Legislature(2011 - 2012)HOUSE FINANCE 519
02/27/2012 01:30 PM House FINANCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HJR16 | |
| HB250 | |
| SB30 | |
| HB224 | |
| HB302 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HJR 16 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 250 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 224 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 30 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 302 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HOUSE BILL NO. 250
"An Act relating to the renewable energy grant fund
and recommendation program; and providing for an
effective date."
2:08:46 PM
CO-CHAIR BILL THOMAS, SPONSOR introduced his staff who
would discuss the bill.
KACI SCHROEDER-HOTCH, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE BILL THOMAS,
explained that the bill reauthorized the Renewable Energy
Grant Fund for an additional five years. The fund was
established in 2008 and had funded approximately 200
projects statewide; 21 projects had come on line in 2011
due to the fund. The bill included intent language that
would fund the program at $50 million per year, which was a
continuation of the intent language from the enacting
legislation. She relayed that department staff were
available to answer specific questions.
Co-Chair Thomas pointed out that the proposed legislation
would bring in $100 million in federal matching funds. One
community that had used the funds to retire debt had taken
its cost from $0.80 down to $0.20 once its hydro facility
had come on line. He noted that the displacement of diesel
was huge and that an increasing amount would be displaced
as renewable energy projects continued.
SARAH FISHER-GOAD, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ALASKA ENERGY
AUTHORITY (AEA), DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, COMMUNITY AND
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, was available for questions.
Representative Doogan wondered why the proposal was to
authorize the program for $50 million when it had only used
$25 million for all but its inception year. Ms. Schroeder-
Hotch explained that the bill extended the existing law.
She added that the bill included intent language that could
be changed by the legislature.
Representative Doogan surmised that the bill did not make
any changes to the current program. Ms. Schroeder-Hotch
responded in the affirmative.
Co-Chair Thomas noted that the legislature had the power of
appropriation.
2:12:55 PM
Representative Edgmon supported the legislation. He did not
believe that the program should be considered the panacea
for the energy situation in Alaska. He believed that while
successful, the program was narrow in scope in terms of
renewable energy project options. The program was helpful,
but there were numerous areas in the state that did not
have renewable energy options available. He believed the
program should be recognized for "what it is and what it
isn't."
Co-Chair Thomas referenced that when he had first
introduced the bill it had included nuclear energy, which
had kept it from passing. He explained that at the time
"renewable" had been a "hippie" word and that it had been a
significant leap forward. He relayed that the Palin
Administration pressed for the bill, which had been stuck
in the Senate Finance Committee; as a result it had passed
out of committee with an appropriation.
Representative Edgmon remembered that many people had
equated renewable energy with cheaper energy; however, in
some cases renewable energy was more expensive and was not
affordable. He asked the department to discuss the issue.
Co-Chair Stoltze provided a hypothetical example of a wind
project that may be successful in Kodiak, but could fail in
Anchorage.
2:17:18 PM
Ms. Fisher-Goad explained that there had been an earlier
request from the House Finance Committee for one year's
worth of data related to the payback period for several of
the projects. She noted that she would characterize
Representative Edgmon's comments slightly differently, but
it was important to recognize that there were fuel cost
savings that in current dollars may not necessarily be
comparable or cheaper; however, fuel costs were expected to
rise significantly for the next 20 years. The expectation
was that the imported fuel would be traded to communities
in rural Alaska for projects that were using local
resources for the generation, which would stabilize fuel
costs. She agreed that not all communities had renewable
resources available for development. She believed there
were challenges as well as opportunities for the program.
Through the rural energy planning process (including the
railbelt plan and southeast integrated resource plan) there
was a community and region-wide approach to plan for
energy. It was necessary to begin with a good rural power
system in order to successfully integrate wind into the
smaller systems. She opined that there was value and
benefit in the process, but that work remained to be done.
The agency was working to ensure that there was appropriate
technical assistance for the projects to move forward. She
relayed that a good diesel displacement metric had been
shown related to the projects. There were currently 14
projects that had one full year of data. She expressed that
her colleague would provide more detail on some of the
projects that had not shown the payback in 2011 fuel costs,
but had begun to show positive results.
Representative Edgmon discussed that a significant amount
of renewable energy projects came forward that did not make
the cut for various reasons including lack of
affordability. He had not meant to insinuate that AEA
approved renewable energy projects that were not beneficial
to consumers.
Co-Chair Stoltze commented that the decisions were social
as opposed to energy decisions.
2:21:26 PM
Vice-chair Fairclough asked about the geographic spread of
the 14 projects and whether the kilowatts produced had met
expectations.
PETER CRIMP, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY AND ENERGY
EFFICIENCY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT, responded that the 14 projects were evenly
spread throughout the state including hydro in Southeast,
biomass in the Interior and Southcentral, and wind in the
Southwest.
Vice-chair Fairclough asked whether the total kilowatts
produced in the 14 projects had met expectations. Mr. Crimp
explained that the assessed projects were at approximately
84 percent of their goal for 2011. He noted that the heat
versus power projects had not been broken out by per
kilowatt hour.
Vice-chair Fairclough asked whether the state was looking
to partner with federal and/or private sector partners.
Ms. Fisher-Goad replied that AEA was always looking for
federal partners that would provide matching funds.
Additionally, the Denali Commission was currently very
active with the programs. Independent power producers were
also eligible program applicants; any additional private
sector investments in the program were welcome. There had
been increasing discussion related to the development of a
loan program; there was a power project loan program that
allowed entities to borrow in order to help them gain
increased matching funds.
Vice-chair Fairclough asked whether AEA was looking at
power generation regionally to allow areas to develop plans
and transmission proposals in order to provide sustainable
and affordable energy into local communities. She wondered
whether AEA was working to ensure that there were
beneficiaries of the program award process throughout the
state.
Ms. Fisher-Goad answered that the renewable energy fund
program had helped to focus the issues and dovetailed
nicely with the regional planning approach. The agency had
been building on its pathway document that had been
published the prior year and was moving towards regional
planning; Sandra Moller, Deputy Director of Rural Energy
was heading up the efforts. The entity had a contract with
Nuvista Light and Power in the Calista region to spearhead
the approach. The agency was looking for regional entities
that could do most of the coordination; AEA would help fund
the work and would provide technical resource and support
for the regional development. She added that any type of
transmission system and interconnection between communities
should be coming together.
2:27:00 PM
Representative Guttenberg wondered whether there was a
chart that showed the displacement of diesel by the
alternative energy over time and expectations on how to
continue the savings into the future. He discussed
alternative ways for coming up with power in the past. At
one time Representative Joule had illustrated that coal
would be a reliable energy source for some rural areas. He
referred to a letter from the Alaska Power Authority (copy
on file) stating that fuel displacement was 3.4 million
gallons in 2013 and that by the end of 2016 it would be
11.6 million. He noted that the data showed a tripling of
the displacement savings and believed that the use of oil
would be eliminated if savings continued to increase.
Mr. Crimp responded that AEA had provided legislators with
a CD that included a program status report and a chart that
showed fuel displacement based on rounds 1 through 4.
Representative Guttenberg wondered whether the disk
included information on what it would take to increase the
displacement going forward.
Mr. Crimp replied that AEA had projections based on
projects that had been funded to date. He relayed the
agency would add data to the projections for round 5 if
funds were appropriated for the continuation of the
program.
Representative Gara wondered whether the current renewable
energy fund allowed the state to pay for transmission if it
would result in a more efficient renewable energy project.
He discussed the efficiency of large projects that could
transmit energy to numerous villages.
2:30:44 PM
Ms. Fisher-Goad replied that a transmission line connecting
to a renewable resource was an eligible project.
Representative Gara queried whether AEA had worked to
maximize the state's ability to train people locally who
could maintain the energy projects.
Ms. Fisher-Goad replied that AEA had a training program
that included hydro training; it was currently expanding to
include training on wind diesel systems. The agency also
had technical assistance to work with local power house
operators on the integration of the diesel systems.
Representative Gara asked about a wind power project in
Anchorage. He believed the cost of the wind energy produced
at Fire Island would have been lower if the city had
participated. Mr. Crimp did not have enough information to
answer the question.
Ms. Fisher-Goad added that AEA was working with Chugach
Electric Association and the other railbelt utilities
including Golden Valley Electric Association on a
regulation wind study to help integrate the Eva Creek and
Fire Island projects into the system. She detailed that
some of the work would help any future wind development
projects in the railbelt system and potentially with the
expansion of the Fire Island project.
Representative Gara advocated for any expansion of the Fire
Island project.
Co-Chair Stoltze wanted to make sure consumers were not
tagged with an expensive project.
2:33:31 PM
Ms. Fisher-Goad responded that the agency was participating
in a regulation study in order to address the issues.
Representative Wilson asked why Delta had not been
mentioned in the wind project study. Ms. Fisher-Goad
responded that Delta project had been included, but was
much smaller than the Eva Creek and Fire Island projects
that were coming online.
Representative Wilson noted that the Delta project had the
potential to be larger. She discussed studies that had been
done and items that the company had learned that could be
utilized. Ms. Fisher-Goad answered that the intent of the
regulation study was to help put some guidance around how
larger wind systems could be integrated into the railbelt
system.
2:34:50 PM
Co-Chair Thomas pointed out that the hydro in Metlakatla
was over 100-years-old. He stressed that the facilities did
not wear out and would last for many years. He communicated
that the bill provided a balance of funding for regions
across the state. He remarked that regional capital budget
funding requests could be entered into the Capital Project
Submission Information System (CAPSIS). He discussed that
some projects AEA mentioned were further along because an
energy consultant/ardor had been put in Southeast
Conference. He recommended that communities with ardors
should make sure the ardor was capable to help obtain
funding for projects.
HB 250 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
2:38:28 PM
AT EASE
RECONVENED
2:39:00 PM
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| AFN Support Resolution.pdf |
HFIN 2/27/2012 1:30:00 PM |
HJR 16 |
| HJR 16 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HFIN 2/27/2012 1:30:00 PM |
HJR 16 |
| HJR 16 SHELDON JACKSON v. State.pdf |
HFIN 2/27/2012 1:30:00 PM |
HJR 16 |
| HJR 16 SCOTUS Voucher.pdf |
HFIN 2/27/2012 1:30:00 PM |
HJR 16 |
| HJR 16 Rethinking schools.pdf |
HFIN 2/27/2012 1:30:00 PM |
HJR 16 |
| HJR 16 DC school article.pdf |
HFIN 2/27/2012 1:30:00 PM |
HJR 16 |
| HB 250 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HFIN 2/27/2012 1:30:00 PM |
HB 250 |
| HB 250 -Energy Policy.pdf |
HFIN 2/27/2012 1:30:00 PM |
HB 250 |
| HB 250 - Supporting Letters.pdf |
HFIN 2/27/2012 1:30:00 PM |
HB 250 |
| HJR016-UPDATED NEW-OOG-DOE-2-27-12.pdf |
HFIN 2/27/2012 1:30:00 PM |
HJR 16 |
| HB302 CS WORKDRAFT 27-LS126-I 2.23.12.pdf |
HFIN 2/27/2012 1:30:00 PM |
HB 302 |
| HJR 16 Response Memo to Rep Garapdf.pdf |
HFIN 2/27/2012 1:30:00 PM |
HJR 16 |
| HJR 16 AK Const Conv pages 1512 to 1525.pdf |
HFIN 2/27/2012 1:30:00 PM |
HJR 16 |
| HJR 16 Constit. Convention Proceedings pp. 1525-1529.pdf |
HFIN 2/27/2012 1:30:00 PM |
HJR 16 |
| HJR16 Zelman v Simmons-Harrispdf.pdf |
HFIN 2/27/2012 1:30:00 PM |
HJR 16 |
| HJR16 Sheldon Jackson College v State of Alaskapdf.pdf |
HFIN 2/27/2012 1:30:00 PM |
HJR 16 |
| HJR16 Matthews v Quintonpdf.pdf |
HFIN 2/27/2012 1:30:00 PM |
HJR 16 |
| HJR16-Alaska-K-12---School-Choice-Survey.pdf.pdf |
HFIN 2/27/2012 1:30:00 PM |
HJR 16 |
| HJR 16 Additional Testimony.pdf |
HFIN 2/27/2012 1:30:00 PM |
HJR 16 |