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Energy

Energy policy promises to top legislative agenda

Rena Delbridge | Oct 19, 2009

Lawmakers crafting House and Senate versions of a state energy policy say they expect their plans to burgeon into omnibus energy bills in the next legislative session.

On Monday, two Alaska senators unveiled a 50-page document offering not a policy, but a series of goals and recommendations on energy. Meanwhile, two House committees -- Resources and Energy -- have a four-page draft bill that lays out a policy statement.

Energy hearing scheduled for AFN convention

A hearing on rural energy issues scheduled for Friday marks the first time state lawmakers have convened as part of the Alaska Federation of Natives’ annual convention, the largest gathering of Native voices.

The House and Senate committees on energy and resources, along with members of the Legislature’s Bush Caucus, will take testimony from representatives of each of the 12 Native regions from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center in Anchorage. Lawmakers will hear from individuals from 4 to 5 p.m.

Rep. Bryce Edgmon, D-Dillingham, co-chairs the House Special Committee on Energy. He said scheduled testimony will focus on the effects of high energy costs in rural communities, and will detail regional projects designed to offset those costs.

Edgmon said he is excited at the prospect of connecting so many Native voices at once. The Dena’ina Center’s third-floor hall holds around 1,000, and the meetings are broadcast to an estimated 30,000 people in Alaska’s most rural areas.

“In terms of a venue to help us build momentum to keeping energy front and center before the Legislature, this is probably the biggest of them all,” Edgmon said.

The House Energy Committee traveled the state through the summer, often with its Senate counterpart, collecting feedback from residents on a proposed statewide energy policy. Both the House and Senate committees have developed drafts they plan to refine as legislation to be introduced when lawmakers reconvene in Juneau in January.

“We heard, repeatedly, the need for an energy department in state government … and we also heard the need to have an energy plan, that there doesn’t seem to be an over-arching vision for Alaska in terms on where we want to go as a state,” he said.

Edgmon and committee co-chairwoman Rep. Charisse Millett, R-Anchorage, introduced a bill near the end of the last legislative session to create a Department of Energy within state government. Under their proposal, the department would serve as an umbrella housing the Alaska Energy Authority, Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority, and home energy efficiency and weatherization programs now administered by the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation.

Meshed together with input from Gov. Sean Parnell, the two pieces would set a direction for the state with the richest resources and the highest costs, where stories leak from the Bush of people moving to cities and weighing fuel purchases against a trip to the grocery store.

An omnibus package could encompass a series of bills pending before the Legislature, from increased appropriations to offset power costs in rural areas to creating a state energy department, and from creating efficiency standards in public buildings to bringing the six Railbelt electric utilities together.

"It's my understanding the leadership in both the House and the Senate have committed to making energy a priority matter in the next session," Rep. Bryce Edgmon said. He's a Democrat from Dillingham and co-chairman of the House Energy Committee.

Parnell's administration is committed as well, senior adviser on instate energy Gene Therriault said. He added that he expects action during the legislative session beginning in January because the issue is such a priority for Alaskans.

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Energy policy promises to top legislative agenda

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