Mat-Su Assembly expands residents' role in major utility projects

What you need to know:

• New utility construction rules approved by the Mat-Su Borough Assembly mandate greater public involvement and a new appeals process in planning high-voltage power line and pipeline projects.
• The changes add a borough permitting process and new standards for public meetings and feedback. The update also shifts the appeals process to the oversight of a borough board rather than utility company officials.
• Officials said the changes were driven by public feedback on a 2022 Matanuska Electric Association transmission line project, which highlighted deficiencies in borough rules. The changes were designed with the support of utility officials. 

PALMER — A public input and appeals process approved by the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly this week gives residents more say in the design of large new utility projects that impact private property.

The update requires new levels of public engagement for future high-voltage electrical line and substation projects, as well as pipeline plans.

The updates do not impact a controversial 20-mile, 115-kilovolt Matanuska Electric Association transmission line with 100-foot right-of-ways stretching from Meadow Lakes to Fishhook that was approved in 2022 and is slated for initial construction this summer, officials said.

But Borough officials said it was the public feedback and appeals surrounding that MEA Fishhook-to-Pittman Power Improvements project that inspired the new measure because it exposed what residents said was an insufficient borough process with no clear path for meaningful appeal.

The new ordinance is intended to address some of those shortcomings, borough planning officials told the Assembly during a regular meeting Tuesday.

Under previous public process rules, utility companies were required only to submit their construction plans and timeline to the borough, demonstrate that they had held public meetings, and share a high-level overview of the public comments they received. 

The rules did not require a borough permit for large new projects, and officials did not have the power to deny project approvals, officials said. And while the borough did require companies to provide an appeals process, it also allowed them to design and oversee it, according to code.

The updated standards approved Tuesday require utilities to obtain a project permit from the borough’s planning department by providing proof of public engagement, summaries of residents’ comments and plans for addressing those concerns.

The change also moves the appeals process away from utilities’ oversight and places it instead with an official borough board, according to the ordinance.

“That’s the major difference this ordinance creates. Right now, it’s very unclear what the appeal process is,” Borough Planning Director Alex Strawn said during the meeting Tuesday. “This makes it very clear that this is an appealable process.”

The Assembly unanimously approved the measure. It was proposed by Assembly members Tim Hale, whose district includes Fishhook, and Bill Gamble, whose district includes Big Lake, and crafted in partnership with MEA and members of the public, officials said.

The update includes provisions similar to some of those proposed by Hale in separate legislation voted down by the Assembly last year. 

That measure gave the borough leeway to reject applications for major projects based on how utility officials handled public feedback, a step some Assembly members considered borough overreach. The version approved Tuesday scales back those oversight provisions while still increasing overall public involvement in major utility project plans.

Jon Sinclair, an engineering director for MEA, and Amber McDonough, a Fishhook resident who previously raised concerns about the utility project approval rules, both testified in favor of the new process during Tuesday’s meeting.

“We believe this is a balanced approach that benefits residents, property owners and our co-op members, allowing us to continue to provide safe, reliable electrical service across Mat-Su,” Sinclair said.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com