Legislature(2021 - 2022)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
03/30/2021 03:30 PM Senate COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB72 | |
| SB17 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | SB 72 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 17 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
SB 17-ENERGY EFFICIENCY & POLICY: PUB. BLDGS
4:17:18 PM
CHAIR HUGHES announced the consideration of SENATE BILL NO. 17,
"An Act relating to the retrofitting of certain public
facilities and community facilities; relating to the performance
of energy audits on schools and community facilities; relating
to the duties of the Alaska Energy Authority and the Alaska
Housing Finance Corporation; creating a rapid economic recovery
office in the Alaska Industrial Development and Export
Authority; and relating to the state energy policy and energy
source reporting by state agencies."
She noted this was the second hearing and there was a committee
substitute (CS) for the committee to consider.
4:17:37 PM
SENATOR MYERS moved to adopt the CS for SB 17, work order 32-
LS0187\B, as the working document.
4:17:52 PM
CHAIR HUGHES objected for discussion purposes.
4:18:05 PM
SENATOR TOM BEGICH, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska,
sponsor of SB 17, said Connor Owens will present the CS.
4:18:32 PM
CONNOR OWENS, Intern, Senator Tom Begich, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, paraphrased the summary of changes
from version A to version B. He stated the following:
Page 2, Lines 20-23:
This change clarifies that the energy audits the State
will perform under this legislation aren't going to be
large investment-grade audits. Instead, the audits are
meant to be minimal, level-one [American Society of
Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers]
(ASHRAE) audits that can be performed either in person
or virtually. The idea is that these more minimal
audits will reduce the fiscal notes of this bill but
still allow the State to determine if there are
potential projects for energy savings.
SENATOR BEGICH explained this change was a specific request from
testifiers for a preliminary [Reporting and Planning System]
(RAPS) virtual or another audit. The companies would do the real
intensive audits once a need was determined.
4:19:37 PM
MR. OWENS continued:
Page 4, line 13:
Clarifies the new office being established, the Rapid
Economic Recovery Office, is meant to use its
expertise to support and contract for these bundled
projects so that facilities don't have to navigate the
retrofitting process on their own. This will be
especially helpful for facilities with lower numbers
of employees and rural facilities. So this just makes
it clear that the new office is there to leverage its
expertise to help communities and facilities with
these projects.
Page 4, lines 17-26:
This change aligns terminology with existing statute.
It replaces "clean energy" with the definition of
"renewable energy." This is meant so that we do not
have to create a new definition for what energy
sources the bill addresses and allows us to stay
consistent with previous state statute.
SENATOR BEGICH noted he had inadvertently transferred language
from the Lower 48 to the bill and admitted he should have
checked the statutes to see what the definitions were.
4:21:52 PM
SENATOR MYERS stated he understands the idea behind the bill
that spending a little money now saves more money later. He said
what he is concerned about is the diminishing returns. For
example, retrofitting a 50-year-old building with the
expectation for quite a bit of savings, but retrofitting a 5-
year-old building is another thing.
He explained what he is concerned about is some of the language
in the bill regarding the number of buildings and the dollar
figure. He noted the previous presentation addressed the number
of retrofits and the annual dollar savings. However, his concern
is the possibility for spending more and getting less.
SENATOR MYERS asked what he expects to be the end result.
4:23:05 PM
SENATOR BEGICH replied he brought up the perfect question. He
noted there were two issues that came up in the previous hearing
for the bill, one was a suggestion from a testifier to address
50 percent of the buildings that are 5000 square foot or greater
as opposed to a 25 percent. Part of the reason why he rejected
the suggestion is because the number needs to be at a lower
percentage precisely because of diminishing returns for the
reason of not wanting to over extend the State in any regard.
However, the second thingand more importantlythat is why the
program is a public-private partnership in the bill.
He detailed the way [Energy Service Companies] (ESCOs) work is
you have to have a saleable product, so the initial work of the
virtual auditor the audit that was described by Mr. Owens
allows for taking a look at the structures to first see if they
are even relevant in terms of a retrofit or a quality-grade
investment. The second step after retrofitting determination is
to bundle that to see if there is private entity interest; that
is the whole point, no private company is going to invest in
something with diminishing returns.
SENATOR BEGICH explained the guarantee in the bill is that half
of the [energy savings], 25 percent of the overall bill, would
be for the reduction of energy priceswhich is where you would
get to that $40 million savings mark over timeand 25 percent
would go to covering the initial loan. The [Alaska Industrial
Development and Export Authority] (AIDEA) only serves as a
vehicle in a sense for managing the loan. The whole process
protects the State from exactly what Senator Myers addressed.
The State would not find itself in a situation where the
investment is not attractive for a return and guaranteed savings
for loan development.
SENATOR BEGICH noted Mr. Hodgin may provide more detail. He said
Mr. Hodgin has been actively involved in how the State did the
ESCOs via the bill in 2010. The State has realized-roughly over
a decade$40 million in energy cost savings. The real key is
private entities are not going to invest in a product that does
not give them a return and the State is guaranteed a return as
part of that process. The bill only targets 25 percent of those
buildings that are 5000 square feet or greater.
CHAIR HUGHES asked Mr. Hodgin to provide his prospective.
4:26:05 PM
CHRISTOPHER HODGIN, Engineer and Architect, Division of Facility
Services, Department of Transportation and Public Facilities,
Anchorage, Alaska, asked Senator Myers to confirm that his
question pertains to the age and quantities of buildings, and
program effectiveness on relatively new buildings versus older
buildings.
SENATOR MYERS answered yes.
MR. HODGIN noted one of the interesting things the department
has seen when retrofitting older and newer buildings over the
last decade is that building technology is getting more complex
and that results in desynchronization where new pieces of
technology are not optimized. The department has seen some
significant opportunity to improve complex systems in newer
buildings.
4:28:00 PM
CHAIR HUGHES removed her objection to the CS. Finding no further
objection, version B was before the committee.
4:28:15 PM
CHAIR HUGHES opened public testimony on SB 17. Finding none, she
closed public testimony.
4:29:14 PM
CHAIR HUGHES held SB 17 in committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB 72 v. I Sectional Analysis.pdf |
SCRA 3/30/2021 3:30:00 PM |
SB 72 |
| SB 72 v. I Supporting Document-Civics Research AK-Gov Citizenship Standards 2006.pdf |
SCRA 3/30/2021 3:30:00 PM |
SB 72 |
| SB 72 Sponsor Statement Feb 2021.pdf |
SCRA 3/30/2021 3:30:00 PM SFIN 2/1/2022 1:00:00 PM |
SB 72 |
| SB 72 Summary of Changes Version A to I.pdf |
SCRA 3/30/2021 3:30:00 PM SFIN 2/1/2022 1:00:00 PM |
SB 72 |
| SB 17 v. B Summary of Changes 3.26.2021.pdf |
SCRA 3/30/2021 3:30:00 PM |
SB 17 |
| SB 17 v. B Legislation.pdf |
SCRA 3/30/2021 3:30:00 PM |
SB 17 |
| SB 72 v. I Legislation.PDF |
SCRA 3/30/2021 3:30:00 PM |
SB 72 |
| SB 72 Fiscal Note DEED 3.19.21.pdf |
SCRA 3/30/2021 3:30:00 PM |
SB 72 |