The utility Avista says it can bring natural gas to Juneau and save home heating consumers about a third over diesel fuel, heating fuel or baseboard electric heat.
Avista senior business analyst Jeff Smith tallied up the estimated impact at a meeting Monday with the Juneau Assembly.
“Five to $15 million savings annually on heating. Indirect job creation of 60 to 180 new jobs and the job creation during the construction phase would be 90 construction jobs (in) year one, and 20 construction jobs (in) years two through 10. So pretty positive impact for Juneau.”
The Spokane-based utility’s assertions were based on home phone surveys, commercial surveys and economic studies, including a proprietary study with the McDowell Group based off of fall 2014 data.
Smith said Avista would ship liquefied natural gas up from British Columbia, and possibly build a marine facility on the back side of Douglas Island. The overall project is only at the exploratory stage right now — natural gas at home would be years out — though Ketchikan and Sitka may also be in line.
Even if today’s low energy prices hold, Smith estimated the burner tip price would still be about 15 percent cheaper in Juneau than the current market rate for comparable heating. The savings wouldn’t accrue until after a home conversion though, which Smith said costs the average homeowner about $6,000.
Juneau Assembly members seemed eager, but put the analysis through its paces with a long series of questions. Smith said it’s a unique opportunity that helps customers and the utility, which bought AEL&P last year.
“In the sense that we can add to our rate base — where let’s say, right now we look at the project at being $130 million — provide growth for the utility, while being able to actually provide savings to the consumer in terms of reduced heating cost.”
The assembly asked the city manager to draft a letter of support for Avista’s natural gas project. The letter may help the utility secure financing or energy grants from state economic development agencies to build the infrastructure.
