Legislature(2003 - 2004)
05/17/2003 12:18 PM Senate L&C
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE LABOR AND COMMERCE STANDING COMMITTEE
May 17, 2003
12:18 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Con Bunde, Chair
Senator Bettye Davis
Senator Hollis French
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Ralph Seekins, Vice Chair
Senator Gary Stevens
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Confirmation Hearing
Kate Giard - Regulatory Commission of Alaska
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 03-36, SIDE A
CHAIR CON BUNDE called the Senate Labor and Commerce Standing
Committee meeting to order at 12:18 p.m. Present were SENATORS
STEVENS, FRENCH and BUNDE.
MS. KATE GIARD, nominee for the Regulatory Commission of Alaska
(RCA), said she has been in Alaska since 1992 and is serving as
Chief Fiscal Officer for the Municipality of Anchorage. She
applied for this position because she has some background in
telecommunications through her work with the municipality; she
had fiduciary responsibility for the operation of their wholly
owned subsidiary utilities.
She said there have been concerns about the size of the RCA's
docket and adjudications. One thing that really interests her
about serving on the RCA is that it will provide an opportunity
for someone with her background to perform regulatory rate
evaluations and also to look for improvements to the decision-
making process.
SENATOR FRENCH said he appreciated her willingness to serve. He
asked if she has any prior affiliation with or connection to
either of the two big telecommunication players, ACS or GCI.
MS. GIARD replied that she worked for Alaskan Choice Television
(ACT) for three and a half years, which is where she got her
telecommunications background. ACT's mission was to provide
communities in Anchorage, Mat-Su and Fairbanks with an
alternative to hard-line cable. She had an indirect relationship
with GCI in that it was her main competitor for offering that
service. ACT was a start-up entity and was a stepchild of the
1996 Telecommunications Act. It was initially owned by Goldbelt
and a company from the Lower 48. In 1997, one-third of that
company was sold to ATU for about $5 million. ATU had a board
position, although operations were managed through the energy
partner, which was a corporation in Utah. In May of 1999, ACS
purchased ATU and thus acquired the one-third interest that ATU
held in Alaskan Choice Television. At board meetings at that
time, she was still with Alaskan Choice. She resigned in August
of 1999. ACS determined that it was beneficial for its business
objectives to acquire an entire interest in Alaskan Choice
Television, which it did in September 1999.
SENATOR FRENCH asked if she has maintained any financial
position in Alaskan Choice T.V.
MS. GIARD replied no, she had no financial interest other than
as an employee as the in-ground operating manager.
SENATOR FRENCH asked if anything about her experience competing
with GCI might lead led her to favor or disfavor GCI in future
rate-setting endeavors.
MS. GIARD replied no and said she loved the experience at the
time. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 had a tremendous impact
on Alaska. She admires GCI for what it has been able to achieve
and didn't have any negative feelings towards them.
SENATOR FRENCH said one of the great puzzles of the '96 Telecom
Act is the way it has affected the business of ACS. He is moved
by ACS's arguments that the act is basically forcing ACS to
subsidize GCI in carrying its signal the last mile to homes over
a network that ACS built and maintains with no concomitant
responsibility on the part of GCI to pay to maintain that
network. He was curious about how she views that struggle about
the last mile and how she would take up those questions as a
commissioner.
MS. GIARD replied that she understands that ACS acquired what
was, essentially, a monopoly. ATU, at the time, was in the
throes of learning what it was like to be in a competitive
market. The Act had been put in place prior to the acquisition.
She maintained:
There are going to be pains in any act when you're
trying to take a monopoly system and move it into a
competitive environment. Those pains certainly have
been felt by ACS and previously by, and I'm certainly
more familiar with, the pains that ATU was feeling at
the time.
She thought the role of the RCA is to balance the competitive
needs of the consumer against the entrepreneurial needs of the
players in the field. All three entities, Alascom, GCI and ACS,
are viable and continue to invest in their infrastructure. The
RCA is not responsible for keeping any one company in business,
but it is responsible for responding in a timely manner to those
filings that are mandated by the laws the legislature sets. As a
commissioner, her role would be to find that balance in a
timely, thoughtful and well-planned decisive manner.
CHAIR BUNDE asked if she thought she was constrained by FCC
regulations in making her decisions.
MS. GIARD replied that the FCC gave the states a significant
amount of power, control and authority over the determination of
a competitive market through the RCA. The legislature has to
tell them how to adjudicate and what to adjudicate on.
CHAIR BUNDE said one of the criticisms he has heard about the
RCA is the length of time it takes to come up with decisions. He
asked, if with her accounting and managerial background, she had
any ideas about how to speed up the process.
MS. GIARD replied that she believes there are ways to speed up
the process that have not been evaluated yet.
SENATOR DAVIS said she appreciated Ms. Giard's testimony and
thought she would do a fine job.
SENATOR FRENCH said that he was happy to hear Ms. Giard mention
consumers several times in the course of answering some of the
questions, since that is one of the fundamental roles of the
RCA. He noted for the record that she was the chief financial
officer of Alaska Village Initiatives for one year, which is an
especially valuable experience. He thanked her for offering to
serve the state.
CHAIR BUNDE announced that there were no stated objections for
the confirmation of Ms. Giard and that her name would be
forwarded to the joint session. He adjourned the meeting at
12:36 p.m.
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