The board of directors of Chugach Electric Association approved a 4-year labor contract with one of its bargaining groups that will help the utility recruit and retrain highly skilled workers in a tight labor market. The board took the action at a meeting Dec. 19.

Chugach Electric Association is donating nearly 6,000 pounds of turkey to 15 different local charitable organizations, including Bean's Café, the Food Bank of Alaska, Covenant House, Mother Lawrence foundation and Hope Community Resources. This is the fifth year in a row Chugach has donated turkeys to local charitable organizations.

Thousands of past and long-term Chugach Electric Association members are receiving a share of a nearly $4.3 million retail capital credits retirement.

A labor agreement that will result in more than $1 million in savings, provide greater flexibility and efficiency in utilizing its workforce, and also help Chugach Electric Association to both recruit as well as keep talented employees, has temporarily been stopped from being put into effect by a lawsuit.

The Chugach board appointed the following members to its Renewable Energy Committee at its regular meeting Nov. 15:

Kurt Autor, Jason Brune, Bruce Campbell, Rep. Harry Crawford, Susanne Fleek-Green, Doug Glover, Julie Jessen, Philip Kaluza, Pat Kennedy, Meera Kohler, Jan Konigsberg, Stuart Parks, John Peterson, Jacqueline Poston, Emil Remus, Travis Ross, Bill Scott, Ian Sharrock, Bob Shary, Sean Skaling, Andre Spinelli, Jeremy Tasch, Fred Valdez, Mark Wiggin and Robert Younger.

Chugach and the Anchorage School District have reached an agreement that will allow the district to use a portion of Chugach's distribution system to move power from an ASD generator on campus to power buildings at Service High School in certain types of outages.

High winds caused outages for Chugach customers from the Kenai Peninsula to Anchorage. Most problems have been caused by trees - often beetle-killed spruce - being blown into power lines.

Chugach Electric Association is looking for volunteers to serve on its 2007 Bylaws, Election and Nominating committees.

Chugach Electric Association will be asking the Regulatory Commission of Alaska to adjust rates in an attempt to better balance the margins earned from its different business activities.

Chugach Electric Association directors Jim Nordlund and Elizabeth Vazquez recently earned certification as directors of a cooperative utility board.

About 5,800 Chugach Electric members experienced a power outage starting at 10:21 a.m. this morning.

While many people were enjoying time off and good weather during the long Labor Day weekend, engineers and line crews from Chugach Electric Association were living up to the heritage of the holiday by moving a 70-foot transmission tower across a soggy island in the middle of the Susitna River - with minimal assistance from motorized equipment.

For the second time in a week a flooding Susitna River has disabled a transmission line tower after undercutting its foundation at Dynamite Slough.

Chugach Electric Association is looking for volunteers to serve on a Renewable Energy Committee.

School starts Aug. 22, at a time when Alaskans are losing daylight. As kids head to school, remember that many of them will depend on streetlights as they walk to or from school or wait on the roadside to catch a bus.

Recent rains have caused the Susitna River to rise and erode its eastern bank at Dynamite Slough, toppling a tower supporting an electric transmission line.

Phil Steyer has been promoted to director, government relations and corporate communications. Steyer formerly held the position of manager, government and external affairs and has been with Chugach since March 1987.

At a special board meeting last night, the Chugach Electric Association Board of Directors appointed Bill Stewart as Chugach's chief executive officer.

Chugach Electric and the Anchorage Fire Department are continuing a partnership to remove dead and dying trees on the Anchorage Hillside.

Greg Arthur has been promoted to manager, environmental engineering in the Environmental department at Chugach. Arthur formerly held the position of senior environmental engineer and has been with Chugach since August 1997.

Chugach is in the top 5 percent of 3,300 electric utilities in the United States, according to the National Arbor Day Foundation.

Chugach Electric Association is taking advantage of high-resolution photography and searchable databases to enhance its ability to troubleshoot and maintain hundreds of miles of transmission line.

Chugach Electric Association customers suffered an outage this morning after a raven came into contact with energized electrical equipment in the utility's University Substation.

Chugach Electric Association has determined the point on the grid where a major power outage began Sunday evening, but cannot yet determine what triggered the sequence of events that left tens of thousands of customers from Homer to Fairbanks without power.

Thanks to Chugach Electric Association, thousands of school kids learned how to be safe when near electric facilities. Chugach Electric uses a safety presentation to demonstrate electrical safety to children and other organizations.

Chugach Electric Association received national recognition for its communications efforts.

Chugach Electric Association is a utility organized as a member-owned cooperative. That means that any margins the cooperative earns in a year belong to the member-owners that pay the bills.

Chugach Electric fills staff analyst and record drawing technician positions.

Incumbent Jeff Lipscomb and Jim Nordlund were elected to 3-year terms on the Chugach Electric Association board of directors.

Homes and businesses in Girdwood will be without power overnight Monday due to a scheduled power outage.

Chugach Electric Association, Inc.'s annual membership meeting will be held April 27. Ballot packets for the election will go in the mail the week of March 27.

Six Chugach Electric Association members are running for two seats on the cooperative's board of directors in this spring's election. Each seat is for a three-year term.

Work has begun on a transmission line project in East Anchorage which will result in improved reliability for residents.