Sun and Wind 4EVER

/in , ,

TAKE ACTION: Support the Renewable Portfolio Standard legislation

Sun and Wind. When we hear people say that solar and wind are new and variable energy sources, it calls into question their understanding of historical facts. The sun reportedly has been pumping energy out for 4.5 Billion years. The wind got started on Earth probably at around the same time as the Earth came to have air molecules to move, not long after it came together as a planet, also approximately 4.5 Billion years ago.

There is often an argument that the only reliable energy source is from fossil fuels. The next time some old duffer starts going on about fossil fuel reliability, you just tell them “hooey” – their vaunted fuels are just experimental in the grand scheme of things – the most mature fossil fuels are from a period a mere 419 million years ago. That is barely a blip compared to the reign of solar and wind energy. It makes sense that humankind plans to return rapidly to solar and wind energy after dabbling in strange, experimental energy like fossil fuel. Our sun and wind are ancestral, time-tested, ancient power sources, and people like a sure thing.

The cost to harness the oldest and best energy is falling by the day. Check out any graph comparing the cost of new solar installations with the price of natural gas and coal power generation. The price of solar energy has dropped precipitously over the past decade. Combine this with a federal infrastructure funding package that prioritizes renewable investments and sweetens the pot with tax incentives. Combine this again with a moral case for energy sources that don’t emit greenhouse gasses, and you have a recipe for change. Perhaps not as quick as some would want, or that is sufficient to save us from climate disruption, but a fundamental change.

Right here in Alaska, not only in one, but now in two legislative sessions, legislation has been introduced to force/mandate/require electric utilities to get free from high-cost fossil fuels and switch to 80% renewable sources for generating electricity by the year 2040. There is obviously a belief that electric utilities can achieve this goal, or else the bills would not have been introduced at all, much less receive hearings. Utilities are setting internal goals; for instance, the Homer Electric Association has a board policy that calls for 50% renewable electricity by 2025 – based on the State of Alaska’s own aspirational policy goal.

On Thursday, House Bill 121 had an introductory hearing in the House Special Committee on Energy. This bill would establish a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) for Alaska’s utilities and drive investment in lower-cost renewable energy. As a Cook Inlet natural gas supply shortage and corresponding sharp energy price increases are looming on the horizon, it is high time our utilities act to incorporate more and more and more wind and solar, and battery storage. That is another reason why RPS legislation is getting airplay this year. Even the most stalwart fossil fuel devotee must face the fact that something has to give. If utilities do not diversify into renewable energy, and the state has to import liquified natural gas, the cost to consumers will skyrocket from a place that seems already pretty high. The economy will suffer, homeowners will suffer, business overhead costs and government operating costs will increase, and heads will roll. You get the picture.

The committee heard testimony from Hawaiʻi State Energy Office on the 50th state’s RPS and its transition away from imported fossil fuels. Price volatility in imported fuel drove consumer sentiment in Hawaiʻi toward a successful energy transition. Alaska and Hawaiʻi are related in their remoteness, the timing of their statehood battles, their otherness, and the fact that half of Alaska vacations in Hawaiʻi – these states have a ton in common, not to mention sun and wind. Ours is a different sun and a different wind but just as mighty and ancient. If Hawaiʻi can go renewable, there is no doubt that Alaska can follow suit.

Another hearing or two on HB 121 should be held this session. The bill has a good chance of passing next year with your support. Stay tuned, but first, get out in that spring sun and feel the 4.5 Billion years of past, present, and future awesomeness on your unique and very special face.

Sincerely,
The Alaska Center

The unchecked leaks: Tax Loopholes, and Sliding Scale Credits

/in , ,

[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]If our state were a car (of course, our state would never be a mere car, it would be a badass F-350 Ford truck with an obnoxious decal on the rearview window and a snowmachine in the back), but say it was an automobile of some kind, it would be wise for the operator to take heed of leaking fluid left on the ground in the parking lot – be it oil or be it antifreeze or any other toxic ooze from the underbelly. A sound and sober assessment would lead the driver to fix the leak so the engine did not blow up.  
We need the Alaska State Legislature to do this with the S-Corporation loophole that allows Hilcorp to reap huge profits in Alaska and pay no corporate income tax, taking all of the money back to Texas HQ. At the same time, our education system teeters in a funding crisis. Of even greater fiscal importance, the legislature needs to address the sliding scale tax credit it gives to oil companies that have already deprived the state of Billions in revenue that could have gone toward building up our state.
Alaska seems stuck in a strange acceptance of a condition that is not right or well or normal. We do not need to accept underfunded schools, leaky roofs, potholes up the wazoo, insignificant investments in renewable energy, bridges, ferry vessels, ports, libraries, and museums. We don’t need to be saved by federal investment (though it helps) – we have the tools to fix the problem, and we have the problem right in front of us seemingly every year since the passage of the abysmal SB 21 oil tax policy/blatant give-away/almost criminally insane financial maneuver.
The good news is that there are options for addressing the roughly $600 million budget deficit. Not all of them are politically realistic in the current zeitgeist – say zeroing out the permanent fund dividend or imposing a progressive income tax. Some are realistic, including requiring oil companies incorporated under IRS Code as S-Corporations, to pay state corporate income tax. The Department of Revenue has estimated this would bring an additional $47 to $61 million per year into state coffers. On the other hand, the oil tax credit system deprived the state of an estimated one Billion dollars in Fiscal Year 2022. Modifying the oil tax credit system through simple tweaks could bring in enough revenue to bridge the deficit gap. These changes could solve our deficit promptly instead of imposing a broad-based sales or income tax, which would take a few years to set up before the state would see increased revenue. The simplicity and the immediacy of this fiscal fix makes it essential.
Another reason to take note this year specifically – is that these changes are proposed in a bipartisan piece of legislation sponsored by the powerful Senate Rules Committee, SB 114. Rumor has it that many lawmakers and the Governor are keeping their ears open to the proposal. As the legislative session enters its final stretch, there seems to be some cohesion around the idea that something needs to happen on the fiscal front and that the oil and gas industry needs to be at the table providing solutions and helping with the hard work. SB 114 is a reasonably moderate proposal – it simply would have Hilcorp pay the same tax that the other majors, Exxon and Conoco, are already paying. It would not do away with tax credits. It reduces them and ties them directly to capital investment in Alaska. 
We know from history that nothing is straightforward regarding the oil tax code or any tax code for that matter. It is a cozy nest and a protective bramble for attorneys, accountants, and few others. Please expect that the legislature will be very deliberative when it comes to significant changes, not wanting to upset the status quo or break any eggs in the process. SB 114 might be just the ticket. It makes fiscal sense, gets us out of our deficit problem, and would make a rounding error dent in the profit of our major oil companies.  
Tell your Senator you support this fix, so Alaska can keep on Truckin’.
Vroom, Vroom,The Alaska Center

\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_button _id=”5″ ][cs_content_seo]Find Your Elected Officials’ Contact Info\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”6″ ][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][cs_element_layout_row _id=”7″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”8″ ][cs_element_button _id=”9″ ][cs_content_seo]Bills To Watch\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”10″ ][cs_element_button _id=”11″ ][cs_content_seo]More Hot Takes In A Cold Place\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]

Our Piece of the Pie

/in , , ,

Getting a piece of the pie can be a great motivator for states. The sweet aroma is hard to resist when there is a $27 Billion pie to be allocated to energy efficiency, renewable energy, clean transportation, battery storage projects, and more. As the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act programs begin to spread across the nation, we can almost see Biden and his administration smiling at the kitchen window of the White House in the spring sun, wearing flour-dusted aprons.

Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled guidance on how states and nonprofit groups can apply for $27 billion in funding from a Green Bank that will provide low-cost financing for projects intended to cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA expects to award $20 billion in competitive grants to as many as 15 nonprofit groups that will work with local banks and other financial institutions to invest in projects that reduce pollution and lower energy costs for families. Another $7 billion will be awarded to states, Tribes, and municipalities to deploy a range of solar energy projects, including residential rooftop solar, community solar, and solar storage.

We are glad, then, that Alaska has chosen to go after new federal clean energy benefits in earnest and not die of deprivation on some hill of partisan spite while other states gobble up the positives. Alaska has, along with every other state in the United States (except the self-sabotaging states of Florida, Iowa, South Dakota, and Kentucky), applied for funding under the EPA’s climate pollution reduction grant program, which will help our state lay the foundation for climate action. The Dunleavy Administration has also reprised a state Green Bank framework in legislation to position Alaska to receive federal start-up funding.

As a refresher, because The Alaska Center and our partners have supported its establishment in Alaska for many years now, a Green Bank is an entity established in state statute – but it can be established as a nonprofit – which facilitates public/private lending partnerships to move large scale clean energy projects forward. Having the support of government capital to take the risk out of private lending arrangements increases the security of large-scale loans and brings traditional financing entities to the table.

Last year, the Dunleavy Administration proposed establishing a Green Bank structure in the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA). This put a lot of NGOs and Tribes on edge due to the lack of transparency in the AIDEA board decision-making process and the fact that AIDEA has invested heavily in questionable endeavors – buying up oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge after no actual petroleum company found them economic, for instance. This time around, the Dunleavy Administration is proposing the state Green Bank be established in the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC), a more trusted entity with a track record of overseeing numerous successful energy efficiency projects such as the Home Energy Efficiency Rebate Program, and the Weatherization Program.

Senate Bill 125 and House Bill 154 to establish a Green Bank for the state of Alaska were introduced on April 5th, and the House version received a hearing this week in the House Energy Committee. These bills do not specifically reference a Green Bank, choosing instead to call it the Alaska Energy Independence Fund, but the functions will be the same. The legislative findings at the beginning of the bill state it simply enough:

“The legislature finds that permitting the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation to create a subsidiary to assist in the financing of sustainable energy development serves a public purpose benefiting the people of the state. The Alaska Housing Finance Corporation is empowered to act on behalf of the state and its people in serving this public purpose for the benefit of the general public.”
This is a simple but key statement. Sustainable energy development will create jobs, make our communities more efficient, independent, and resilient, and will decrease carbon emissions. If that is not a public purpose benefiting the people, we don’t know what is.
We expect that with the immediacy of EPA funding for states, and the fact that having a Green Bank in place will put Alaska in a competitive position to receive additional grants, the legislature will approve this concept, if not this year than next. There will be arguments about the unacceptable amount of federal spending – arguments that ignore the future cost of federal spending on climate-related disaster relief, arguments that ignore the cost of the Trump tax cuts, and the trillions we spend on other programs like national defense. Overall, though, the benefit of this smart federal spending – and a legal structure that will lead to additional private lending – will win the day. Alaska can and should get a piece of the pie on its plate. We deserve it!

Happy Spring,
The Alaska Center

Wing-and-a-Prayer budgeting for DEC

/in , , ,

[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_button _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]TAKE ACTION: Tell your senator you oppose 404 Primacy\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”5″ ][cs_element_text _id=”6″ ][cs_content_seo]The State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) hopes to sell the Alaska State Legislature on a costly program to take over responsibility for federal permitting of wetland development. This comes at a time when the legislature faces a deficit of between $400 and $600 million, depending on the level of funding they arrive at for a boost to our education system. It also comes when the state lacks any credible fiscal plan to bridge the deficit gap aside from drawing down savings accounts.
The program DEC hopes to burden the state with is called “Clean Water Act Section 404 primacy”. The 404 permitting program regulates the dredging and filling of wetlands and waterways for construction projects, including large mining projects, often in sensitive salmon habitat. The federal government handles this responsibility for (almost) all states because the federal government has the resources to do the vast and complicated job. States generally do not have the resources. Alaska definitely does not. Exhibit A) $½ Billion deficit and no fiscal plan. Three states: Michigan, New Jersey, and Florida have assumed 404 permitting primacy, and all of these states are having trouble maintaining them.
Under the Clean Water Act, a state can apply to take over the program if it can demonstrate that the state program is equivalent to the federal program. Already, the lowball cost estimates that DEC has provided make it clear that Alaska intends to take over the program and do the bare minimum to meet the federal requirements. Currently, the federal program requires 49 staff with an annual budget of $7.9 million. DEC has requested $5 million for a program run by 28 staff. The likelihood that an understaffed and underfunded state permitting program will do a lousy job and be hit with lawsuits is absolute. Part of the DEC’s rationale for wanting to assume the program is to “speed up” the permitting process. Remember that these are highly complex permits, often in sensitive salmon wetland habitat, in a state with the most wetland habitat. A state that is drawn together by salmon, if nothing else. The true cost of this program to state coffers has been grossly underestimated.
Lawmakers in the House Finance Committee saw the wisdom of denying the proposed $5 million increment increase to create a new DEC bureaucracy and took it out of the budget, allocating the money to a program that actually has a proven track record: Head Start. The budget then moved to the full House floor and the wild and wooly full House amendment process, where it was added back in through some clever political maneuvering on a vote of 18 against, 22 for. The hypocrisy is rich in lawmakers acceding to the creation of a new bureaucracy with only the vaguest idea about outcomes – especially those who bemoan “outcomes” in education while voting to starve that critical system.
If the idea is that DEC wetland permitting will improve economic outcomes for Alaska, one has to only look to our takeover of federal wastewater permitting. In the decade since we took over the responsibility for wastewater permitting, under the same rationale as today’s push for 404 primacy, our state’s economy has not been bolstered by more lax wastewater permitting. In fact, we have plummeted and are stubbornly at the bottom of most national rating systems as far as economic activity. The argument that assuming wetland permitting will ultimately pay for itself through increased permit issuance and permit fees is also a sham. Since DEC took over the federal wastewater permitting agency, funding has consistently dropped, causing many of its core programs to be severely underfunded. The legislature would do well by revisiting self-serving assumptions made by extractive industry boosters about the connection between permitting and the overall economy. To be open for business, a lot of actual choices will have to be made about broad-based individual taxes, closing corporate tax loopholes, and funding early childhood and social services programs. Creating a new state bureaucracy to craft shoddy development permits that will not protect salmon, will be constantly challenged in court, and will cost Alaskans well over the $5 million a year figure being foisted on the legislature (easily $10 million a year by some estimates) is no way to get there.
The state Senate still has yet to start working on its version of the operating budget. From there, the budget differences will be hashed out by House and Senate conference committees, so there remain plenty of opportunities to call on the legislature to remove the proposed money for DEC wetland permitting primacy. The fact that the House Finance Committee chose Head Start over creating more DEC bureaucracy should give us hope that many lawmakers in the Senate will choose the future instead of the past in their decision-making.\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”7″ ][cs_element_button _id=”8″ ][cs_content_seo]Tell Alaska’s legislators to protect our budget and defend our fisheries\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”9″ ][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][cs_element_layout_row _id=”10″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”11″ ][cs_element_button _id=”12″ ][cs_content_seo]Bills To Watch\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”13″ ][cs_element_button _id=”14″ ][cs_content_seo]More Hot Takes In A Cold Place\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]

The House xerox copies bad voting bills from the Senate super-minority

/in , , ,

A slew of bills pertaining to elections and voting saw airplay this week in the House State Affairs Committee. HB 1 intends to repeal Ranked Choice Voting/Open Primaries (bad), and HB 37 to institute ballot-curing, postage paid by mail envelopes, and a ballot tracking system (good) were heard on Tuesday and held in committee.

The House Judiciary Committee apparently believes that Senator Mike Shower – election denier par excellence, residing in one of the smallest conservative minorities in state history, should emerge from his sleepy senate backwaters to guide the work of a House standing committee. The House Judiciary Committee sponsored in rapid succession HB 129, HB 130, HB 131, and HB 132, which are all identical bills to those that Senator Shower prefiled earlier this session. They have a familiar theme: make it harder and more complicated for Alaskans to vote, elevate the phantasm of widespread voter fraud by toughening penalties for said offense, and give credence to the conspiracy that voting machines and vote tally systems were the cause of Donald Trump’s loss.

There are good faith changes that can be made to help Alaskans ensure that their votes are safe, secure, and counted. Ballot curing, ballot tracking, and a more robustly funded system for by-mail voting are good starting points. There is always room for improvement in our system.

The ever-sprawling, ever-shifting nature of conspiracy thinking makes good faith compromise challenging. Donald Trump tried to overthrow Democracy in America. Likely the majority of these bills would not have been introduced if he had prevailed, which is a tough pill to swallow when discussing compromise on voting reform measures. If a “reform” touted by a Trump supporter is based on empirically and legally wrong information, does it still get to play in the great field of legislative ideas? Apparently it does, considering the bills that House State Affairs is choosing to bring up. Whether it needs to become law is another question.

Ranked Choice Voting and Open Primaries won at the ballot box, decreased the power of political parties, and led to the largest field of mostly moderate freshmen lawmakers we have seen in decades. Those are factual statements. You can voice your support for RCV and against HB 1 here. When the House State Affairs Committee holds hearings on HB 1 to repeal RCV while hearing a slate of other bad voting bills, there is an implicit message that RCV is part of a greater conspiracy that the House Majority is addressing. We refute this idea, strenuously, because it is nonsense. Believe you me, we will fight any repeal attempt of RCV either in the legislature or at the ballot box with all available resources, strategies, tactics, and Alaskans we can muster.

The Senate Bi-Partisan supermajority has widely broadcasted that their agenda will focus toward the middle on education, retirement/employee retention, energy cost, and a few other issues. Only one of Senator Shower’s election bills has had a hearing in the Senate this session (after he consumed almost the entirety of his tenure last year as chair of Senate State Affairs on this type of bill). We don’t anticipate that there will be lots of patience in the Senate this year for the House’s posturing on their voting issues that are so profoundly suffused with the anti-democratic events of the recent past. While we’re hopeful, we encourage you to contact the legislature to let them know what you want to see.

Here’s to hoping,
The Alaska Center

An RPS Revival

/in , , ,

[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]The Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) policy has been revived and resurrected from the past legislature, and looks at this point much better than the version that died in committee last year. SB 101 was recently introduced in the Senate, and a companion was introduced in the House, HB 121. These bills establish renewable energy benchmarks for electric utilities to meet in an effort to transform our electric energy sources away from fossil fuels. Like last year’s proposal, utilities would be required to provide electricity from renewable energy resources in the following percentages and by the following dates – 25% by December 31, 2027; 55% by December 31, 2035; and 80% by December 31, 2040. If a good faith effort is not made by utilities to reach these percentages, fines are levied.
Unlike last year’s severely watered-down and over-complicated version – this new legislation starts fresh. It does not allow nuclear energy to be considered “renewable,” nor does it allow waste heat recovery from natural gas combustion to be categorized as “renewable.” Both items will surely be on the utility wish list for amendments to the RPS as it moves forward. To increase residential solar energy as a way of contributing more renewable electrons to the grid, the new RPS policy modifies the existing net energy metering policy by allowing home and business owners who put up solar panels and accrue credits for the energy production beyond what they use, to use these credits throughout the year. Current regulations require that all surplus energy is credited to your next month’s bill. This RPS also sweetens the solar pot by requiring that the credits for surplus energy be at the utility’s retail rate. Current solar regulations nickel-and-dime home solar producers by crediting their surplus energy at a much lower rate.
Anticipate electric utilities uniformly chafing at the idea of having their investment decisions mandated by the legislature, but don’t be fooled – transmission, generation, and distribution of electricity are inextricably linked to public regulation and swayed by public policy decisions. This happens daily, across the nation. To be fair, these decisions are complex. The process of filing tariffs and making rate cases before regulators can be time-consuming and costly, but it is simply the price of doing business as a utility.
Utility managers have a unique advantage in swaying lawmakers as they are the experts in the energy field, while most of our elected officials juggle general knowledge of multiple matters and seek out experts to inform their decisions. Hence, when a complex piece of legislation is brought up in committee, those with significant technical, financial, and legal knowledge are often given greater deference. However, in the case of our unique, member-owned, Board of Director-governed non-profit utilities, we Alaskan rate-payers need to be heard, loudly, in the legislative process. We are the ones paying extremely high electric rates as the price of natural gas increases due to looming supply shortages.
This is the right time for an RPS policy. The legislature has recently mandated that utilities work together to craft system reliability standards and a planning process for new generation. The federal government has unleashed billions of dollars for renewable energy, including a direct payment for non-profit utilities that build new renewable generation facilities. Utility managers are working together more collaboratively than in decades past on upgrading the railbelt transmission system and battery storage facilities. Also, of vast importance, the price of renewable energy is plummeting at a rate never before seen in history. At the same time, we are tied to a monopoly supply of natural gas in the Cook Inlet basin, ever increasing in cost despite years of subsidies from the state’s general fund.
Let’s keep the new RPS policy from falling prey to complex and unending rewrites and delay tactics, utility in-fighting, byzantine attorney tricks, and old costly dogmas about Alaska always and forever needing oil and gas to thrive. It’s time we move in an orderly fashion into the future that is renewable energy guided by a clear RPS policy. Write your legislators today, tell them Alaskans support the RPS.
Keep up the good work, friends, and we will talk to you soon.
The Alaska Center

\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”5″ ][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][cs_element_layout_row _id=”6″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”7″ ][cs_element_button _id=”8″ ][cs_content_seo]Bills To Watch\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”9″ ][cs_element_button _id=”10″ ][cs_content_seo]More Hot Takes In A Cold Place\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]

The Fight Against Discrimination Enters A New Round

/in ,

No legislative session is complete without controversy, and often this controversy is time-consuming and a distraction from the deep work needed to build up the state. The Governor’s introduction this week of a policy proposal to directly discriminate against LGBTQ youth in schools and prohibit discussion of gender identity and sexual education, among other items – under the guise of a “parental rights” bill – checked the box for the session.

The fact that this bill was never designed to pass, nor doing anything beyond whip up those on either side, is readily apparent due to the State Senate numbers. There is absolutely no chance, especially so after the Senate organized around a moderate majority, that this type of legislation will go anywhere. The Governor is apparently not a vote counter; instead, he is a counterproductive bully pulpiter. This invention of the far-right that LGBTQ individuals and Drag Queens represent an existential threat to America is perhaps the most deranged symptom of the far-right’s current illness.

The idea that the religious right-wing believes they own the term “Parental Rights” is sad, misguided, and arrogant. There are many more parents in this state and in America who believe they have a Parental Right to send their children to public schools so they can learn respect for all, how to treat those with differences with dignity, and how our long struggle as a society for equality and justice continues with our youth. A vast majority of American parents have a right to want their children equipped for the challenges and opportunities ahead and to attend well-funded public schools. A vast majority of American parents have a right to see their kids head off to the future following opportunity, to explore, learn, to keep an open mind and an open heart. A parent has a right to home-school their kids, send them to a religious school, or an academy, a charter school, an online school or other option – a zealous minority does not have some exclusive right to impose discriminatory policies on not just LGBTQ youth, but to all other students and parents who seek a just education system.
The Governor is not an imaginative sort, apparently, as this type of policy is a cookie cutter from other states where politicians want to appeal to a malicious strain in the American electorate energized by Trump. It is a sickening policy approach, designed to punish an at-risk minority, and to put an authoritarian thumb on public school teachers and public education. Guess who is emerging as a major fan girl in the State House? Representative Jamie Allard. Shocker. Maybe the Man Without a Caucus Rep. David Eastman will hoot and holler in support. The bill will surely get airplay in the House, and the would-be discriminators will fill hearings with their sanctimony while those already dealing with discrimination will respond with factual accounts of discrimination. (Like for instance, the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights deleting equal protections for LGBTQ Alaskans against most categories of discrimination on the advice of the State Attorney General, and refusing to investigate complaints.)

The fight for LGBTQ protections in Alaska and nationally has been long-standing, and the struggle continues today. From attacks on our LGBTQ youth, particularly trans youth, in schools and extracurricular sports, to the Dunleavy Administration’s attacks on workplace protections and privacy for LGBTQ Alaskans – our leadership has made clear they do not see LGBTQ people as their constituents – but as a problem to attack. Alaskans do not take these attacks lightly. We stand committed and will fight to ensure policies like these are defeated. We are grateful for partners like Planned Parenthood Advocates Alaska and Native Movement, tracking these policies and working with our elected leaders to secure protections. You can take action now by calling the Governor’s office (907-465-3500) or emailing your representatives and telling them that Alaska is no place for hate and signing on to Native Movement’s letter. LGBTQ Alaskans deserve better; and have the right to live free from bigotry and oppression. And we will fight to ensure it is so.

In solidarity,
The Alaska Center

The always changing moods of Juneau

/in , , ,

[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]Greetings from Juneau – It was calm and clear when we arrived by night, sunny the next morning, then a front moved in the next day with wind and light snow that swept off the eves in great somber flags. By evening this had turned to rain, and the snow removal equipment was busy moving sloppy snow around the streets. Two-wheel drive cars performed their usual icecapade dances down the steep streets near the capitol, veering, sliding, and spinning out.
The talk in the capital this week was at first on education funding, and then the Senate Majority released their plan to bring back a defined benefit pension program for new and existing state workers. There was a rally for gun safety legislation on the capitol steps. No gun safety legislation has been filed, and few legislators want to make it an issue this year, though a red flag law bill was introduced last year. Education funding and the pension plan will remain the foundation of discussion and negotiation throughout the session and likely into next year. The new House Republican Majority – with many members holding gavels for the first time in their legislative careers – has been likened to a group of people out on the open ocean building a ship as they go along, much less supplying it with provisions or charting a course.
By the numbers – with moderate Bush Caucus Democrats and Independents and a moderate Republican or two in the House Majority combined with the House Democratic minority and the Bi-partisan Super Majority in the Senate, the votes are there to pass some form of pension reform and provide a much-needed boost to our education system’s funding. The committee chairmanship in the House is what greatly complicates the equation. The chairs of the House Education, House State Affairs, and other key standing committees wield power to stop these efforts in their tracks, consigning them to the graveyard of bills or holding them as a ransom for whatever far-right policy is on the caucus wish list. That there is a huge problem because the House Majority has not articulated a vision or a policy platform of any coherency, so it is hard to tell what end-of-session horse-trading might look like.
We are here mainly to talk about our democracy platform – opposition to the repeal of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) and support for broad omnibus elections bills that include ballot curing and postage paid by mail envelopes. We have met with numerous Senators, Representatives, Staffers, Communications folks, Lobbyists, and Passers-By and have not heard from anyone that the bills seeking to repeal RCV stand a chance. We expect some traction this year on SB 19, elections legislation sponsored by Senator Kawasaki. We bet that SB 19 will pass this year from the Senate to the House. In the House, the bill has to go through the House State Affairs and the House Judiciary committees and Judiciary is chaired by Rep. Vance, who is an election denier, sponsor of an RCV repeal bill, and generally not a lawmaker you want within a hundred yards of any election policy discussion.
We also circled back from our previous visit with lawmakers regarding our clean energy priorities, including a Renewable Portfolio Standard, a state Green Bank, the extension of the Renewable Energy Fund, and legislation to grow Community Solar installations (or Gardens, as we prefer to call them) in Alaska. Good News Flash! We expect a Community Solar bill to be introduced very, very, very soon, and the House and Senate bills to extend the Renewable Energy fund are hurrying through the process like formula one race cars. Both are idling now in their respective Finance committees, the last pit-stop until passage.
We will update you next week when the vibe and the weather have changed a hundred times over.
As always,
The Alaska Center

\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”5″ ][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][cs_element_layout_row _id=”6″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”7″ ][cs_element_button _id=”8″ ][cs_content_seo]Bills To Watch\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”9″ ][cs_element_button _id=”10″ ][cs_content_seo]More Hot Takes In A Cold Place\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]

In the shadow of the clean energy wave

/in , , ,

[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]Since the passage of the federal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) last summer, there has been a sense that a great tsunami is brewing, originating in Washington D.C. (at the Department of Treasury, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, and other solemn bureaucratic bunkers) rumbling and growing and about to sweep across the nation with transformational power.
In the interim between the passage of the act and the process of developing rules and programs to implement the IRA, skeptics have filled the void with dark muttering about the cost (while ignoring the cost of the Trump tax cuts and ignoring the cost of doing nothing on climate change) and the States, Local Governments, Tribes, Utilities, Nonprofits and others who will see the benefit have endured a vague worry that they are not doing enough to prepare, not hiring enough grant writers and researchers and/or creating programs that can receive federal funds.
We know the following is about to roll across the nation: $9 Billion in Home Energy Rebates, $1 Billion in Energy Code Assistance, $14 Billion in Clean Energy Business Loans, $ 9 Billion in Energy Grid upgrades, $1 Billion for Affordable Housing, $7 Billion for Clean Transportation, $277 Billion in Energy Tax Credits, $27 Billion for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, $3 Billion for Environmental Justice Block Grants, $12 Billion for Rural Energy Assistance, $2.6 Billion for Coastal Climate Resilience programs, and $7 Billion for various other clean energy initiatives. Soon programs associated with these pots of money will start to take shape, and that is when we will begin to see the impacts of this most historic investment.
On Feb. 14, the Environmental Protection Agency rolled out its plans for the $27 Billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund with a goal to open up competitive funding rounds this summer for two separate programs – a General and Low Income Assistance competition and a Zero Emissions Technology Fund competition. Also recently, the Department of Energy created the Office of State and Community Energy Programs to implement programs flowing from the IRA and the previous Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Don’t expect to go to sleep in an unjust, carbon-belching world and wake up in an electric futurama where environmental equity is solved. The IRA is going to take time. Probably the benefit of many programs will not be fully realized before the next presidential election. While it is up to the Biden Administration to tell the story of the clean energy, clean transportation, clean jobs, and resilient infrastructure, the environmental justice in the IRA, the transformation spurred by the IRA will well outlast this administration and the subsequent foreseeable administrations.
Some things will be realized sooner than later. The energy tax credits alone, with the provision that nonprofit utilities can receive a direct payment for renewable energy generation – this will completely transform the economics of the construction and operation of grid-scale wind, hydro, and solar in the near term. We also know right now that those paternalistic Boomer tropes about petroleum being the lifeblood of the American economy will soon be shaken, and soon, with the rumblings of the oncoming clean energy tsunami.
You can get involved as soon as next week! On Feb. 22 at 3 PM, the EPA will hold a listening session to hear ideas from community-based organizations and grassroots energy and environmental justice organizations to create an effective and equitable Home Energy Rebate program. >>> Register here
On Feb. 23, 9 AM, the EPA will hold a similar listening session but for equity-focused implementors and advocacy organizations. >>> Register here
Reach out to your lawmaker and Governor Dunleavy and ensure they know that you support their efforts to create programs in Alaska that can utilize the firehose of federal funding.
Take care,
The Alaska Center

\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”5″ ][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][cs_element_layout_row _id=”6″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”7″ ][cs_element_button _id=”8″ ][cs_content_seo]Bills To Watch\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”9″ ][cs_element_button _id=”10″ ][cs_content_seo]More Hot Takes In A Cold Place\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]

Don’t let the sun go down on the Renewable Energy Fund

/in , , , ,

The Renewable Energy Fund (REF), when passed by the AK Legislature in 2008, was one of those rare Kumbaya policies that was approved by a unanimous vote. This was at a time when the Legislature was showered by a windfall of revenue from skyrocketing oil prices (combined with a new progressive tax structure) while outside the shower curtain, constituents were holding pitchforks and shouting, beset by the highest cost gasoline in the whole United States of America. The REF intended to fund renewable energy projects to help lower the cost of living in Alaska. The fund would be capitalized annually for a five-year period to the tune of $50 million per year.

Since its inception, the REF has proven to be an effective and important tool to get funding out on the street toward renewable energy projects. Check out the deets in this handy Quick Facts[!] sheet. The process behind project selection is insulated from political interference by the Renewable Energy Fund Advisory Committee, a body established by the REF legislation to review proposals and make recommendations to the Alaska Energy Authority, which reviews, approves, and passes the approved project along to the Legislature for approval. This helps assure the project benefits are spread out to communities statewide.

When the Legislature passed the REF, it was for a five-year period with a “sunset” at the end. Sunsets are applied to most boards and commissions in Alaska. The reason for a sunset is to provide an incentive for the Legislature to take action within a specific time frame if they want the entity to continue. If an extension is not granted before a sunset date, whether intentionally or not, the Legislature causes the entity to go away. It can be revived from oblivion in a subsequent legislative session though creating a program is often more challenging than simply extending a termination date. In 2012 a vote was taken to extend the sunset to 2023. And here we are, looking on as the sun falls on the silhouettes of future wind energy generators across the state.

Thankfully, lawmakers still largely approve of the REF. That is why a bill was filed last year to extend the sunset (it ran out of time before the end of the Legislature), and another bill has already been filed this year. SB 33 extends the REF to 2033. Sponsored by Anchorage Senator James Kaufman, it was introduced in January and referred to the Senate Resources and Senate Finance committees. We support this bill and encourage our readers to send a quick note to Senator Kaufman supporting the REF.  On that note, The Alaska Center and our partners in The Alaska Climate Alliance were in Juneau this week meeting with the new legislature, with REF extension as one of the top clean energy priorities.

If the bill does not move forward, all is not lost. There are shenanigans the Legislature can pull – such as attaching the sunset extension to another piece of legislation pertaining to renewable energy. In the past, sunsets have been amended into other legislation containing sunset extensions for unrelated programs. There are lots of avenues to keep the REF going. Considering the influx of federal funding with an emphasis on a clean energy transition, it would be both practical and wise for the Legislature to renew the REF.

Hopefully, the new Majority in the House will play along, and not spend their entire tenure in control tilting at windmills like the proposed repeal of ranked-choice voting.

Here’s to hope!