Fact vs. Fiction
| Fiction #1: | Chugach Employees are overpaid. A claim was made by Ray Kreig that your bill could be cut by 20% because of "bloated labor costs." | ||||||||||||||||
| Fact #1: | Chugach linemen rank 5th out of 9 Alaska utilities in pay and below prevailing
West Coast wages. Employees' compensation has dropped 18% below the cost of living
since 1988. Needed positions are left unfilled because CEA wages are below market
value. Private contractors pay above prevailing wages to retain linemen in Alaska. 17% of your electric bill accounts for labor cost. If all CEA employees were laid off, they would still be short of their claim to reduce rates by 20%. Labor vs. Total Cost of Service |
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| Fiction #2: | Chugach Electric is on the right track under the Ray Kreig board.. | ||||||||||||||||
| Fact #2: | CEA ran WITHOUT stable leadership. Eight months
after firing an experienced CEO, there was still no replacement. $30,000 was spent to
find a new CEO without results. The Co-op didn't have a board
vice president as required in the bylaws. The Ray Kreig supports forcing a strike as a negotiation technique in spite of the cost. The last labor dispute cost Chugach members $4.5 million dollars in 1987. It would be double that in today's dollars. Also, contrary to what Ray Kreig says, the employees did not strike. They were locked out, prevented from doing their jobs. |
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| Fact #3: | Chugach Electric was granted $68.5 million dollars from the state's
Railbelt Energy Fund to construct a vitally needed power line to Bradley Lake Hydro
Plant. The Ray Kreig board authorized a letter to the legislature giving
away all but $12.5 million to other utilities including $26.5 million to
MEA, who is suspected of financing their campaigns and is trying to get
a seat on CEA's board. They also offered $12.5 million to resuscitate the Healy
Clean Coal Plant boondoggle. Letter to Alaska State Legislature, House & Senate Finance Committees (Source: Freedom of Information Request) |
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| Fact #4: |
The Ray Kreig board conducted most of its business in secret. It locked
the public out to go into "executive session" (waiving the 7-day public
notice law) more than any previous group of directors, as many as 4 times
in one meeting. The figures in the table below are based on the approved minutes from Regular and Special Board meetings, for the 8-month period May through December (the 2005 tenure of the current board), compared to the same period in 2003 and 2004.
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| Fact #5: |
ML&P's rates are going down (currently $24 per month less than
Chugach) while CEA's rates are going up. This is because ML&P
purchased 1/3 of the Beluga gas fields after Chugach, under Board
chairman Ray Kreig's leadership, rejected the offer. Rate Comparison |
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| Fact #6: |
Open and competitive bidding is required by Chugach's bylaws Article XI, Section 5
(http://www.chugachelectric.com/pdfs/bylaws.pdf).
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Additional Resources
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Don't vote for the "light bulb" people!
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