On Friday, the Alaska Legislature passed Senate Bill 69, which encourages private investment in renewable energy projects by extending an exemption from government regulations for independent power producers. In 2010, the State Legislature enacted Senate Bill 227 which was designed to better align Alaska’s regulatory treatment of renewable energy power generation produced by independent power producers with how they are regulated at the federal level. At the time, Alaska was the only state to extend the regulatory authority of a public utility commission to regulate not just the power purchase agreement but also the independent power producers.
District 5 Rep. Adam Wool of Fairbanks spoke on the measure, “What amendment number one does is simply reduce the maximum size of the power plants that we’re talking about or the power generation sources that we’re talking about from no more than 65 megawatts to no more than 35 megawatts. Just for a sense of scale, on the rail belt, the largest power plant currently is 60 megawatts. The largest one in Fairbanks is 60 megawatts. We talk about the coal plants in Healy, Healy 1 is 50 megawatts. Healy 2 is 25 megawatts. Talk about renewable power, Fire Island in Anchorage is 17 megawatts. Eva Creek in Healy, wind power, is 24 megawatts. Delta Wind, 2 megawatts. A small solar setup in Willow, 1.1 megawatts and they hope to expand to 5 megawatts. The UAF power plant that was recently built is 18 megawatts. My point is 35 is double the size of Fire Island. It is double the size of the UAF power plant as far as electricity output. 65 is huge. It’s a huge power plant. This bill would exempt them from regulation.”
The current exemption from regulation adopted in 2010 was only effective for five years. In 2016, the Legislature extended the exemption after another five years. The current exemption is scheduled to lapse on July 1, 2021. This comes as additional interest in renewable resources is growing in Alaska. SB 69 would enact a 7-year extension to July 1, 2028, allowing investors to make long-term plans and deploy capital through the state.
SB 69 passed the Senate 18-0 and the House 36-1, for a combined vote of 54-1. Is now is on its way to Gov. Dunleavy’s desk for his signature.
Transcribed audio courtesy of KTOO 360TV.
