Legislature(2007 - 2008)BUTROVICH 205
04/13/2007 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB109 | |
| SB96 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 96 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 109 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SB 96-ESTABLISHING A RENEWABLE ENERGY FUND
4:36:34 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS announced SB 96 to be up for consideration.
SENATOR ELLIS, sponsor of SB 96, said renewable energy is a very
mainstream issue and Alaska can be a leader in the country by
moving forward on it now. All our congressional leaders have
mentioned it as a priority and there is recognition across the
political spectrum about the value and wisdom of developing
renewable energy resources in the State of Alaska so it is
timely. There is money to be saved and money to be made by
selling the power and the technology. Alaska has excellent
sources for renewable energy - such as wind, geothermal, solar,
biomass and hydropower to name a few - and the intelligence to
develop them.
He said SB 96 would establish a renewable energy fund to be
administered by the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) that would
offer both grants and loans to communities to develop renewable
and cost-effective sources of energy around the state. AEA would
take advice from an advisory committee with members appointed by
the governor from various stakeholder groups.
SENATOR ELLIS said SB 96 is a logical progression toward
developing Alaska's inexhaustible energy resources and it means
looking ahead to the next 100 years. He said there is amazing
support for this building across the state and the list grows
daily. To name a few - Mat-Su Borough, Southeast Alaska
Municipal Conference, Alaska Municipal League, Chugach Electric,
Golden Valley Electric Association, Alaska State Chamber, Alaska
Federation of Natives and Municipal Light and Power.
4:40:30 PM
PETER CRIMP, Program Manager, Alternative Energy and Energy
Efficiency, Alaska Energy Authority, said AEA supported efforts
to further develop the state's renewable energy resources. He
said the market for renewable energy is increasing due to the
increase in oil and gas prices. Hydropower has been providing 25
percent of the state's energy for a long time and there are many
potential hydro projects throughout Southeast, Railbelt and
rural Alaska that look promising. They range in size from 200
kilo watt project in Chignik Lagoon to a 430 mega watt project
in the Chakachamna project. He said wind energy has been shown
to be cost effective in 30 to 45 locations in rural Alaska.
Kodiak is developing an 8 mega watt wind facility, Golden Valley
has been working toward developing a large wind farm near Healy,
and CIRI with a number of Railbelt utilities is moving forward
on Fire Island.
As for geothermal, Chena Hot Springs in Fairbanks has shown that
it is looking pretty good. That project is displacing over
100,000 gallons of diesel per year. The Valley is looking at a
potential project at Mt. Spur of 25 to 100 mega watts.
4:42:53 PM
MR. CRIMP said that wood is abundant throughout the Interior and
areas where there isn't wind and is being used for small-scale
thermal applications like heating schools and community
facilities. Small-scale modular bio-power technology and
innovative harvesting techniques are being looking at also as
well as cellulosic ethanol development in Southeast Alaska by
Sealaska. The economics of that are still questionable, but the
technology is under development.
He said that AEA and its utility partners are continuing to work
in other areas such as fish oil bio-diesel and tidal industry
using the flow of the rivers in the Interior and elsewhere to
generate power.
4:47:35 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS asked if there was a market for birch bark
pellets.
MR. CRIMP replied that AEA and AIDEA have considered financing
pellet manufacturing facilities both as an industrial-grade
pellet that could be used to produce power in a conventional
power plant as well as a feeding a residential market. Just
about all pellets from all species burn quite cleanly and have
been widely used throughout the Lower 48.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked why he thought the Chakachamna project would
be any different than the Susitna hydro project.
MR. CRIMP replied both projects are large with potential impacts
that would need to be studied before they move forward. He
didn't want to portray the Chakachamna project as a go. It has
many hurdles in terms of power market, fish migration, and
economics that would have to be leapt over and the Susitna
project has many of the same hurdles.
4:48:34 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS asked how he got into this business.
MR. CRIMP said he had worked with the AEA for 14 years and has
moved up through the ranks. He is a forester and a planner by
background and got hired to manage the state's biomass energy
program. His duties have expanded onto the economic analysis
side and overall project planning.
4:49:22 PM
SARAH FISHER-GOAD, Deputy Director, Alaska Energy Authority,
said that Mr. Crimp did a good job on an overview of renewable
energy projects. She said the companion bill is HB 152 and she
pointed out that based on AEA's recommendation the House changed
the bill from being a combination grants and loan fund to just a
grant fund. This is because the loan provision was actually a
duplication of an existing program in the Power Projects Fund.
4:51:21 PM
SENATOR STEVENS asked her to explain language on page 4 of SB 96
where it says "must link a renewable energy project or natural
gas project to the electric grid."
MS. FISHER replied that language had changed in the House
version to "transmission or distribution infrastructure" and
doesn't refer to the electric grid at all.
4:52:47 PM
MITCH ERICKSON, Executive Director, Nome Chamber of Commerce,
supported SB 96. He said the Nome Chamber held a two-day energy
summit to look for alternatives to diesel in both community
power generation and home heating. It was spurred by the 20
percent annual increases in diesel fuel prices over the past
several years. Very few people receive pay raises to match this
cost of living and some locals see their winter heating and
utility bill is higher than their mortgage payment. Their goal
is to wean their community from diesel as a primary source of
energy. Experts addressed wind, hydrogen, solar, geothermal, and
nuclear as well as the funding and financing available. He said
members of AEA participated and that the City of Nome is now
conducting an energy study along with the Department of Energy
and the AEA to see what individuals and businesses can do to
lower their energy costs. It included better insulation and
using wind and solar as a secondary source of energy. One point
that came out of the energy summit was the need for a fund such
as SB 96.
He said the Chamber has not been able to find an expert to work
with them on these issues and it is trying to develop a
relationship with the University of Minnesota solar energy lab
for its technical expertise.
4:55:52 PM
NELS ANDERSON, Jr., Chair, Southwest Municipal Conference Energy
Committee, Dillingham, said he is also a member of the Bristol
Bay Alternative Energy Task Force. He said SB 96 is needed
because their villages are almost totally dependent on diesel
for their electricity. Many pay 50 to 75 cents per kilo watt
hour for their electricity; most individuals spend any available
money on lighting and heating their homes. He said "SB 96 needs
to pass as soon as possible" and they believe the AEA can do an
excellent job in implementing the renewable energy fund. SB 96
is the key to unlocking all of Alaska's remarkable renewable
energy resources.
MERRA KOHLER, President and CEO, Alaska Village Electric
Cooperative (AVEC), supported SB 96. She said AVEC is a non-
profit electric utility that serves 52 villages primarily in
northwest and western Alaska. Their 21,000 residents represent
almost half of Alaska's village population. They operate 47
power plants, almost all of them are exclusively diesel. Since
2000 they have made tentative efforts to add a few renewables -
all wind. They now have supplemental wind generation in four
villages and the benefits of those four flow to another two
communities through interties. One more intertie is being built.
Two more wind projects are being planned for this year and
another two for next year.
She said these projects have been almost exclusively funded with
federal and local dollars; very little or no state dollars are
involved in any of those projects. Utility generation in Alaska
is very expensive. They can only use small wind turbines and
their construction costs are staggering due to the arctic and
sub-arctic conditions and that is why development of these
projects is very slow. Other technologies are only just
emerging. Alaska needs a renewable energy bill to support the
development of renewable power sources in its communities. AVEC
supported both versions of this bill.
5:00:26 PM
SENATOR WAGONER asked if she could relate any reduction in
diesel electric generation because of using wind generation.
MS. KOHLER answered that their two most recent projects that
became functional last year in Kasigluk and Toksook Bay are both
excellent wind regimes and expectations have been exceeded
during the high wind months of this last winter. In January they
displaced more than 30 percent of their diesel fuel in both
communities. The cost of fuel in those communities is about
$2.50/gallon.
CHAIR HUGGINS said members had other meetings to attend and
adjourned the meeting at 5:02:48 PM.
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