Legislature(2025 - 2026)GRUENBERG 120
04/08/2025 01:00 PM House ENERGY
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB164 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 164 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 164-NET METERING PROGRAM & FUND
1:11:20 PM
CO-CHAIR MEARS announced that the only order of business would
be HOUSE BILL NO. 164 "An Act relating to a net metering
program; relating to reduced rates in the form of credits for
consumer-generators; establishing a net metering reimbursement
fund; and providing for an effective date."
1:12:03 PM
ANNA LATHAM, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Commerce,
Community & Economic Development, gave introductory remarks on
HB 164 on behalf of Governor Dunleavy, prime sponsor. She said
that the Alaska State Legislature (ASL) and the Department of
Commerce, Community & Economic Development (DCCED) have worked
together to provide renewable energy to the state and said that
the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) has a Renewable Energy Credit
(REC). She touched on past legislation related to HB 164.
1:14:42 PM
CURTIS THAYER, Executive Director, Alaska Energy Authority, gave
invited testimony on HB 164. He began his testimony by
explaining that the AEA was a state authorized corporation whose
board of directors was appointed by the governor. He said that
the genesis of HB 164 came from a recommendation by the
Governor's Energy Task Force. He explained that the proposed
legislation would establish a new net-metering program for
Railbelt utilities and integrate new customers. He said that
consumer generators would receive monthly credit under the
proposed program and emphasized that HB 164 would allow
utilities flexibility in how they establish metering rates, such
as seasonally varying rates.
1:18:12 PM
CONNER ERICKSON, Director of Planning, Alaska Energy Authority,
gave invited testimony on HB 164. He read the sectional
analysis to HB 164 [included in the committee packet], which
read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
Section 1 Amends subsection (a) of AS 42.05.391
(Discrimination in rates) to expressly exclude new
section AS 42.05.395 from the existing statutory
prohibition that public utilities may not grant an
unreasonable preference or advantage to a customer or
subject a customer to an unreasonable preference or
disadvantage.
Section 2 Adds a new section (AS 42.05.395, Net
metering) to require electric utilities served by an
electric reliability organization and that have total
calendar-year retail sales exceeding 5,000,000
kilowatt-hours to provide a net metering service that
provides monthly bill credits at the prevailing retail
rate and allows the accrual of account credits on an
annual cycle ending March 31 of each year, with all
unused credits expiring after that date.
Other provisions of AS 42.05.395: (1) provide
customers with existing self-generation facilities to
opt to receive net metering service under the utility
tariff in effect at the time the generation facility
was installed; (2) preclude electric utilities
required to provide net metering service under AS
42.05.395 from limiting participation in its net
metering service offering unless the Regulatory
Commission of Alaska (RCA) finds such limitation is
necessary to protect system reliability or prevent
rates for non-net metering customers from being unjust
and unreasonable; (3) allow utilities required to
provide net metering service under AS 42.05.395 to
seek recovery of revenue losses attributable to the
provision of net metering service; and (4) require the
RCA to adopt regulations that establish standards and
procedures for calculating the eligible revenue losses
of an electric utility required to provide net
metering service under AS 42.05.395.
Section 3 Adds a new section (AS 42.45.015, Net
metering reimbursement fund) establishing a separate
net metering reimbursement fund, consisting of money
appropriated by the legislature and other sources,
within the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) to provide
payments to electric utilities for recoverable costs
under AS 42.05.395 and RCA regulations implementing AS
42.05.395.
Section 4 Provides for a July 1, 2025 effective
date.
1:21:58 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked Mr. Erickson to define the term
"discrimination rates."
MR. ERICKSON explained that the tern "discrimination rates"
referred to a the obligation that a public utility had to be
transparent in the rates they apply to their services.
1:24:59 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KOPP asked if there was enough labor to keep up
with the demands of HB 64.
MR. ERICKSON replied that he could not speak directly to the
labor availability in the state and said that he was aware of a
general increase in skilled laborers in the state.
1:28:03 PM
CO-CHAIR HOLLAND asked for clarification with regard to the
flexibility of seasonal use rates that a utility might apply.
MR. ERICKSON pointed to Section 2 of the proposed legislation to
answer Representative Holland's question.
1:29:22 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked if it was fair to call HB 164 the
"No man Left Behind Bill."
MR. ERICKSON agreed that Representative Rauscher's nickname for
HB 164 was a fair one.
1:30:14 PM
REPRESENTATIVE COSTELLO asked about the timing of the processes
that would be put into motion by HB 164.
1:31:20 PM
JOHN ESPINDOLA, Commissioner, Regulatory Commission of Alaska,
answered committee questions on HB 164. He said that it would
be up to the respective utilities to update their tariffs and
submit them to the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) within
45 days.
1:32:40 PM
MR. ERICKSON spoke to slide 6 of a PowerPoint presentation for
HB 164 [hardcopy included in the committee packet], which read
as follows [original punctuation provided]:
The AESTF, established under Administrative Order 345,
is a diverse group of stakeholders tasked with
developing a comprehensive statewide energy plan for
Alaska, with energy affordability, energy reliability,
and energy security and resilience being paramount to
the plan.
Priority strategy B-2: Alaska Policy Recommendations,
seeks to "enhance Alaska's departmental and regulatory
policies to spur and sustain renewable energy and
transmission development to cut energy costs and
advance economic prosperity for Alaska."
To assist in achieving these objectives, priority
action item B-2.2 was recommended to "strengthen
Alaska's Net Metering energy framework, tariffs, and
regulations for Alaska's diverse stakeholders to
promote net metering renewable energy investments."
This bill is advanced in direct support of this
priority action item.
1:34:41 PM
CO-CHAIR HOLLAND asked why a utility's fixed costs would not be
covered under the proposed policies of HB 164 and asked if there
were any alternative methods considered.
MR. ERICKSON reminded Co-Chair Holland that current statute had
already allowed for rate changes and spoke to the difference in
energy demand, usage, and storage over a year's time.
1:39:46 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked for a model of the application of
the proposed renewable energy standard. He stressed his opinion
that he would need a better idea of cost disparity across the
entire Railbelt region.
MR. ERICKSON reported that the AEA was under path to launch a
program that would essentially allow for at least a partial
reimbursement of ratepayers of a utility.
1:42:24 PM
CO-CHAIR MEARS asked how many customers would be eligible for
the said reimbursement.
MR. ERICKSON answered that 3300 net metering participants would
be eligible for the aforementioned reimbursements.
1:43:43 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KOPP asked if there were any federal grants
available to fund the entire renewable energy standard.
MR. THAYER shared his understanding that federal grants were no
longer available to utilities on the Railbelt.
1:45:17 PM
REPRESENTATIVE TILTON asked what level of input Railbelt
utilities had on the current draft of the proposed legislation.
MR. THAYER responded that the engagement with utilities was
based on the size of the program they were proposing. He spoke
to the Matanuska Electric Association (MEA)'s efforts to provide
data and information to the legislature in drafting programs
like the ones proposed in HB 164 and said that more information
from more communities would be needed to gather an accurate idea
of energy use across the state.
1:46:55 PM
CO-CHAIR HOLLAND asked what the average or target size of
customer was for utilities along the Railbelt.
MR. ERICKSON shared his belief that there was no target size of
customer along the Railbelt and said that there was a size
restriction to the program that the HB 164 was proposing.
1:48:31 PM
REPRESENTATIVE TILTON shared her concern that funds could be
used for something beside their intended purpose.
MR. THAYER said that the state would "know rather quickly if the
program was successful or not" and spoke to the proposed
legislation's "novel approach" in working to offset known energy
shortages along the Railbelt. He detailed the ways that HB 164
would encourage and work to establish energy independence and
security for individuals along the Railbelt.
1:50:57 PM
CO-CHAIR MEARS asked if the proposed legislation contained any
sections that were critical for the state to be aware of in the
implementation of its policies.
MR. THAYER offered his belief that a key component of bill could
be problematic to implement in the way that it was currently
written.
1:52:02 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked if the scale of disparity was
reflected only within the MEA or across the entire Railbelt. He
spoke to the general desire of people along the Railbelt wanting
to develop renewable energy.
MR. ERICKSON offered his understanding that the disparity would
mainly affect individual utilities who were filing an
application for the recovery of costs. He said that the
decision on whether or not to install solar panels would be up
to the individual ratepayer. He said that the intent of the
proposed legislation was to avoid fiscal harm to the individual
ratepayer.
1:55:07 PM
CO-CHAIR HOLLAND shared his understanding that the proposed
legislation would carry a real fiscal note and asked for
clarification on the possible costs of HB 164.
MR. THAYER said that the AEA did anticipate a real cost to HB
164 and said that the zero fiscal note was reflected in the idea
that the AEA could absorb the policies of the proposed
legislation into its existing workload.
1:57:51 PM
CO-CHAIR MEARS asked how HB 164 could compel utilities to start
net-metering. She asked if the policies of HB 164 could apply
to utilities off of the Railbelt.
MR. THAYER emphasized the regulatory process as a means to
compel utilities to begin net-metering. He said that the AEA
did not want to underestimate the possible effects of net-
metering. He said that utilities away from the Railbelt were
subject to more individual expenses and would need to rely on
more collective sources of energy like wind turbines or
hydropower. He said that there were 197 communities not on the
Railbelt aside from Juneau, Ketchikan, and Sitka, many of which
did not display a pressing need for new renewable energy sources
or policies.
2:02:48 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked if the proposed legislation would
affect people who were currently net-metering.
MR. ERICKSON answered that HB 164 would "somewhat" address
individuals who were net-metering and said that the net-metering
fund could be used to offset existing revenue loss.
2:04:01 PM
CO-CHAIR HOLLAND requested information regarding the difference
between utilities and their rate structures. He said that he
was "looking for consistencies" between utilities and shared an
anecdote about his family cabin.
2:05:05 PM
CO-CHAIR MEARS commented that the RCA could provide the
information that Co-Chair Holland had requested.
2:05:20 PM
MR. ESPINDOLA said that he would work to provide the committee
the requested information.
CO-CHAIR HOLLAND clarified that the information he had requested
was most concerned with the comparison of utilities rate
structure and base costs. He said that he was looking for a
scope on Railbelt utilities.
2:07:36 PM
CO-CHAIR MEARS announced that HB 164 would be held over.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB 164 Fiscal Note DCCED-RCA 3.27.25.pdf |
HENE 4/8/2025 1:00:00 PM |
HB 164 |
| HB 164 Fiscal Note DCCED-AEA 3.27.25.pdf |
HENE 4/8/2025 1:00:00 PM |
HB 164 |
| HB 164 Sectional Analysis version A 4.1.25.pdf |
HENE 4/8/2025 1:00:00 PM |
HB 164 |
| HB 164 Transmittal Letter 3.27.25.pdf |
HENE 4/8/2025 1:00:00 PM |
HB 164 |
| HB 164 version A 3.28.25.pdf |
HENE 4/8/2025 1:00:00 PM |
HB 164 |
| 2025.04.07 AEA HB 164 Presentation to House Energy Committee (Final).pdf |
HENE 4/8/2025 1:00:00 PM |
HB 164 |
| 2025.04.07 AEA HB 164 Presentation to House Energy Committee (Final).pptx |
HENE 4/8/2025 1:00:00 PM |
HB 164 |