上的哪个位置. Sometimes trees fall on a line along a major thoroughfare, which are easy to find, 但它们通常位于难以到达的地方，需要步行或乘坐全地形车(冬季的雪猫和造雪机)。.
Why doesn’t GVEA clear more of the right of way?
在我们的通行权清理季节，工作人员尽可能地清理. GVEA只对地役权范围内的灌木和树木有合法的控制权，无法确定路权范围外的哪些树木在大雪的重压下会倾斜. 工作人员会清除从路权外向地役权倾斜的危险树木, but will often need to track down the land owner to gain permission.
What is MyGVEA?
MyGVEA是一个新的会员账户管理系统和移动应用程序，于2023年1月推出. The system provides improved member benefits, 最终减少了系统的人工维护，并降低了软件许可成本. Member benefits include greater flexibility for billing options, more online service options, integrated payment channels across all systems, among other great features. 新的软件也是公用事业特定的，并将允许GVEA继续提供新的福利和计划，为会员公用事业行业的不断发展!
What are Capital Credits?
因为GVEA是一个合作社，由其成员所有，严格来说它并不盈利. Instead, if revenues exceed the cost of doing business (i.e. expenses), the co-op has earned “margins.” Each year that margins are earned, GVEA members are allocated a portion of the margins, 这些费用与每位会员当年购买的电量成比例. These portions are called capital credits.
资本信贷退款通常在分配给成员25年后由董事会发放或“退休”. Find out more at our Capital Credits page.
How it works
1. GVEA tracks how much electricity you use during the year.
2. 每年，在支付费用后，GVEA计算剩余资金(保证金)。.
3. The margins are used to pay down any debt, 投资于设施和项目，并根据他们使用的电量作为资本信贷分配给成员.
4. Depending on financial conditions, GVEA retires (refunds) Capital Credits to members at a future date, currently 25 years.