Legislature(2009 - 2010)BUTROVICH 205
04/06/2010 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB271 | |
| HB306 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | HB 306 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| = | SB 271 | ||
HB 306-STATE ENERGY POLICY
4:22:27 PM
CO-CHAIR MCGUIRE announced consideration of HB 306 [CSHB
306(RES) was before the committee].
REPRESENTATIVE BRYCE EDGMON, sponsor of HB 306, related that
last year a stakeholders' group met every month to consider all
the various aspects of putting a state energy policy together.
The group had membership from the supply and demand side of the
energy equation, the academic side, the Denali Commission, as
well as the Resource Development Council and members from the
conservation community. In December they emerged with an energy
policy and that energy policy, while it has been amended
somewhat, is before them in HB 306. It passed the House with
great vigor.
4:24:47 PM
CO-CHAIR MCGUIRE said the committee enjoyed working with him on
this issue and the policy language in the Senate bill mirrors
the policy in this bill. She said that Senator Huggins had taken
a leadership role on the subject of nuclear energy and the
potential Alaska has there, and the Senate bill was amended to
reflect that. She asked what he thought about adding
"alternative energy" alongside "renewable energy".
REPRESENTATIVE EDGMON replied that it is worth considering.
4:26:03 PM
CHRIS ROSE, Executive Director, Renewable Energy Alaska Project
(REAP), introduced himself. He listed the members of the
Stakeholder Advisory Panel that was put together by the co-
chairs of the House Special Committee on Energy. He said it
started with a relatively small document that grew to seven
pages. All realized that what they were really after was a
comprehensive energy policy that would set up sidebars for
planning decisions and goals down the road.
4:29:27 PM
BILL POPP, Anchorage Economic Development Corporation (AEDC),
said the design was to develop an overarching energy policy that
would be the foundation for establishing energy goals and then
plans while taking into account regional differences. State
government would be aligned in a unified set of strategic goals
which would help in developing a comprehensive energy plan to
achieve them. The policy leaves a lot of room for new thinking
and new direction.
4:30:57 PM
MR. ROSE said it has four key steps: establishing the energy
policy, developing strategic goals, creating the plan to achieve
the goals and implementing programs and projects. People always
came back to the fact that they were establishing an energy
vision for the state and not talking about projects and plans.
The bill is entitled "State Energy Policy" and has five goals,
number five was added by the House for the State to become a
leader in natural gas production, and that is where the
renewable alternative energy policy is in the bill.
4:32:40 PM
MR. POPP turned to the guiding principles that pushed this
process and said the future success of the Alaska statewide
economy is tied to available, reliable and affordable energy for
residential, commercial and industrial users. Energy is key to
the future of economic growth in Alaska. They also recognized
that worldwide supply and demand for fossil fuels and concerns
about global climate change will affect the price of fossil
fuels in the future. Oil is already being seen in the mid-$80s
when just a few months ago it was down in the $30s and a little
over 1.5 years ago it was up near $150 a barrel. Assuring
stability in energy prices and energy availability is paramount.
They don't have to guarantee the lowest prices, but Alaskans
shouldn't have to be paying the highest prices either.
4:33:48 PM
MR. ROSE related that a few years ago the Tri-Borough Commission
(the Mat-Su Borough, the Municipality of Anchorage and the Kenai
Peninsula Borough) developed a private-sector oriented Energy
Policy Task Force to deal with the issues Mr. Popp just
mentioned. After meeting for about four months, they were able
to come up with the policy they presented to the stakeholder
group, and a large portion of the portfolio included renewables.
The policy was developed initially for South Central Alaska, but
was broadened into a statewide policy.
4:35:28 PM
MR. POPP said the policy that has been passed out of the House
promotes energy efficiency and conservation as a key premise as
something that can be done immediately; it promotes development
of renewable and non-renewable energy resources and recognizes
the state has a portfolio of available energy sources. It
orients towards market forces as to what solutions float to the
top on a statewide-one-size-fits-all basis, but recognizing
regional differences. It promotes economic development through
long term sources of energy that are going to be vital to
communities statewide in the coming decades.
It supports energy research education and work force development
so that Alaska can take advantage of the full value chain of
energy development, not just the end cost of delivered energy.
Research could be monetized and the educational aspects would be
important to establishing Alaska as a center for energy
research, as wells as the work force development pieces to
establish these energy infrastructures and develop and deliver
them cost effectively. It supports the coordination of
governmental functions and promotes a better regulatory process
so that regulations are developed within the umbrella of an
energy policy and not in an individual agency's vacuum. This
will bring an overall coordination and efficiency that is
currently lacking at all levels of state government when it
comes to energy policy.
4:37:50 PM
MR. ROSE concluded that both the task force and the House have
put together a document that establishes a long term vision that
can be used to develop and achieve energy goals. A lot of the
work done on bills such as SB 220 complement this work, but a
lot of things have yet to be addressed; and having this policy
pass is going to be a key element to making sure the best energy
resources are available to Alaskans - something that has been
missing.
4:39:10 PM
CO-CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI said one difference between the House and
Senate versions is that the intent is written into the House
version and the Senate version includes a letter of intent. He
asked how they feel about this.
MR. POPP responded that he feels the intent needs to have the
force of law, otherwise it becomes subject to the whims of a
given year's policy.
4:40:36 PM
CO-CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI asked Michael Nave if the administration
had any opinion on the question of intent versus having policy
in statute.
MICHAEL NAVE, Department of Law (DOL), replied that the
department understands that it is a policy statement and
therefore, that is how they've been analyzing it.
CO-CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI said bluntly when his staff met with DOL
staff, the DOL was adamant that they did not want the intent in
law, but would prefer it as intent. He asked if that position
has changed.
MR. NAVE answered no, that was the request and it was understood
that this was a policy statement.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if he has an opinion or preference on
whether or not this should be policy in law or policy in intent.
MR. NAVE said his opinion is that this statute as written is a
statement of policy.
4:42:26 PM
SARAH FISHER-GOAD, Deputy Director, Operations, Alaska Energy
Authority (AEA), said regarding concerns about having the policy
in Title 44.99 rather than in un-codified law as in SB 220, that
the preference is to have it as it is in SB 220. Part of the
reason is that AS 44.99 hasn't been amended to add new policies
for several years which was due to the potential for litigation.
She had offered the staff some language that would address some
of the concerns the department has with SB 220, and they are
catching up with where HB 306 comes in. She believed the
confusion came up when Senator McGuire mentioned that the Senate
bill "mirrored" the House bill. She added that two other minor
changes will help with policy language.
CO-CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI said he thought he just heard that DOL has
no problem with HB 306 as policy and asked if she heard
something different.
MS. FISHER-GOAD replied that her understanding is that they
prefer SB 220, and HB 306 would be OK with the suggested
amendments.
4:45:34 PM
STEVE HAGENSON, Executive Director, Alaska Energy Authority
(AEA), commented that he was not a member of the committee, but
they invited him to participate. He enjoyed the interaction he
had with staff from both bodies and the work group. He thought
they produced a quality document.
4:46:20 PM
CO-CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI asked if he supports HB 306.
MR. HAGENSON answered yes.
4:46:52 PM
BRIAN KANE, Legislative Legal, Legislative Affairs Agency,
Alaska State Legislature, said he was available for questions.
4:47:13 PM
ELIZABETH OUTTEN, Statewide Energy Coordinator, Alaska
Conservation Alliance, said they support both HB 306 and SB 220.
They show a commitment to long term energy planning and it
continues to put Alaska on an economically viable sustainable
stable energy path to the future, and provides the very much-
needed vision to help guide the state's energy decisions. The
Alliance strongly supported including provisions encouraging the
state and public focus on energy efficiency first, and it has
identified it as a priority issue for this session. They support
the establishment of statewide energy efficiency codes to
decrease energy use in public buildings through efficiencies and
educating the public about opportunities and support that is
available to them to be more energy efficient.
MS. OUTTEN said they also support the renewable energy
development provisions because Alaska has so many opportunities
to meet its energy needs with renewable energy. Finally, they
also support the provisions that help Alaska become a leader in
energy development and deployment of new energy technologies.
The Alliance had identified emerging technology development and
deployment as a priority issue for this session. They were
excited to see these provisions included in SB 220.
4:49:26 PM
CO-CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI closed public testimony.
4:49:43 PM
REPRESENTATIVE EDGMON closed by thanking everyone for the time
and work they put into this document and emphasized the
importance of putting the goals and objectives in the front part
of the bill into policy.
SENATOR HUGGINS thanked Representative Edgmon for his effort.
4:51:50 PM
CO-CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI echoed those comments and finding no
further business to come before the committee, he adjourned the
meeting at 4:51 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB 306 - Bill Packet.pdf |
SRES 4/6/2010 3:30:00 PM |
HB 306 |