Legislature(2021 - 2022)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
02/28/2022 01:30 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB174 | |
| SB190 | |
| SB193 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | SB 174 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 190 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 193 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 185 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
SB 190-EXTEND REGULATORY COMMISSION OF ALASKA
2:01:44 PM
CHAIR COSTELLO reconvened the meeting and announced the
consideration of SENATE BILL NO. 174 "An Act relating to dress
codes and natural hairstyles."
2:02:16 PM
SENATOR ROBERT MYERS, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska,
sponsor of SB 190 introduced the legislation by paraphrasing the
sponsor statement that read as follows:
[Original punctuation provided.]
The Senate Bill 190 extends the termination date of
the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) until June
30, 2030, in accordance with the recommendation of the
Legislative Auditor.
The Regulatory Commission of Alaska is an independent,
quasi-judicial regulatory body that was formed by the
legislature in 1999 to replace the Alaska Public
Utilities Commission. The RCA is charged with
regulating public utilities and pipeline services.
Regulation is accomplished by certifying qualified
providers and ensuring they provide safe and adequate
services and facilities at just and reasonable rates,
terms, and conditions.
2:03:20 PM
DAWSON MANN, Staff, Senator Robert Meyers, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, presented the following sectional
analysis for SB 190:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Section 1: AS 44.66.010(a)(3) Page 1, Lines 4-6
This section extends the termination date for the
Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) until June 30,
2030.
Section 2: Page 1, Line 7
This section establishes an immediate effective date.
CHAIR COSTELLO invited Kris Curtis to walk through the sunset
audit for the RCA.
2:04:25 PM
KRIS CURTIS, Legislative Auditor, Legislative Agencies and
Offices, Legislative Audit Division, Alaska State Legislature,
Juneau, Alaska, directed attention to the 9/21/2021 sunset audit
summary of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska in members'
packets. She stated that the audit concluded that the RCA
operated in an effective manner and served the public's interest
by:
• assessing the capabilities of utility and
pipeline companies to safely serve the public;
• evaluating tariff s and charges made by regulated
entities;
• verifying the pass-through charges to consumers
from electric and natural gas utilities;
• adjudicating disputes between ratepayers and
regulated entities;
• providing consumer protection services; and
• performing financial reviews of utilities for the
State's power cost equalization program.
MS. CURTIS stated that the audit recommended the legislature
extend the termination date of the commission for eight years,
which is the maximum allowed in statute.
She directed attention to page 19 that shows the responses to
the survey the division sent to 188 individuals who were a party
to a docket or tariff from July 2017 through February 2021. The
division received 59 responses.
2:05:40 PM
At ease
2:05:52 PM
CHAIR COSTELLO reconvened the meeting.
MS. CURTIS recounted the following from Appendix B: 49 percent
of survey respondents reported being satisfied or very satisfied
with RCA's services, while 14 percent disagreed or strongly
disagreed; 67 percent of respondents believe the commission
often or always meets its statutory timelines when carrying out
its duties while 7 percent believe the commission rarely or
never met its statutory timelines; and 66 percent of respondents
agreed or strongly agreed the commission effectively
communicated when providing services while 13 percent disagreed
or strongly disagreed. She highlighted that the color coded bar
graph clearly shows that a majority of respondents viewed the
RCA in either a positive or neutral light.
MS. CURTIS directed attention to the last paragraph on page 4 of
the report that says the audit concluded that the Regulatory
Commission of Alaska resolved most consumer complaints within 30
days. She noted that while there is no statutory timeline for
resolving consumer complaints, it is an internal performance
measure. She noted that on page 5, Exhibit 3 summarizes the
types of consumer complaints filed with RCA from July 1, 2020
through February 28, 2021. She also noted the conclusion on page
4 that says RCA processed tariff filings and dockets within
statutory/regulatory timelines.
2:07:34 PM
MS. CURTIS stated that the audit made one recommendation
regarding the RCA regulation that requires the commission to
hold meetings twice a month. When there are no agenda items, the
meetings may be canceled by management. During the audit, 25 of
88 scheduled meetings were canceled, and there were six
instances when consecutive meetings were canceled. According to
RCA management, regulations allow the commission to modify or
waive a regulatory requirement with a motion. The caveat is that
it must be an official motion and the audit determined that
meetings were being canceled without an official motion. The
audit encouraged clarification of the regulation. She said it is
a simple administrative fix and not significant in terms of the
extension.
MS. CURTIS reported that the responses to the audit begin on
page 23. Both the commissioner of the Department of Commerce,
Community and Economic Development (DCCED) and the chair of the
Regulatory Commission of Alaska supported the maximum eight-year
extension.
2:08:45 PM
CHAIR COSTELLO asked if there was a written response to the
division's recommendation.
MS. CURTIS answered yes, RCA agreed to clarify the regulation
and that response appears on page 25.
CHAIR COSTELLO asked her to mention the number of individuals on
the board, the length of their terms, and their salaries. She
offered her understanding that this is a fulltime board.
2:09:26 PM
MS. CURTIS stated that the organization of the board is
discussed on pages 1 and 2 of the audit. She suggested the board
chair could discuss compensation because that is not discussed.
She paraphrased the second paragraph on page 2 that delineates
the makeup of the board.
RCA consists of five commissioners. The commissioners
are appointed by the governor, confirmed by the
legislature for six-year terms, and must either be a
member of the Alaska Bar Association or have a degree
in engineering, finance, economics, accounting,
business administration, or public administration from
an accredited university. RCA commissioners as of
March 2021 are listed in Exhibit 2.
CHAIR COSTELLO asked her to repeat the number of meetings that
were canceled during the audit period.
MS. CURTIS restated that 88 meetings were scheduled from July
2017 through February 2021; 25 of those meetings were canceled
and in six instances the cancelations were consecutive. The
argument was that there were no agenda items to address. While
this was reasonable, the regulation technically requires the
meeting to be held. The audit suggested clarifying the
regulation.
SENATOR STEVENS asked if the commission had a history of
receiving the maximum eight year renewals.
MS. CURTIS replied that the commission received an eight-year
extension in the prior 2013 sunset audit. Before that the
commission received several shorter extensions. She noted that
the division is also required to audit RCA's annual report every
other year, which means the division has quite a lot of contact
with the agency looking at compliance with the statutory
regulatory timelines.
SENATOR STEVENS commented on the value of the legislature
keeping abreast and wondered whether an eight-year extension was
too long. He pointed out that a legislator could conceivably
serve two terms in the Senate or [four] terms in the House and
never consider an RCA sunset audit. He asked for her thoughts.
2:12:24 PM
MS. CURTIS agreed that a legislator could serve for eight years
and never have the opportunity to consider a sunset audit for
RCA, then pointed out that the commission sends an annual report
to the legislature. She noted that over the years, the greatest
interest has been whether the agency is complying timely with
its statutory timelines. She said compliance has been good over
the last two sunsets, but acknowledged that the length of the
extension was a policy call for the legislature.
SENATOR STEVENS asked what the disadvantage would be to RCA to
have a shorter extension.
MS. CURTIS replied there would be no negative connotation and a
shorter extension would be warranted if legislators were
interested in keeping a closer eye on the organization. She
offered her perspective as the auditor that a shorter extension
is recommended when the structure or the laws governing the
organization have changed.
SENATOR STEVENS asked her to confirm that a shorter extension
would not add to the division's workload.
MS. CURTIS clarified that it would increase the division's
workload to conduct audits more frequently. More resources would
be used and there would be an associated cost.
2:14:51 PM
CHAIR COSTELLO noted that three RCA commissioners were listening
to the meeting online. She asked whether the infrastructure bill
and the forthcoming federal funding would affect the Regulatory
Commission of Alaska, particularly related to
telecommunications.
MS. CURTIS deferred the question to an RCA commissioner.
CHAIR COSTELLO asked Bob Pickett to respond to her question
about the impact of the infrastructure bill and Senator Steven's
question about a shorter extension.
2:16:02 PM
BOB PICKETT, Chair, Regulatory Commission of Alaska, Department
of Commerce, Community and Economic Development, Palmer, Alaska,
stated that he had been a commissioner since 2008 and chair for
the last nine years. Regarding the question about the
infrastructure bill and the potential federal funding, he said
the commission will be affected depending on what the recipient
organization does with the funding. In response to Senator
Stevens question, he said he had been through three sunset
audits for the commission. The one in about 2010 recommended
reducing the extension from four years to two years and that did
impact the agency. To the observation that many legislators
would not have much interaction with the commission, he pointed
out that the commission had actively communicated with
legislators, answered questions, and provided answers over the
last few years during the deregulation of telecommunications.
MR. PICKETT added that in 2014, the legislature directed the
commission to evaluate the status of the Railbelt electric
system and provide recommendations about the appropriate course
forward. The commission consulted extensively with the affected
utilities and the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) and submitted a
report to the legislature in January 2020 that led to passage of
SB 123 and the establishment of an Electric Reliability
Organization. He noted that because Alaska is not under the
jurisdiction of either FERC or NERC, the state essentially had
no enforceable reliability standard, including cybersecurity and
fiscal security. He said the regulations for the ERO go into
effect on March 11, 2022, and the commission will continue to
provide the legislature with status reports.
2:19:08 PM
MR. PICKETT also reminded the committee that RCA works closely
with AEA on the Power Cost Equalization (PCE) program and looks
forward to making positive changes in the administration of that
program.
CHAIR COSTELLO asked him to respond to her earlier question
about the salary for RCA commissioners and the fact that this is
fulltime work as opposed to the voluntary or parttime nature of
most of Alaska's boards and commissions.
MR. PICKETT described the work as more than a full time job. He
said he was not comfortable reporting the salaries of other
commissioners but his salary is about $153,000 a year.
CHAIR COSTELLO said she wanted the public to know that RCA is
not a parttime board and the docket is robust. She asked him to
describe some of the work the commission does and the amount of
time that is devoted to each case.
MR. PICKETT said it varies. The two largest dockets in the last
two years were the transfer of British Petroleum assets to
Harvest, and the acquisition of Anchorage Municipal Light and
Power assets by Chugach Electric. The former included the Trans
Alaska Pipeline and several North Slope pipelines and the latter
included a share of the Beluga River gas field. The transfer of
each of those certificates took more than a year because they
involved lots of research and discussion among commissioners
about the right course. The process to develop the Electric
Reliability Organization took seven years and developing the
regulations in a truncated one-year was very challenging for the
commission. He predicted that implementing the regulations and
getting the ERO running would also present challenges this next
year.
CHAIR COSTELLO asked if all the members of the commission were
located in Anchorage.
MR. PICKETT replied that he lives in the MatSu Valley,
commissioner Kurber lives in Fairbanks, and the other three
commissioners live in Anchorage.
CHAIR COSTELLO asked Kristin Schubert, Commission Section
Manager for the Regulatory Commission of Alaska if she wanted to
respond to any of the questions the committee articulated.
2:23:40 PM
KRISTIN SCHUBERT said she was available to answer specific
questions about the Regulatory Commission of Alaska.
CHAIR COSTELLO asked Commissioner Keith Kurber if he wanted to
respond to any of the questions the committee articulated.
2:24:00 PM
KEITH KURBER, Commissioner, Regulatory Commission of Alaska,
Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development,
Palmer, Alaska, stated that Chair Pickett very adequately
addressed the questions. He continued to say that he had been on
the commission for a year and had found the workload demanding
but possible to accomplish because of outstanding staff. He
agreed with the chair's comments about the ERO.
2:25:28 PM
CHAIR COSTELLO opened public testimony on SB 190; finding none,
she closed public testimony.
CHAIR COSTELLO held SB 190 in committee for further
consideration.