Legislature(2007 - 2008)BELTZ 211
03/22/2007 09:00 AM Senate STATE AFFAIRS
Audio | Topic |
---|---|
Start | |
HB117 | |
SB92 | |
SB115 | |
SB16 | |
SB33 | |
Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ | SB 16 | TELECONFERENCED | |
+ | HB 117 | TELECONFERENCED | |
+= | SB 33 | TELECONFERENCED | |
+ | TELECONFERENCED | ||
= | SB 92 | ||
= | SB 115 | ||
SB 16-EXTEND REGULATORY COMMISSION OF ALASKA 9:36:10 AM CHAIR MCGUIRE announced the consideration of SB 16. This is the first hearing and the bill would not move today. SENATOR GENE THERRIAULT, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor of SB 16, said the original bill contained the auditor's suggestion of an eight-year sunset extension for the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA), but CSSB 16(CRA) is before the committee, and it rolls the extension back to six years and adds a two-year report card. The report card would not be a full-fledged audit but simply information on the RCA meeting its timelines. The two- year report card makes it important to keep the extension at multiples of two. He noted that regulated entities have requested changes to the RCA, but he suggested extending the RCA first. Without the RCA, all the issues will end up in the legislature's lap. "We do need to extend the RCA; the bill that is before you is that specific policy call." He said he has been working on the proposed changes, and he hoped the administration would support a separate package of changes to the way the RCA operated, but the administration is too busy so he will look for a sponsor. 9:40:22 AM SENATOR THERRIAULT said there is growing consensus to make changes including commissioner salaries, adding an executive director, and adding statutory timelines. If the regulated community doesn't get too greedy, a package can be created with broad support. He said he is working on that. The legislature may want to bundle the two issues together, but keeping the sunset extension clean is his preference, he stated. 9:41:43 AM SENATOR STEVENS asked what the two-year report does, and asked if changes can occur at that time. SENATOR THERRIAULT said certainly the legislature can introduce a bill at any year if it thinks the RCA has gone way off course. The report card provides that information to the legislature to indicate if something is going astray, like missing timelines or increasing the number of appealed cases. It is useful information to have before the sunset, he said. The RCA is a quasi-judicial entity overseeing a lot of dollars, he noted. 9:43:37 AM SENATOR STEVENS asked if the report would just go to the Budget and Audit committee. SENATOR THERRIAULT said it would be done by the "audit shop" and submitted to the legislature. SENATOR STEVENS asked how it will arrive and who will see it. SENATOR THERRIAULT it would just be a report that is presented to the bodies with the secretary reading it across. He noted that anyone in the regulated community with a concern will certainly bring it to the attention of legislators. 9:44:44 AM SENATOR FRENCH asked why Sections 2 and 3 are repealers and reenactments, and what has changed or been lost. KATE GIARD, Chair, Regulatory Commission of Alaska, said there was language that changed a reporting date. November 15 is far timelier and gives auditors a chance to look at it and report to the legislature by January. There was also language that required the RCA to report on things that it did not actually do, including the status of the development of utilities, which it has never done. Repealing that will clean things up. 9:46:57 AM CHAIR MCGUIRE read the statute that is being eliminated. AS 42.05.211 currently states: The commission shall by February 15 of each year publish an annual report reviewing its work and notify the legislature that the report is available. The report must contain information and data that bear a significant relationship to the development and regulation of public utility services in the state and include an outline of the commission's program for the development and regulation of public utility services in the forthcoming year. MS. GIARD said the RCA doesn't develop the public utilities, so it took the language out. "We've never obeyed that law in our annual report," she explained 9:47:53 AM SENATOR FRENCH said the language has a forward-looking aspect about plans for the following year. "It certainly looks like that is being lost." MS. GIARD said this year the RCA annual report shows the new cases that were filed, and that hasn't been done before. There is a great amount of time that goes by, she stated. "We put it in here because the time was so different we wanted you to know what's happening today." 9:49:10 AM MS. GIARD said the RCA regulates approximately $1.5 billion worth of commerce, and decisions can impact one entity for hundreds of millions of dollars. Its decisions can impact the state's economy, as well. If the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) follows the decisions of the RCA on the TAPS pipeline case, it will have an impact of $818 million a year on royalty revenue, so the RCA should be held accountable and transparent. She appreciates that the legislature checks on the RCA. Since Ms. Giard became chair three years ago, the RCA has been working with utilities to bring deep institutional change. The effort requires the help of the legislature and the RCA going out to the utilities to listen to complaints and fix them. The companies will not say they love all of the decisions, but she hopes they will say that the RCA is getting better. That was said in the audit report, and 55 percent of the regulated utilities and pipeline carriers said the RCA had improved. She said the RCA is comfortable with the six-year extension. A four- year extension is too short and too challenging to a new governor. "We put in the two-year audits because we believe we should be held accountable for the transparency, and we're going to put it in our annual report, and we want it audited." 9:53:45 AM CHAIR MCGUIRE said she would like the committee to look at the information and consider rolling the substantive changes into the sunset bill. She said she wants to have time to formulate meaningful questions. 9:54:56 AM SENATOR STEVENS asked if the issues of concern are addressed in the committee packet. MS. GIARD said the RCA provided information from a public process that the utilities participated in. It has all of their comments of what they would like see changed. The RCA held public hearings, "and then voted on some to bring forward to you." She said the governor's office was unable to sponsor a second piece of legislation, so she combined what she thought the public wanted with SB 16 and HB 209. She said it is balanced and addresses timelines, "and there's conversations we need to have about those. I am really excited about shortening those timelines." Commissioner salaries are also addressed, she said. 9:57:12 AM CHAIR MCGUIRE asked committee members to read RO6-10 and distinguish between what the public commented on and what was included. This committee could create a bill or add it to the current one. It is incumbent on the Senate to come up with concerns and the method to deal with them. GEORGE GORDON, Director, Regulatory Affairs, Utility Services of Alaska, said he was once President and CEO of College Utilities Corporation and Golden Heart Utilities that provided water and waste water service to Fairbanks. He supports the legislation, and he agrees with the RCA on many issues. It is necessary to reduce the statutory time allowed for rate cases, he said, from 16 months down to 9 months. It is important to limit discovery during regulatory matters. He said the RCA is considering opening up a rule-making docket that would limit discovery. It is too open ended and not in the public interest, he stated. The salary and qualifications of the RCA need to be raised. The commissioners should earn what superior court judges earn. He supports having a staff person to exercise staff control and to act as a liaison to utilities. He said he doesn't care if the issues are addressed in the sunset bill or a separate bill. 10:01:09 AM CHAIR MCGUIRE said visitors to her office have made those points to her. DEAN THOMPSON, Attorney, Alaska Power Association (APA), said the APA is a trade association for electric utilities throughout Alaska. The APA has 39 member utilities, and it supports the reauthorization of the RCA. The general perception is that the RCA has improved significantly over the past few years in terms of docket management and seeking input from the industry. He said Chair Giard is doing a good job of improving efficiency and effectiveness, but there are further improvements as promoted by Mr. Gordon. The regulated entities have to interact with the RCA, so continuity and predictability are important. He said the APA has not taken a position on the term for the extension, but it doesn't oppose CSSB 16(CRA). Members of APA might support some of the proposed changes but would like to see them first. 10:05:42 AM CHAIR MCGUIRE said she would like to hear more detail from the APA next week. She thanked Chair Giard. Regarding public input, she said, "What a difference a few years makes." CHAIR MCGUIRE held SB 16 over.
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