Legislature(2023 - 2024)SENATE FINANCE 532
05/06/2024 09:00 AM Senate FINANCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB217 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 50 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| = | SB 217 | ||
SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE
May 6, 2024
9:06 a.m.
9:06:11 AM
CALL TO ORDER
Co-Chair Olson called the Senate Finance Committee meeting
to order at 9:06 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Lyman Hoffman, Co-Chair
Senator Donny Olson, Co-Chair
Senator Bert Stedman, Co-Chair
Senator Click Bishop
Senator Jesse Kiehl
Senator Kelly Merrick
Senator David Wilson
MEMBERS ABSENT
None
ALSO PRESENT
Senator Cathy Giessel.
PRESENT VIA TELECONFERENCE
Erlingur Gudleifsson, Adjunct Researcher, University of
Alaska Fairbanks, Denmark; Jenn Miller, CEO, Renewable
Independent Power Producer, Anchorage; Philip Wight, Self,
Fairbanks; Ken Griffin, Self, Wasilla; Kassie Andrews,
Self, Anchorage.
SUMMARY
SB 217 INTEGRATED TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS
SB 217 was heard and HELD in Committee for
further consideration.
CSHB 50(FIN)
CARBON STORAGE
CSHB 50(FIN) was SCHEDULED but not HEARD.
SENATE BILL NO. 217
"An Act relating to the taxation of independent power
producers; and increasing the efficiency of integrated
transmission system charges and use for the benefit of
ratepayers."
9:06:34 AM
Co-Chair Olson relayed that the committee would hear public
testimony on the bill. The committee had heard the bill
several times over the last few weeks.
9:06:55 AM
Co-Chair Olson OPENED public testimony.
9:07:07 AM
ERLINGUR GUDLEIFSSON, ADJUNCT RESEARCHER, UNIVERSITY OF
ALASKA FAIRBANKS, DENMARK (via teleconference), offered a
prepared testimony:
Chair and members of the finance committee, I want to
touch on a few things regarding bill SB217.
First, I would like to tell you how I enjoyed having
the opportunity to show legislators around Iceland
last fall in the policy tour we at ACEP organized.
Through my work for UAF I have realized that Alaska
and Iceland have surprisingly many things in common,
but most importantly for us here today is to recognize
similarities in the power sector. As Alaska, Iceland
has mostly public power where the state generates more
than 70% of all power but also there are vertically
integrated municipality owned utilities that both
generate and distribute power.
For about two decades the Icelandic power sector has
been going through incremental changes that at first
were driven by EU policy but nowadays driven more by
internal motivation. The fundamental changes I'm
referring to is separation between generation and
transmission that lead to the establishment of the
Icelandic transmission system operator (TSO) named
Landsnet which was one of the focus points during the
policy tour last fall that I referred to in the
beginning.
Now one might ask was this transition no problem,
forcing transmission assets owners to either sell or
hand over their assets in exchange for equity in this
newly established TSO. Here it's worth mentioning that
some concerns arose regarding how dominating the state
power producer Landsvirkjun was within the company,
having formally owned about 70% of all transmission
assets which was reflected in their dominance within
the company. This was later sorted out by when the
state bought most of the shares so today the state
owns about 95% of the TSO.
Furthermore, this procedure is known for having been a
good decision for Iceland and today there is broad
agreement that this was an important step in creating
an open competitive energy market.
We at UAF have shared many of the details regarding
this unbundling procedure of the Icelandic TSO in a
paper, a paper that I wrote with my colleague at UAF
Gwen Holdmann. I appreciate the collaboration and
partnership the Icelandic TSO has shown to us for the
past year, or since we started establishing
understanding on how Alaska might benefit from another
island grid in the arctic.
At last, I would like to thank you for the opportunity
given to me here today to testify on our work.
9:10:43 AM
JENN MILLER, CEO, RENEWABLE INDEPENDENT POWER PRODUCER,
ANCHORAGE (via teleconference), testified in support of the
legislation and offered talking points from the
organizations letter of support (copy on file).
9:14:19 AM
PHILIP WIGHT, SELF, FAIRBANKS (via teleconference), spoke
in favor of the bill. He mentioned being an energy
historian of Alaska. He asserted that there was an urgent
need to create a Railbelt Transmission Organization (RTO)as
soon as possible. He supported the elimination of wheeling
fees, the creation of an effective transmission
organization, and ensuring vital transmission assets were
properly owned and managed. He offered a historical story
regarding Alaskas first transmission organization.
9:18:03 AM
Senator Bishop asked Mr. Wight to provide his public
testimony in written form.
Mr. Wight agreed to provide the information.
9:18:44 AM
KEN GRIFFIN, SELF, WASILLA (via teleconference), testified
in opposition to the bill. He stressed that he had read
every energy bill and believed that none of the bills would
benefit the residents of Alaska. He reminded the committee
that they worked for the citizens of the state and not for
industry.
9:20:30 AM
RECESSED
9:34:33 AM
RECONVENED
KASSIE ANDREWS, SELF, ANCHORAGE (via teleconference), spoke
in opposition to the bill. She thought the bill contained
multiple subsidies to corporations.
9:36:23 AM
Co-Chair Olson CLOSED public testimony.
SB 217 was heard and HELD in Committee for further
consideration.
Co-Chair Olson discussed the agenda for the a //
ADJOURNMENT
9:36:49 AM
The meeting was adjourned at 9:36 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB 217 05.05.24 SB 217 Senate Finance Committee Follow-Up Ltr.pdf |
SFIN 5/6/2024 9:00:00 AM |
SB 217 |
| SB 217 RIPP SB217 Support Letter 5.3.2024.pdf |
SFIN 5/6/2024 9:00:00 AM |
SB 217 |
| SB 217 Testimony Allmeroth.msg |
SFIN 5/6/2024 9:00:00 AM |
SB 217 |
| SB 217 RCA Follow-Up to SFIN re SB 217 5.7.24.pdf |
SFIN 5/6/2024 9:00:00 AM |
SB 217 |
| SB 217 Erlingur Gudleifsson SB217 testimony.pdf |
SFIN 5/6/2024 9:00:00 AM |
SB 217 |