Three Railbelt Transmission Organization subcommittees to meet privately Sept. 9 and 10

Three panels deciding how to divide Railbelt backbone transmission costs among utilities serving roughly 70% of Alaska's population, costs passed through to customers, will meet behind closed doors next week.

The Railbelt Transmission Organization's Technical Subcommittee meets Wednesday, the Tariff and Finance subcommittees Thursday. "Per the RTO's Bylaws, the RTO's open meeting provisions do not apply to subcommittee meetings, therefore this meeting is not open to members of the public," the Alaska Online Public Notices listings say.

The Legislature created the RTO in 2024 under House Bill 307, within the Alaska Energy Authority. It is charged with replacing each utility's wholesale wheeling charges with a single open access transmission tariff, now under review at the Regulatory Commission of Alaska in Docket U-25-028. Wheeling is what utilities charge each other to move power. The commission's decision is due Dec. 1, at the parties' request.

The subcommittees may only recommend. The Governance Committee decides, and its meetings are open.