Regulatory Matters	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016
Regulatory Matters [Abstract]
Regulatory Matters	(5) Regulatory Matters Amended Eklutna Generation Station 2015 Dispatch Services Agreement On February 13, 2015, Chugach submitted the Amended Eklutna Generation Station 2015 Dispatch Services Agreement (Dispatch Services Agreement) to the RCA for dispatch services to be provided by Chugach to MEA for a one-year period. Under the Dispatch Services Agreement, Chugach provides electric and natural gas dispatch services for MEA’s Eklutna Generation Station (EGS), electric dispatch services for the Bradley Lake Hydroelectric Project (Bradley Lake), and electric dispatch coordination services for the Eklutna Hydroelectric Project (Eklutna Hydro) beginning with EGS’ full commercial operation. On March 23, 2015, the RCA approved the Dispatch Agreement, conditioned on the requirements that: 1) MEA and Chugach notify the RCA at least one month prior to forming separate Load Balancing Authorities and include in any such notification details on the tie points and any written agreements contemplated by the utilities; and, 2) Chugach file an update to its tariff to reflect any extension of the Dispatch Services Agreement one week from the receipt of such a request from MEA. The Dispatch Services Agreement was in effect through March 31, 2016. In December of 2015, MEA notified Chugach that it would not be extending the Dispatch Services Agreement for the dispatch of electric service. Subsequently, Chugach and MEA entered into an agreement entitled, “Gas Dispatch Agreement” in which Chugach provides gas scheduling and dispatch services to MEA. The term of the agreement is April 1, 2016, through March 31, 2017. On April 18, 2016, Chugach requested RCA approval of the special contract. The RCA issued a letter order on June 8, 2016, approving the filing. This agreement was extended through March 31, 2018, in a letter agreement dated July 29, 2016, with a provision to extend the agreement through March 31, 2019, to be exercised on or before August 1, 2017. June 2014 Test Year General Rate Case Chugach’s June 2014 test year rate case was submitted to the RCA on February 13, 2015. Chugach requested a system base rate increase of approximately $21.3 million, or 20% on total base rate revenues for rates effective in April 2015. The filing also included updates to firm and non-firm transmission wheeling rates and attendant ancillary services in support of third-party transactions on the Chugach transmission system. The primary driver of the rate changes was the reduction in fixed-cost contributions resulting from the expiration of the Interim Power Sales Agreement between Chugach and MEA. In addition, Chugach submitted proposed adjustments to its fuel and purchased power rates under a separate tariff advice letter to become effective at the same time. This allows interim base rate increases to be synchronized with reductions in fuel costs resulting from system heat rate improvements and a greater share of hydroelectric generation used to meet the load requirements of the remaining customers on the system. Collectively, the effective increase to retail customer bills was approximately between two and five percent. The RCA issued Order U-15-081(1) on April 30, 2015, suspending the filing and granting Chugach’s request for interim and refundable rate increases effective May 1, 2015. A scheduling conference was held on May 27, 2015. On June 4, 2015, the RCA issued Order U-15-081(2), granting approval for intervention by HEA, MEA and GVEA. The RCA indicated that a final order in the case will be issued by May 8, 2016. Intervenor responsive testimony was filed by the Attorney General (AG) and MEA on October 28, 2015. The AG’s testimony focused on revenue requirement matters and MEA’s testimony focused on transmission cost allocation issues. Chugach’s responsive testimony was filed on December 15, 2015. In January of 2016, Chugach and the Attorney General (AG) for the State of Alaska entered into settlement discussions to resolve revenue requirement matters in the case, which resulted in settlement of all outstanding matters related to the determination of Chugach’s system revenue requirement for both the interim and permanent rate periods. As a result, Chugach agreed to reduce its revenue requirement by 0.5% (approximately $0.6 million). In addition, the stipulation provides for a permanent increase in Chugach’s system Times Interest Earned Ratio (TIER) from 1.30 to 1.35, which represents an approximate margin increase of $1.0 million per year. The stipulation was filed with the RCA on January 21, 2016. On May 2, 2016, the RCA issued Order U-15-081(8) accepting the stipulation between Chugach and the AG. On May 20, 2016, Chugach submitted updated revenue requirement, cost of service and tariffs reflecting the results of the stipulation, with proposed final rates effective July 5, 2016. On June 17, 2016, the RCA issued Order U-15-081(10) approving final permanent rates effective for Chugach retail customers and the City of Seward (Seward). Refunds totaling $0.75 million were issued to Chugach retail customers in August 2016. The refund applied to purchases from May 2015 through July 2016. Chugach issued a refund to Seward totaling approximately $28,000 on July 8, 2016. On June 27, 2016, the RCA issued Order U-15-081(11) resolving the outstanding issues related to transmission and ancillary services. The RCA ruled in Chugach’s favor, affirming continued use of a postage stamp rate methodology for wheeling transactions on the Chugach system and denied MEA’s request for a separate rate for wheeling transactions based on MEA’s claim that it only used a small portion of Chugach’s transmission system. The order was consistent with previous orders on transmission and ancillary services that were issued by the RCA in Chugach’s 2012 and 2013 General Rate Case filings. On July 15, 2016, Chugach submitted updated tariff sheets and supporting exhibits for the calculation of transmission and ancillary service rates. On August 23, 2016, the RCA approved final rates contained in Chugach’s July 15, 2016, compliance filing. On September 15, 2016, Chugach notified the RCA that it completed the issuance of refunds resulting from settlement of the rate case. A final order closing the docket was issued on October 6, 2016. Simplified Rate Filing On June 30, 2016, the Chugach Board of Directors voted to re-enter the SRF process for adjustments to base demand and energy rates for Chugach retail customers and wholesale customer, Seward. SRF is an expedited base rate adjustment process available to electric cooperatives in the State of Alaska. On July 1, 2016, Chugach requested approval to implement the SRF process for energy and demand rate changes, and requested approval for a 4.2% system demand and energy rate increase, or approximately $4.8 million on an annual basis. On a total retail customer bill basis, which includes fuel and purchased power costs, the impact was approximately 2.5%. Chugach requested the proposed rate increase become effective August 15, 2016. Chugach plans to adjust rates through the SRF process on a quarterly basis going forward. On August 12, 2016, the RCA issued a letter order approving Chugach’s entry into the SRF process for quarterly adjustments to the demand and energy rates of Chugach retail customers and Seward. The RCA also approved Chugach’s request to increase demand and energy rates by 4.2%, effective August 15, 2016. On August 29, 2016, Chugach submitted its June 2016 test year SRF to the RCA with no changes to the demand and energy rates of Chugach retail and Seward. In the filing, Chugach requested approval to adopt the SRF process for quarterly rate adjustments for non-firm transmission wheeling and ancillary services, and approval to reduce these rates between 9.5% and 14.4% based on the current SRF. The RCA issued an order on October 13, 2016, denying Chugach’s request on the basis that the underlying premise of the SRF does not apply to rates for third-party use of Chugach’s transmission system. Revenues from these transactions do not impact Chugach margin levels, but instead are used to reduce fuel and purchased power costs that are recovered by Chugach retail and Seward. As a result, rate changes to third party transmission and ancillary services will be prospectively made through general rate case filings. This has no impact on Chugach’s continued use of SRF for quarterly demand and energy rate adjustments to Chugach retail customers and Seward. Chugach submitted its June 2016 and September 2016 test year SRFs with the RCA on August 29, 2016 and December 1, 2016, respectively, as informational filings with no changes to the demand and energy rates of Chugach retail and Seward. Operation and Regulation of the Alaska Railbelt Electric and Transmission System The 2014 Alaska Legislature directed the RCA to provide a recommendation on whether creating an independent system operator or similar structure in the Railbelt area is the best option for effective and efficient electrical transmission. On February 11, 2015, the RCA voted in favor of opening a docket to investigate and receive input on alternative transmission structures for the Railbelt. On June 30, 2015, the RCA issued its report which recommended an independent transmission company, certificated and regulated as a public utility, be created to operate the transmission system reliably and transparently and to plan and execute major maintenance, transmission system upgrades, and new transmission projects necessary for the reliable delivery of electric power to Railbelt customers. The RCA opened Docket I-15-001 to gather information on power pooling and/or centralized transmission system planning and operation among the Railbelt electric utilities, including economic dispatch of the Railbelt’s electrical generation units. Initial progress reports were filed with the RCA on September 30, 2015. With the support of the RCA, Chugach and several other Railbelt utilities are evaluating possible transmission business model opportunities and associated economic dispatch models that Chugach believes may lead to more optimal Railbelt-wide system operations. On February 1, 2016, Chugach and the Municipality of Anchorage d/b/a Municipal Light and Power (ML&P) filed a joint report regarding the development of a power pooling and joint dispatch arrangement between the utilities. The filing summarized several of the projected qualitative and quantitative benefits of such an arrangement. Chugach and ML&P filed subsequent joint reports regarding their progress toward joint dispatch and power pooling arrangements on May 2, 2016, and August 10, 2016. On October 31, 2016, Chugach, ML&P, and MEA filed a joint report informing the RCA that they were negotiating a power pooling and joint dispatch agreement. On January 27, 2017, Chugach, ML&P, and MEA entered into an Amended and Restated Power Pooling and Joint Dispatch Agreement (Agreement) which provides for economic dispatch resulting from coordinated scheduling of generation and transmission assets, including scheduling, dispatch, and settlement transactions at the bulk power level of electric services. The Agreement was submitted to the RCA as an informational filing on January 30, 2017 under Docket I-15-001. The Agreement provides a contractual framework for coordinated scheduling, dispatch, and settlement transactions for the purchase, sale, or exchange of energy, capacity, reserves, and transmission ancillary services on an efficient and economic basis among the signatories to the Agreement. The Agreement provides for a one-year development period to develop and agree upon specific, detailed generation and transmission dispatch procedures, fuel supply dispatch procedures, and a settlement process. Upon finalization of dispatch procedures and the settlement process in 2018, Chugach, ML&P and MEA will submit the Agreement to the RCA for approval. The total cost reductions resulting from the pool are estimated to be up to $16 million per year after the development period for all participants combined. Cook Inlet Natural Gas Alaska: Found Gas On January 30, 2015, CINGSA submitted a filing to the RCA providing notice that it had found 14.5 Bcf of gas as a result of directional drilling in the storage facility and now proposes to establish guidelines for commercial sales of at least 2 Bcf of this gas. Chugach submitted comments to the RCA regarding CINGSA’s proposed treatment of found gas. Chugach does not believe CINGSA’s proposal to retain revenues for the sale of found gas should be permitted in recognition of the risk-sharing agreements made by CINGSA and its storage customers that resulted in the development of the CINGSA storage facility. The RCA issued an order in March of 2015 suspending the filing for further investigation. CINGSA filed direct testimony in the case on April 13, 2015. Chugach and other interveners in the case submitted responsive testimony on June 5, 2015. CINGSA submitted its reply testimony on June 29, 2015. The evidentiary hearing was held in September of 2015. The RCA issued a final order in the case on December 4, 2015, ruling significantly in favor of the interveners in the case. The RCA granted approval for CINGSA to sell 2 Bcf with 87% of the proceeds allocated to CINGSA’s Firm Storage Service (FSS) customers and 13 percent to CINGSA. The RCA also required CINGSA to file a reservoir engineering study by June 30, 2016, and required CINGSA to file notice of all gas sales within 30 days of any sales, including the transaction price, purchaser, quantities, and the terms and conditions of the sale. The RCA also required that all proceeds to the FSS customers be treated as a reduction in fuel costs that are paid by CINGSA’s customers. On January 4, 2016, CINGSA filed an appeal in Superior Court to Order U-15-016(14), stating the RCA violated CINGSA’s right to due process of law, erred, and/or acted unreasonably, unfairly, arbitrarily, capriciously, or contrary to applicable law. CINGSA believes additional proceeds resulting from the sale of found native gas should remain with CINGSA. Chugach filed an entry of appearance in the case on January 14, 2016. CINGSA filed its brief on June 6, 2016. Chugach filed its reply brief on October 31, 2016. Oral argument was held on March 6, 2017. Beluga River Unit In July of 2015, ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. (CPAI) announced the marketing for sale of its North Cook Inlet Unit; its interest in the Beluga River Unit (BRU); and its interest in 5,700 acres of exploration prospects in the Cook Inlet region. In October of 2015, Chugach submitted a joint bid with ML&P for acquisition of CPAI’s one-third working interest in the BRU. Chugach entered into an agreement entitled, “Purchase and Sale Agreement between ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. and Municipality of Anchorage d/b/a Municipal Light & Power and Chugach Electric Association, Inc.” (Purchase and Sale Agreement) on February 4, 2016. The Purchase and Sale Agreement transfers CPAI’s interest in the BRU to Chugach and ML&P. The acquisition and attendant recovery of costs in electric rates was subject to RCA approval. On March 11, 2016, Chugach and ML&P submitted a joint request to the RCA for approval of the acquisition of CPAI’s interest in the BRU and the attendant recovery of the acquisition costs in electric rates. Chugach and ML&P requested expedited consideration, asking the RCA to issue a bench ruling by April 21, 2016. The request for expedited consideration was made to provide additional certainty regarding Chugach’s eligibility for a State of Alaska production tax credit. The RCA opened docket U-15-081 and established an expedited procedural schedule for the case. The RCA held a hearing from April 18 through April 20, 2016, and issued a bench ruling on April 20, 2016, approving the joint request for approval of the Purchase and Sale Agreement. A written order affirming the bench ruling was issued on April 21, 2016. Separate filings detailing the specific rate recovery process were filed in the second quarter of 2016. The RCA approved the initial gas transfer price of $5.88 per Mcf. Under the recovery structure proposed by Chugach, costs associated with the BRU, including acquisition and on-going operations, maintenance and capital investment, will be recovered on a dollar-for-dollar basis through Chugach’s quarterly fuel adjustment process. Chugach recovers its fuel and purchased power costs as a direct pass-through from its retail and wholesale customers with minimal lag between cost incurrence and recovery. On June 29, 2016, Chugach filed a petition with the RCA for approval to create a regulatory asset for the deferral of expenses (financial/economic, engineering and legal services) associated with Chugach’s acquisition of the BRU, which was $1.5 million at December 31, 2016, and is included in deferred charges on Chugach’s balance sheet. See Note 8 – Deferred Charges and Liabilities. Chugach also requested approval to recover the deferred costs in the gas transfer price. On September 14, 2016, the RCA issued an order combining the BRU cost recovery process and the request to create a regulatory asset into a single docket. The RCA established a procedural schedule and indicated that a final order in the case would be issued by November 17, 2017. Depreciation Study Update In compliance with a previous order from the RCA (U-12-009(8)), Chugach submitted a 2015 Depreciation Study Update to the RCA, requesting approval of the depreciation rates resulting from the study for use in Chugach’s financial record keeping and for establishing electric rates. If approved, adoption of the updated depreciation rates would result in a $5.9 million reduction in annual depreciation expense. On a demand and energy rate basis, the impact is a 4.7% reduction to retail customers and a 4.6% reduction to Seward. The reductions on a total customer bill basis, which includes fuel and purchased power costs, are 3.2% and 1.9%, respectively. Chugach requested that the updated depreciation rates be implemented on July 1, 2017, for both accounting and ratemaking purposes. On October 11, 2016, the RCA issued Order U-16-081(1) to address the depreciation study update. The RCA indicated that a final order in the proceeding would be issued by March 29, 2017. Beluga Parts Filing On November 18, 2016, Chugach submitted a petition to the RCA for approval to create a regulatory asset that would allow Chugach to amortize and recover in rates the value of certain plant needed to support power production equipment located at Beluga Power Plant. Specifically, Chugach requested RCA approval to recover approximately $11.4 million in equipment that supports Beluga generation units. Chugach requested that it be permitted to amortize the value of this plant over a period of 30 months for plant associated with Units 1 and 2 (approximately $0.3 million), and 108 months for all other parts (approximately $11.1 million). The amortization periods are consistent with the proposed depreciation rates for the Beluga units contained in Chugach’s depreciation study that was submitted to the RCA on September 30, 2016. Furie Agreement On March 16, 2017, Chugach submitted a request to the RCA for approval of the agreement entitled, “Firm and Interruptible Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement between Furie Operating Alaska, LLC and Chugach Electric Association, Inc.” (Furie Agreement) dated March 3, 2017. As part of the filing, Chugach also requested RCA approval to recover both firm and interruptible purchases under the agreement and all attendant transportation and storage costs through its quarterly fuel and purchased power cost adjustment process. The Furie Agreement provides Chugach with both firm and non-firm gas supplies over a 16-year period, with firm purchases beginning on April 1, 2023, and ending on March 31, 2033, and interruptible gas purchases available to Chugach immediately upon RCA approval and ending on March 31, 2033. With respect to firm purchases beginning on April 1, 2023, and ending on March 31, 2033, the Furie Agreement provides an Annual Gas Commitment by Furie to sell and Chugach to purchase approximately 1.8 Bcf of gas each year, which represents approximately 20% to 25% of Chugach’s projected gas requirements during this period. The Furie Agreement also provides Chugach with additional purchase options, with on a firm and interruptible basis. The initial price for firm gas is $7.16 per Mcf beginning April 1, 2023 and escalates annually, rising to $7.98 per Mcf on April 1, 2032, the last year of the contract.

(5) Regulatory Matters

Amended Eklutna Generation Station 2015 Dispatch Services Agreement

On February 13, 2015, Chugach submitted the Amended Eklutna Generation Station 2015 Dispatch Services Agreement (Dispatch Services Agreement) to the RCA for dispatch services to be provided by Chugach to MEA for a one-year period. Under the Dispatch Services Agreement, Chugach provides electric and natural gas dispatch services for MEA’s Eklutna Generation Station (EGS), electric dispatch services for the Bradley Lake Hydroelectric Project (Bradley Lake), and electric dispatch coordination services for the Eklutna Hydroelectric Project (Eklutna Hydro) beginning with EGS’ full commercial operation.

On March 23, 2015, the RCA approved the Dispatch Agreement, conditioned on the requirements that: 1) MEA and Chugach notify the RCA at least one month prior to forming separate Load Balancing Authorities and include in any such notification details on the tie points and any written agreements contemplated by the utilities; and, 2) Chugach file an update to its tariff to reflect any extension of the Dispatch Services Agreement one week from the receipt of such a request from MEA. The Dispatch Services Agreement was in effect through March 31, 2016.

In December of 2015, MEA notified Chugach that it would not be extending the Dispatch Services Agreement for the dispatch of electric service. Subsequently, Chugach and MEA entered into an agreement entitled, “Gas Dispatch Agreement” in which Chugach provides gas scheduling and dispatch services to MEA. The term of the agreement is April 1, 2016, through March 31, 2017. On April 18, 2016, Chugach requested RCA approval of the special contract. The RCA issued a letter order on June 8, 2016, approving the filing. This agreement was extended through March 31, 2018, in a letter agreement dated July 29, 2016, with a provision to extend the agreement through March 31, 2019, to be exercised on or before August 1, 2017.

June 2014 Test Year General Rate Case

Chugach’s June 2014 test year rate case was submitted to the RCA on February 13, 2015. Chugach requested a system base rate increase of approximately $21.3 million, or 20% on total base rate revenues for rates effective in April 2015. The filing also included updates to firm and non-firm transmission wheeling rates and attendant ancillary services in support of third-party transactions on the Chugach transmission system. The primary driver of the rate changes was the reduction in fixed-cost contributions resulting from the expiration of the Interim Power Sales Agreement between Chugach and MEA. In addition, Chugach submitted proposed adjustments to its fuel and purchased power rates under a separate tariff advice letter to become effective at the same time. This allows interim base rate increases to be synchronized with reductions in fuel costs resulting from system heat rate improvements and a greater share of hydroelectric generation used to meet the load requirements of the remaining customers on the system. Collectively, the effective increase to retail customer bills was approximately between two and five percent.

The RCA issued Order U-15-081(1) on April 30, 2015, suspending the filing and granting Chugach’s request for interim and refundable rate increases effective May 1, 2015. A scheduling conference was held on May 27, 2015. On June 4, 2015, the RCA issued Order U-15-081(2), granting approval for intervention by HEA, MEA and GVEA. The RCA indicated that a final order in the case will be issued by May 8, 2016. Intervenor responsive testimony was filed by the Attorney General (AG) and MEA on October 28, 2015. The AG’s testimony focused on revenue requirement matters and MEA’s testimony focused on transmission cost allocation issues. Chugach’s responsive testimony was filed on December 15, 2015.

In January of 2016, Chugach and the Attorney General (AG) for the State of Alaska entered into settlement discussions to resolve revenue requirement matters in the case, which resulted in settlement of all outstanding matters related to the determination of Chugach’s system revenue requirement for both the interim and permanent rate periods. As a result, Chugach agreed to reduce its revenue requirement by 0.5% (approximately $0.6 million). In addition, the stipulation provides for a permanent increase in Chugach’s system Times Interest Earned Ratio (TIER) from 1.30 to 1.35, which represents an approximate margin increase of $1.0 million per year.

The stipulation was filed with the RCA on January 21, 2016. On May 2, 2016, the RCA issued Order U-15-081(8) accepting the stipulation between Chugach and the AG. On May 20, 2016, Chugach submitted updated revenue requirement, cost of service and tariffs reflecting the results of the stipulation, with proposed final rates effective July 5, 2016. On June 17, 2016, the RCA issued Order U-15-081(10) approving final permanent rates effective for Chugach retail customers and the City of Seward (Seward). Refunds totaling $0.75 million were issued to Chugach retail customers in August 2016. The refund applied to purchases from May 2015 through July 2016. Chugach issued a refund to Seward totaling approximately $28,000 on July 8, 2016.

On June 27, 2016, the RCA issued Order U-15-081(11) resolving the outstanding issues related to transmission and ancillary services. The RCA ruled in Chugach’s favor, affirming continued use of a postage stamp rate methodology for wheeling transactions on the Chugach system and denied MEA’s request for a separate rate for wheeling transactions based on MEA’s claim that it only used a small portion of Chugach’s transmission system. The order was consistent with previous orders on transmission and ancillary services that were issued by the RCA in Chugach’s 2012 and 2013 General Rate Case filings. On July 15, 2016, Chugach submitted updated tariff sheets and supporting exhibits for the calculation of transmission and ancillary service rates. On August 23, 2016, the RCA approved final rates contained in Chugach’s July 15, 2016, compliance filing.

On September 15, 2016, Chugach notified the RCA that it completed the issuance of refunds resulting from settlement of the rate case. A final order closing the docket was issued on October 6, 2016.

Simplified Rate Filing

On June 30, 2016, the Chugach Board of Directors voted to re-enter the SRF process for adjustments to base demand and energy rates for Chugach retail customers and wholesale customer, Seward. SRF is an expedited base rate adjustment process available to electric cooperatives in the State of Alaska. On July 1, 2016, Chugach requested approval to implement the SRF process for energy and demand rate changes, and requested approval for a 4.2% system demand and energy rate increase, or approximately $4.8 million on an annual basis. On a total retail customer bill basis, which includes fuel and purchased power costs, the impact was approximately 2.5%. Chugach requested the proposed rate increase become effective August 15, 2016. Chugach plans to adjust rates through the SRF process on a quarterly basis going forward.

On August 12, 2016, the RCA issued a letter order approving Chugach’s entry into the SRF process for quarterly adjustments to the demand and energy rates of Chugach retail customers and Seward. The RCA also approved Chugach’s request to increase demand and energy rates by 4.2%, effective August 15, 2016.

On August 29, 2016, Chugach submitted its June 2016 test year SRF to the RCA with no changes to the demand and energy rates of Chugach retail and Seward. In the filing, Chugach requested approval to adopt the SRF process for quarterly rate adjustments for non-firm transmission wheeling and ancillary services, and approval to reduce these rates between 9.5% and 14.4% based on the current SRF. The RCA issued an order on October 13, 2016, denying Chugach’s request on the basis that the underlying premise of the SRF does not apply to rates for third-party use of Chugach’s transmission system. Revenues from these transactions do not impact Chugach margin levels, but instead are used to reduce fuel and purchased power costs that are recovered by Chugach retail and Seward. As a result, rate changes to third party transmission and ancillary services will be prospectively made through general rate case filings. This has no impact on Chugach’s continued use of SRF for quarterly demand and energy rate adjustments to Chugach retail customers and Seward.

Chugach submitted its June 2016 and September 2016 test year SRFs with the RCA on August 29, 2016 and December 1, 2016, respectively, as informational filings with no changes to the demand and energy rates of Chugach retail and Seward.

Operation and Regulation of the Alaska Railbelt Electric and Transmission System

The 2014 Alaska Legislature directed the RCA to provide a recommendation on whether creating an independent system operator or similar structure in the Railbelt area is the best option for effective and efficient electrical transmission. On February 11, 2015, the RCA voted in favor of opening a docket to investigate and receive input on alternative transmission structures for the Railbelt. On June 30, 2015, the RCA issued its report which recommended an independent transmission company, certificated and regulated as a public utility, be created to operate the transmission system reliably and transparently and to plan and execute major maintenance, transmission system upgrades, and new transmission projects necessary for the reliable delivery of electric power to Railbelt customers. The RCA opened Docket I-15-001 to gather information on power pooling and/or centralized transmission system planning and operation among the Railbelt electric utilities, including economic dispatch of the Railbelt’s electrical generation units. Initial progress reports were filed with the RCA on September 30, 2015. With the support of the RCA, Chugach and several other Railbelt utilities are evaluating possible transmission business model opportunities and associated economic dispatch models that Chugach believes may lead to more optimal Railbelt-wide system operations.

On February 1, 2016, Chugach and the Municipality of Anchorage d/b/a Municipal Light and Power (ML&P) filed a joint report regarding the development of a power pooling and joint dispatch arrangement between the utilities. The filing summarized several of the projected qualitative and quantitative benefits of such an arrangement. Chugach and ML&P filed subsequent joint reports regarding their progress toward joint dispatch and power pooling arrangements on May 2, 2016, and August 10, 2016. On October 31, 2016, Chugach, ML&P, and MEA filed a joint report informing the RCA that they were negotiating a power pooling and joint dispatch agreement.

On January 27, 2017, Chugach, ML&P, and MEA entered into an Amended and Restated Power Pooling and Joint Dispatch Agreement (Agreement) which provides for economic dispatch resulting from coordinated scheduling of generation and transmission assets, including scheduling, dispatch, and settlement transactions at the bulk power level of electric services. The Agreement was submitted to the RCA as an informational filing on January 30, 2017 under Docket I-15-001. The Agreement provides a contractual framework for coordinated scheduling, dispatch, and settlement transactions for the purchase, sale, or exchange of energy, capacity, reserves, and transmission ancillary services on an efficient and economic basis among the signatories to the Agreement.

The Agreement provides for a one-year development period to develop and agree upon specific, detailed generation and transmission dispatch procedures, fuel supply dispatch procedures, and a settlement process. Upon finalization of dispatch procedures and the settlement process in 2018, Chugach, ML&P and MEA will submit the Agreement to the RCA for approval. The total cost reductions resulting from the pool are estimated to be up to $16 million per year after the development period for all participants combined.

Cook Inlet Natural Gas Alaska: Found Gas

On January 30, 2015, CINGSA submitted a filing to the RCA providing notice that it had found 14.5 Bcf of gas as a result of directional drilling in the storage facility and now proposes to establish guidelines for commercial sales of at least 2 Bcf of this gas. Chugach submitted comments to the RCA regarding CINGSA’s proposed treatment of found gas. Chugach does not believe CINGSA’s proposal to retain revenues for the sale of found gas should be permitted in recognition of the risk-sharing agreements made by CINGSA and its storage customers that resulted in the development of the CINGSA storage facility.

The RCA issued an order in March of 2015 suspending the filing for further investigation. CINGSA filed direct testimony in the case on April 13, 2015. Chugach and other interveners in the case submitted responsive testimony on June 5, 2015. CINGSA submitted its reply testimony on June 29, 2015. The evidentiary hearing was held in September of 2015.

The RCA issued a final order in the case on December 4, 2015, ruling significantly in favor of the interveners in the case. The RCA granted approval for CINGSA to sell 2 Bcf with 87% of the proceeds allocated to CINGSA’s Firm Storage Service (FSS) customers and 13 percent to CINGSA. The RCA also required CINGSA to file a reservoir engineering study by June 30, 2016, and required CINGSA to file notice of all gas sales within 30 days of any sales, including the transaction price, purchaser, quantities, and the terms and conditions of the sale. The RCA also required that all proceeds to the FSS customers be treated as a reduction in fuel costs that are paid by CINGSA’s customers.

On January 4, 2016, CINGSA filed an appeal in Superior Court to Order U-15-016(14), stating the RCA violated CINGSA’s right to due process of law, erred, and/or acted unreasonably, unfairly, arbitrarily, capriciously, or contrary to applicable law. CINGSA believes additional proceeds resulting from the sale of found native gas should remain with CINGSA. Chugach filed an entry of appearance in the case on January 14, 2016. CINGSA filed its brief on June 6, 2016. Chugach filed its reply brief on October 31, 2016. Oral argument was held on March 6, 2017.

Beluga River Unit

In July of 2015, ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. (CPAI) announced the marketing for sale of its North Cook Inlet Unit; its interest in the Beluga River Unit (BRU); and its interest in 5,700 acres of exploration prospects in the Cook Inlet region. In October of 2015, Chugach submitted a joint bid with ML&P for acquisition of CPAI’s one-third working interest in the BRU.

Chugach entered into an agreement entitled, “Purchase and Sale Agreement between ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. and Municipality of Anchorage d/b/a Municipal Light & Power and Chugach Electric Association, Inc.” (Purchase and Sale Agreement) on February 4, 2016. The Purchase and Sale Agreement transfers CPAI’s interest in the BRU to Chugach and ML&P. The acquisition and attendant recovery of costs in electric rates was subject to RCA approval.

On March 11, 2016, Chugach and ML&P submitted a joint request to the RCA for approval of the acquisition of CPAI’s interest in the BRU and the attendant recovery of the acquisition costs in electric rates. Chugach and ML&P requested expedited consideration, asking the RCA to issue a bench ruling by April 21, 2016. The request for expedited consideration was made to provide additional certainty regarding Chugach’s eligibility for a State of Alaska production tax credit.

The RCA opened docket U-15-081 and established an expedited procedural schedule for the case. The RCA held a hearing from April 18 through April 20, 2016, and issued a bench ruling on April 20, 2016, approving the joint request for approval of the Purchase and Sale Agreement. A written order affirming the bench ruling was issued on April 21, 2016.

Separate filings detailing the specific rate recovery process were filed in the second quarter of 2016. The RCA approved the initial gas transfer price of $5.88 per Mcf. Under the recovery structure proposed by Chugach, costs associated with the BRU, including acquisition and on-going operations, maintenance and capital investment, will be recovered on a dollar-for-dollar basis through Chugach’s quarterly fuel adjustment process. Chugach recovers its fuel and purchased power costs as a direct pass-through from its retail and wholesale customers with minimal lag between cost incurrence and recovery.

On June 29, 2016, Chugach filed a petition with the RCA for approval to create a regulatory asset for the deferral of expenses (financial/economic, engineering and legal services) associated with Chugach’s acquisition of the BRU, which was $1.5 million at December 31, 2016, and is included in deferred charges on Chugach’s balance sheet. See Note 8 – Deferred Charges and Liabilities. Chugach also requested approval to recover the deferred costs in the gas transfer price.

On September 14, 2016, the RCA issued an order combining the BRU cost recovery process and the request to create a regulatory asset into a single docket. The RCA established a procedural schedule and indicated that a final order in the case would be issued by November 17, 2017.

Depreciation Study Update

In compliance with a previous order from the RCA (U-12-009(8)), Chugach submitted a 2015 Depreciation Study Update to the RCA, requesting approval of the depreciation rates resulting from the study for use in Chugach’s financial record keeping and for establishing electric rates. If approved, adoption of the updated depreciation rates would result in a $5.9 million reduction in annual depreciation expense. On a demand and energy rate basis, the impact is a 4.7% reduction to retail customers and a 4.6% reduction to Seward. The reductions on a total customer bill basis, which includes fuel and purchased power costs, are 3.2% and 1.9%, respectively. Chugach requested that the updated depreciation rates be implemented on July 1, 2017, for both accounting and ratemaking purposes.

On October 11, 2016, the RCA issued Order U-16-081(1) to address the depreciation study update. The RCA indicated that a final order in the proceeding would be issued by March 29, 2017.

Beluga Parts Filing

On November 18, 2016, Chugach submitted a petition to the RCA for approval to create a regulatory asset that would allow Chugach to amortize and recover in rates the value of certain plant needed to support power production equipment located at Beluga Power Plant.

Specifically, Chugach requested RCA approval to recover approximately $11.4 million in equipment that supports Beluga generation units. Chugach requested that it be permitted to amortize the value of this plant over a period of 30 months for plant associated with Units 1 and 2 (approximately $0.3 million), and 108 months for all other parts (approximately $11.1 million). The amortization periods are consistent with the proposed depreciation rates for the Beluga units contained in Chugach’s depreciation study that was submitted to the RCA on September 30, 2016.

Furie Agreement

On March 16, 2017, Chugach submitted a request to the RCA for approval of the agreement entitled, “Firm and Interruptible Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement between Furie Operating Alaska, LLC and Chugach Electric Association, Inc.” (Furie Agreement) dated March 3, 2017. As part of the filing, Chugach also requested RCA approval to recover both firm and interruptible purchases under the agreement and all attendant transportation and storage costs through its quarterly fuel and purchased power cost adjustment process.

The Furie Agreement provides Chugach with both firm and non-firm gas supplies over a 16-year period, with firm purchases beginning on April 1, 2023, and ending on March 31, 2033, and interruptible gas purchases available to Chugach immediately upon RCA approval and ending on March 31, 2033. With respect to firm purchases beginning on April 1, 2023, and ending on March 31, 2033, the Furie Agreement provides an Annual Gas Commitment by Furie to sell and Chugach to purchase approximately 1.8 Bcf of gas each year, which represents approximately 20% to 25% of Chugach’s projected gas requirements during this period. The Furie Agreement also provides Chugach with additional purchase options, with on a firm and interruptible basis. The initial price for firm gas is $7.16 per Mcf beginning April 1, 2023 and escalates annually, rising to $7.98 per Mcf on April 1, 2032, the last year of the contract.