Legislature(2009 - 2010)Tanana
05/27/2009 11:30 AM Senate RESOURCES
| Audio | Topic |
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| Start | |
| Public Hearing on Statewide Energy Plan | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
TANANA COMMUNITY CENTER
May 27, 2009
12:16 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Lesil McGuire, Co-Chair
Senator Bill Wielechowski, Co-Chair
Senator Hollis French
Senator Thomas Wagoner
Senator Gary Stevens
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Charlie Huggins, Vice Chair
Senator Bert Stedman
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Public Hearing on State Energy Plan
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
JULIE ROBERTS
Tanana resident
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified that Tanana had been in disarray
for quite a few weeks because of the floods and needed
assistance. Supported a road connecting Tanana to Manley Hot
Springs to bring the cost of transporting goods down.
MIKE ANDON
Tanana resident
POSITION STATEMENT: Thanked everyone for the great job they have
done with their situation.
FAITH PETERS
Tanana resident
POSITION STATEMENT: Said she survived "Flood 2009 Tanana,
Alaska," but she lost her home and business and the whole
community needed help before winter sets in.
DON ELLER
Tanana resident
POSITION STATEMENT: Said they don't need to think of big
projects, but just a gravel strip to the Yukon River; it could
be a community project.
BEAR KETSLER
Tanana resident
POSITION STATEMENT: Asked them to continue appropriations to the
Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) and consider feed-in tariffs.
KATHLEEN PETERSURAY, Environmental Specialist
Tanana Tribal Council
POSITION STATEMENT: Said their community needs help and they
have only a short time to get houses livable before winter
comes. Supported the weatherization program.
DENNIS EDWIN
Tanana resident
POSITION STATEMENT: Reiterated that they need efficient heating
systems for their homes before winter.
CURTIS SUMMER, Chairman
Tanana Tribal Council
POSITION STATEMENT: They aren't asking for handouts; they can do
the job themselves, but money will run out soon, and they need a
little more.
CHARLIE CAMPBELL
Tanana City Council
POSITION STATEMENT: Thanked them for coming out to Tanana. A
wood fired boiler for the school would help tremendously, but
coming up with the local match is always a problem, especially
right now. If they could make that into an R&D project, they
have the expertise and man power and are ready to go.
JOSEPHINE ROBERTS
Tanana resident
POSITION STATEMENT: Said she is the oldest person in Tanana.
CHRISTINE EARHEART
Tanana resident
POSITION STATEMENT: Said Power Cost Equalization (PCE) and
Energy Assistance Programs are crucial to survival of people in
the village.
CATHY ROBERTS
Circle resident
POSITION STATEMENT: Said she moved to town after the flood. All
the outhouses went down the river; sewer is a problem. The cost
of freight is out of sight. She is okay, but the elders and
people who are alone she worries about.
GERALD MCNICHOLAI
Tanana resident
POSITION STATEMENT: Said some of them lost not only their homes,
but all their material things as well - tools and motors. Some
people have no other choice, but to rely on energy assistance.
They need a little assistance, but they can work hard and know
how to rebuild on their own.
GRAY WOODS
Tanana resident
POSITION STATEMENT: Said the people of Tanana know how to
rebuild, but they need a little help to get started.
JOHN BANYA, Superintendent and Principal
Tanana School District
POSITION STATEMENT: Said Tanana needs energy assistance, but
they are hard workers and smart.
ACTION NARRATIVE
12:16:29 PM
CO-CHAIR LESIL MCGUIRE called the Senate Resources Standing
Committee to order at 12:16 p.m.
^Public Hearing on Statewide Energy Plan
Public Hearing on State Energy Plan
CO-CHAIR MCGUIRE announced the public hearing on the state's
energy plan would be the order of business.
12:16:48 PM
JULIE ROBERTS testified that Tanana had been in disarray for
quite a few weeks because of the floods. With the destruction of
40 homes, this time, the community needs to rebuild them to be
as energy efficient as possible. She said gasoline is almost
$6/gallon. Her community wanted road access to Manley Hot
Springs because most agree that road connection is important to
reduce the cost of living in Tanana.
MS. ROBERTS said they get quite a bit of sun February through
September, so solar energy is a consideration for power. She
looked forward to getting help from the state.
CO-CHAIR MCGUIRE said they had observed some innovation today.
"This community has taken matters into their own hands and is
leading the way." People have come from as far away as Korea to
look at their boilers to see how they are burning wood and their
power plant. They are inspirational.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked how much it costs to heat a house and
provide electricity in Tanana.
MS. ROBERTS replied for her and her husband electricity is about
$100/mo., and they burn 5-6 cords of wood for heat. Her part of
the community doesn't have running water or sewer or their costs
would have been much higher. The other half of the community has
both.
12:23:24 PM
SENATOR WAGONER asked how many miles a road to Manley Hot
Springs would be.
MS. ROBERTS replied about 40 miles of road would connect to an
existing dirt road. Manley Hot Springs is 80 miles from Tanana.
12:24:04 PM
SENATOR FRENCH asked if they had taken advantage of
weatherization money to make homes more energy efficient.
MS. ROBERTS replied yes; quite a few had taken advantage of it.
The windows are nice, but some of those homes have been flooded.
The insulation is gone.
12:24:46 PM
MIKE ANDON thanked everyone for the great job they have done
with their situation. They have seen the energy water produces
if they could figure out how to harness it. The destroyed homes
were not constructed with energy efficiency in mind. He said
they had been getting "adequate" help as defined by the Knowles
administration at just above poverty.
12:26:43 PM
FAITH PETERS said she survived "Flood 2009 Tanana, Alaska," but
she lost her home and business. When she had them, it cost her
about $400/mo for power and phone. It used to cost $500 or 40
cents/lb. to have products flown into her store. Her insurance
company cannot help her with repairs because it doesn't cover
floods. A road from Manley to Tanana would save energy for her
community because she runs her products from Manley by boat, a
72-mile trip at $5-$6/gallon for gas.
Sun panels for summer would cut the cost of energy; windmills at
Squaw Crossing would generate more energy for Tanana. A new wood
burner in their school would make energy costs go down so that
money could be put into education supplies and teachers. They
have three months before winter comes to have everything.
12:31:15 PM
DON ELLER said they don't need to think of big projects, but
just a gravel strip to the Yukon River; it could be a community
project. Let the local boys be trained by Av Tech. They are only
16 miles from where the road ends. "It's doable." He said that
the homes the government built were not energy efficient at all.
For instance, the fixtures they put in required 5 or 6 bulbs.
"The cheapest energy is the energy you don't use."
12:34:06 PM
BEAR KETSLER asked them to continue appropriations to the Alaska
Energy Authority (AEA). He said the biomass project could be
replicated easily, and they would like to help facilitate that.
It really isn't rocket science. He urged funding small amounts
of money to "R&D stuff" like what Tano Power is doing for their
hydro-kinetic project.
He said the community has an energy plan, which has been
instrumental in attracting dollars. The next public facility
project is the school which is the backbone of the community. It
would take three boiler systems like they just saw to reduce the
cost of heating the school. That would free funds up for other
community improvements.
MR. KETSLER touched on the idea of a feed-in tariff saying
"Saved By the Sun" is a DVD about solar power, but it is really
a story about how Germany was able to overcome its high cost of
energy using a feed-in tariff.
CO-CHAIR MCGUIRE said that the two committees have been looking
at the concept of net metering where energy can be put back into
the grid.
12:40:15 PM
KATHLEEN PETERSURAY, Environmental Specialist, Tanana Tribal
Council, said their community needs help and they have only a
short time to get houses livable before winter comes. Tanana was
found ineligible for the weatherization last year; but after the
flood along the Yukon River, they should be put on a special
list. They had a weatherization program, but it was for low
income people, which is why many did not qualify for it.
They have collected data that indicates they have enough wind
energy for individual homes to use. Since all of the homes have
to be rebuilt or renovated, they are looking for them to be
rebuilt energy efficient. The homes are huge and most have old
and inefficient furnaces. When the price of gas goes down for
"your" cities, the price stays the same in Tanana.
MS. PETERSURAY stated that they will be down to 37 children in
their school this year; if they lose any more, their community
will die. They need to cut energy costs for the school. They
have a dream of having solar panels for every home; it's doable,
but they cost a lot. She even uses them even at her fish camp.
She thanked them for coming to Tanana.
12:46:02 PM
DENNIS EDWIN reiterated that they need efficient heating systems
for their homes. He said even if you have 500 gallons of oil,
without any support under it, the tank starts sinking. The state
won't approve putting wood under them. He is focused on fishing
right now, because that is his living, but the community needs
help before winter.
12:50:41 PM
CO-CHAIR MCGUIRE said the Governor had applied for emergency
funds and the legislature will do what it can to get them their
supplies.
12:51:23 PM
CURTIS SUMMER, Chairman, Tanana Tribal Council, said he lived at
Mission Hill that didn't get flooded. They are off the road
system and gas is sky-high. They still have to worry about
fishing, hunting and getting wood in a few short months. He is
proud of Tanana for the way everybody pitched in to clean up.
The people of Tanana are hard-working. They don't want people to
come in and tell them what to do - because they have hard
thinking people, too.
The HUD homes that were flooded were put together by "a family
operation" that owned all the construction businesses in the
early 80s. The houses were not energy efficient. The heat
ducting from the furnaces have to be decontaminated because they
were contaminated by flooding waters. All the walls inside the
homes were taken apart because black mold was already starting.
They aren't asking for handouts; they can do the job themselves.
Money will run out soon, but people will help each other.
12:55:36 PM
CHARLIE CAMPBELL, Tanana City Council, thanked them for coming
out to Tanana. He was impressed with how well the flood was
managed; people really pulled together and the Tribal Council
got people pointed in the right direction. They are hard working
and innovative. They have seen the Laundromat with wood boilers
and solar panels. Tanana is an ideal place for R&D; the
expertise is already in place. Keep that in mind when
considering funding.
The cost of fuel for the school was $70,000 this year; last year
it was a little over $100,000. The Tanana School is the one
rural school where the kids have made adequate yearly progress.
This year in order to graduate the seniors the parents had to
get together and do bake sales; they are trying to wring every
last money out of the locals. A wood fired boiler for the school
would help tremendously, but coming up with the local match is
always a problem, especially right now. If they could make that
into an R&D project, they are ready to go.
12:59:49 PM
JOSEPHINE ROBERTS said she is the oldest person in Tanana; she
was 18 years old in 1940 when she came to work in the Tanana
hospital that is going to be torn down this summer. For the
first time this year she has running water and she said, "It
feels good." It's kind of expensive, but she has a way to pay
for it. But her power bill was $300 this year, which she thought
was high. "It's going to be tough for a lot of them. I've known
them all my life. Most of them were born at the old hospital."
1:05:08 PM
CHRISTINE EARHEART said Power Cost Equalization (PCE) and Energy
Assistance Programs are crucial to survival of people in the
village. Without them people would freeze. It costs her and her
family of seven about $750/mo for food and supplies; she pays 45
percent on top of that to get it delivered. She hoped they could
do something about that.
The original count is done at the beginning of the year; so when
students return from going to school outside of Alaska the money
doesn't follow them back to the village. They don't have a hot
lunch program. Half the community has water and sewer and the
other half doesn't. Funding ran out. She asked how they would
you feel if half their town was hooked up and the other half
wasn't.
1:08:21 PM
CATHY ROBERTS, Circle, said she moved to town since the flood.
It is good to take a shower and use an in-house bathroom. All
the outhouses went down the river; sewer is a problem. The cost
of freight is out of sight. She is okay, but the elders and
people who are alone she worries about.
1:09:54 PM
GERALD MCNICHOLAI said some them lost not only their homes, but
all of their material things as well - tools and motors. Some
people have no other choice, but to rely on energy assistance.
The cost of living is three or four times more expensive than in
Fairbanks. "Any help these people get is really
appreciated....The loss is tremendous."
1:12:19 PM
GRAY WOODS said the people of Tanana know how to rebuild. He
said he and his wife lost their home. He just wants insulation
and his electricity fixed, so they can move back in.
1:14:29 PM
JOHN BANYA, Superintendent and Principal, Tanana School
District, said this was his first year in Tanana, and that it is
unique in many ways. He has spent 25 years working in rural
Alaska, and academically Tanana is the best school he has worked
in. It generally makes AYP, and the high school students almost
all pass all the tests they have to graduate. In the lower
grades the students are academically sound, also.
Tanana has some financial problems, he said, and unfortunately
it has received a lot of negative publicity this year. The
school needed money to make up for past mistakes even before the
flood came along and now people really need assistance. He
doesn't like to ask for help personally; he likes to make his
own way. But in this case, help is necessary. He said last year
school fuel cost $105,000. With the fluctuation in price this
year, it will be less than half of that. Who know what it will
be next year. During the winter, their power bills were $14,000
and $15,000/mo; in warmer months it is $5,000-7,000/mo. Their
total budget is only a little bit over $1 million, yet the
energy, maintenance, and personnel costs eat up half of that.
Student activities wouldn't even take place if it wasn't for the
parents. There is a great spirit of cooperation and
independence.
1:19:38 PM
CO-CHAIR MCGUIRE thanked everyone for their testimony and said
they would take their thoughts back with them and follow up on
the help that is coming out before the winter. An important part
of the cost savings is finding low cost sustainable energy
sources. There being no further business to come before the
committee, she adjourned the meeting at 1:19 p.m.
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