04/30/2021 01:00 PM House RESOURCES

                  HB 135-GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
1:19:21 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR PATKOTAK  announced that the  next order of  business would                                                               
be HOUSE BILL NO. 135,  "An Act relating to geothermal resources;                                                               
relating  to  the  definition   of  'geothermal  resources';  and                                                               
providing for an effective date."                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
1:20:10 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
HAILEY PAINE,  Deputy Director,  Division of  Oil and  Gas (DOG),                                                               
Department  of Natural  Resources  (DNR), said  DOG  has sent  an                                                               
explanation of preferential rights to committee members.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
1:21:02 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
STEVE   MASTERMAN,   Director,   Division   of   Geological   and                                                               
Geophysical  Surveys  (DGGS),  Department of  Natural  Resources,                                                               
described  pictures of  geothermal power  plants from  around the                                                               
world ranging  in size from  10 megawatts  to 303 megawatts.   He                                                               
described  the  Hellishei?i Power  Station,  in  Iceland, as  the                                                               
second-largest in  the world.  He  said that there are  two large                                                               
geothermal fields  in the  U.S., both  in California;  the Salton                                                               
Sea Geothermal Field  in southern California has  10 power plants                                                               
that  have  a  cumulative  capacity of  340  megawatts,  and  the                                                               
Geysers  Geothermal Field  in northern  California  has 18  power                                                               
plants that  cumulatively generate  900 megawatts  of power.   He                                                               
said  that if  Pilgrim Hot  Springs  was discovered  to have  300                                                               
megawatts of  power, a power  plant suitable for the  area demand                                                               
would be built instead of  building a plant commensurate with the                                                               
size of the field.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
1:23:55 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  FIELDS asked  whether  the size  of the  facility                                                               
correlates with the price per megawatt hour.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MR.  MASTERMAN  responded  that  a  power  plant  on  the  Seward                                                               
Peninsula would  have a higher  price per megawatt hour  than one                                                               
in California, due simply to its location.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
1:24:41 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  HANNAN  read  from  the  University  of  Michigan                                                               
Center  for  Sustainable  Systems   factsheet  [included  in  the                                                               
committee  packet] that  there are  16 national  laboratories and                                                               
research  institutions  in  the  U.S.  conducting  research  into                                                               
geothermal   energy  technologies.     She   asked  whether   the                                                               
University  of Alaska  (UA)  is engaged  with  the research  into                                                               
geothermal systems.                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
MR. MASTERMAN answered that in  the past DGGS has collaborated on                                                               
a research  project with the  Alaska Center for Energy  and Power                                                               
at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
1:26:01 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  PATKOTAK asked  about the  demand  for power  in the  Nome                                                               
area.                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
MR. MASTERMAN replied  that Nome and the Graphite  Creek Mine has                                                               
a  combined  power  consumption of  approximately  12  megawatts,                                                               
which is  closest to [the  power plant in Dieng,  Indonesia], the                                                               
smallest displayed on the handout.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
1:27:24 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked what  the temperatures of the fluid                                                               
and steam are and expressed interest in the process.                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
MR. MASTERMAN  reiterated his  earlier description  of geothermal                                                               
energy and  explained that geothermal  energy is produced  by hot                                                               
water.  At  Pilgrim Hot Springs the surface  water temperature is                                                               
approximately   50   degrees   centigrade,   with   the   hottest                                                               
temperatures   encountered  through   drilling   of  92   degrees                                                               
centigrade at  120 meters deep.   He  said that the  chemistry of                                                               
the fluids  suggests the geothermal  reservoir has  a temperature                                                               
of 150 degrees  centigrade, but that temperature  hasn't yet been                                                               
found by drilling.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
1:30:15 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR PATKOTAK announced that HB 135 was held over.