Alaska towns say hello to renewable energy
Lawmakers make $250 million available for green grants
Published Sunday, April 20, 2008
JUNEAU — For now, most of rural Alaska gets its electricity from burning diesel. But if things go according to plan, communities around the state will soon be making power from everything but fossil fuel.
State lawmakers agreed this month to put $250 million during the next five years toward grants for renewable energy projects. Utilities, local governments and housing authorities will all be able to apply for the grants, which can be used for feasibility studies or actual construction.
The goal is to reduce the cost of energy by helping develop locally available sources of energy like the wind, river currents or underground heat.
“It gives us a chance to utilize the other resource we have, and that’s the renewable resource statewide,” said Rep. Bill Thomas, a Republican from Haines and early proponent of the grants. “It’s an effort to put diesel to bed.”
In the last week of the legislative session, the Alaska Legislature gave final approval to a modified version of HB 152, a bill sponsored by House Speaker John Harris, a Republican from Valdez, setting up a renewable energy fund. The bill passed without a single “no” vote, and more than half of all lawmakers signed on as co-sponsors.
Big money
When Thomas first started pushing the proposal three years ago, he wasn’t sure the fund would even get funded, he said last week. Then state revenues swelled with high oil prices, and Gov. Sarah Palin proposed putting $250 million into a renewable energy fund.
The idea was to use earnings from the fund to pay for projects.
In the end, lawmakers scrapped that idea and decided to put $250 million directly toward projects during the next five years, more than doubling the amount of money available for grants.
The first $50 million was included in this year’s capital budget, and Thomas said he thought lawmakers would likely keep funding the program in future years even though they aren’t required to.
Palin will also have to approve the legislation and appropriations.
HB 152 calls on the Alaska Energy Authority to evaluate proposals and award grants with help from an advisory committee appointed by the governor and legislative leaders.
The public corporation is already giving renewable energy grants this year in partnership with the Denali Commission, but only $5 million worth.
Peter Crimp, AEA’s alternative energy program manager, said last week that AEA got nearly 100 proposals when it sent out its RFP, 60 of which were deemed eligible. AEA is still reviewing the projects for viability and cost-effectiveness, but Crimp said many looked good and added that there would probably be more deserving projects than money available.
The extra money approved by lawmakers will allow AEA to fund more projects and give bigger grants, he said. “Certainly, having a 50 million dollar budget is going to allow for larger, higher-profile projects.”
Under HB 152, state lawmakers will have the final say in which projects get funded.
Many different kinds
of projects covered
HB 152 covers any renewable energy project using wind, solar, geothermal, tidal or hydroelectric power, as well as less conventional projects involving wood products, fish waste and landfill gas. It also covers transmission lines and, in cases where no renewable resources are available, natural gas projects.
Crimp said residential installations probably wouldn’t be considered, but things like wood-fired boilers in school and community buildings, small-scale hydropower projects and small wind turbines would be.
Utilities and independent power producers are already looking into a wide variety of renewable energy projects across Alaska.
When AEA issued its RFP last year, the proposals ranged from large-scale wind farms to wood-fired heating and geothermal projects. The Gulkana Village Council asked for money to build a biomass boiler system in Gulkana. The Juneau International Airport requested help with a geothermal ground source heat pump. And Golden Valley Electric Association asked for money to study interconnection criteria for a proposed wind farm near Healy.
Chris Rose, executive director of the Renewable Energy Alaska Project, a coalition of businesses and organizations supporting renewable energy, said projects that are economic in the long run may still need a boost from the state because of the high up-front costs.
Renewable energy projects typically cost more to build than facilities using fossil fuels, he said, “But the huge difference is that there’s no fuel cost.”
Gwen Holdmann, who oversaw the geothermal energy project at Chena Hot Springs Resort and now works as organizational director of the Alaska Center for Energy and Power at the University of Alaska, said a state grant of $246,000 was what it took to jumpstart the $2.2 million geothermal project at Chena.
She called the passage of HB 152 a “really big step forward” and said she was excited by the amount of money put into the grants.
Solving the
energy crisis
With energy prices skyrocketing, lawmakers this session considered a number of solutions.
Some involved handouts and rebates to help Alaskans deal with high costs, while others looked at ways to reduce costs, either by saving energy or switching to renewable sources.
In the end, lawmakers favored the second approach.
In addition to the investment in renewable energy, they also put $300 million toward weatherization and energy efficiency programs.
Harris compared the renewable energy fund to another state subsidy for electricity — the power cost equalization program, which simply lowers the price of electricity for consumers.
If the state can invest in capital projects that lower the cost of making power rather than just the price to consumers, he said, “That’s money even better spent.”
Near the end of the session, a few other energy-related items were added to HB 152.
One establishes a state match to the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which provides energy grants to low-income residents. The addition will raise the program’s eligibility level, allowing more residents to qualify for grants.
Another sets up a seven-member legislative task force on renewable energy. The group is required to meet at least four times and prepare a report that assesses future renewable energy needs and makes recommendations for meeting those needs.
Palin spokeswoman Sharon Leighow said the governor supports the idea of a renewable energy fund but has not reviewed the final version of the bill.
For more news from the capital, visit www.newsminer.com/weblogs and look for Capital Focus.
Comments
$$$250,000000.00 I would say that is "green". Lets study just how green we can get. I do need someone to explane just what is "renewable Energy", sounds like the only thing "renewable" is the green stuff. Oh well its at least replacing "its for the children" Just getting those $$$$$$$ spent. Im getting old but somewhere in this old head is the statement I heard once in school.. Energy can be neither created or destroyed, then how can it be "renewed"? Sure glad we have lots of $$$$$$$$$$ to throw away..
It is always about the money. Has Alaska looked into WIND power??
We all know there will never be a shortage of wind.
That 2.2 million dollar project at Chena Hot Springs still relies on diesel powered Generators and benefits only one business/person.
Anyone know happened to the Galena Nuclear Project? That was a project that would provide for a whole community, unlike the money for the Chena Project.
In Alaska, wind power is only reliable in the presence of politicians.
It's nice to hear a positive article once in a while. One where our leaders are thinking foward to head off the problem rather than just spend the money on bandaids, ie, rebates for high fuel costs.
Bugger, you are correct that energy can't be created or destroyed, but the energy we get from oil will be depleted at some point. Renewable means our evironment will be producing it at the rate we use it.
duckabush, I think I read that GVEA has applied for money to study wind farming in Healy. Take a look.
I really think wind is the way to go for Alaska. Huge amounts of space and a small population.
Anyone have any links to any studies conducted about the feasability of this?
Bugger - Renewable energy is energy that can be used over and over without running out. Yes, all energy can be destroyed. For example, we get energy to run our cars from the gas we put in it. The gas at the station comes from oil in the ground. Once we take that oil, it doesn't come back for millions of years. Eventually we'll run out of oil and that means no more gas.
Now, if we invested in solar powered cars, the sun's energy is renewable. If you use the energy one day, the sun comes up the next day and we have energy again. Wind power is renewable because there's always wind. We don't run out of wind.
I'm actually glad that gas prices have skyrocketed. Sure, I hate paying more at the pump, but if this is the price I have to pay in order to wake people up and get them to see what we're doing to our environment, then go for it. We've been running around destroying everything that isn't tacked down for a long time. It's about time we started thinking about cleaner, cheaper ways to get energy.
The current energy shortage we are seeing today has little to do with an actual shortage. It is artificial, just as the fuel shortage of the 70's, except then you could see the results of the embargo by the signs in retail outlets that reported they were out of gas.
Oil companies purposely under report there reserves to prevent the Government from taxing that which they haven't begun to draw on.
I still haven't made up my mind about oil being a finite resource.
Try googling Peak Oil Scam to see the other point of view.
I think this demand for alternative energy is no different then me demanding fusion power, mandating punitive measures of all types on people and business for failing to create that which has yet to be.
I rebember when there was hardly any wind (30-35 years ago)the stong winds in north pole/fairbanks were not always here if you were to pay a lot of money for a wind generator back then you wouln`t be seeing profits for mmmmm-30 or 40 years.
anyone who thinks we can continue on this path of petroleum consumption indefinitely, that we can drill ourselves to energy independence, that "the market" will solve all, deserves a "Darwin Award". Alaska has a huge renewable energy potential (geothermal, wind, solar, hydro, tidal), and its up to gov't and tax incentives to invest mightily in those resources. maintaining the status quo will keep us on a path of assured catastrophe. Germay, a country not known for its tropical sunny climate, will obtain 30% of its energy from solar panels by 2020. Whitehorse, a town of similar size and geography to Fairbanks, gets almost all its energy from hydroelectric. And chena hot springs does not rely on diesel anymore. they are entirely self-sufficent, (except for their vehicles and or in emergencies). we need political leadership and we all need to get behind renewables.
Also need to look at wind power in the Broad Pass to Cantwell area, need to look at Hydro on the Jack River, river flow year around, need to look at all forms of Renewable energy , also need to get a coal fire plant back on line instead of just sitting in Healy collect dust, that we pay 280 millon to build to just sit for the last 8 to 10 years now not being use.
i'm for coal in AK as long as the coal plants are willing to install technology to remove the CO2 from their emissions, and if they can find a way to sequester it underground. You would think the oil companies on Prudhoe would want to invest in this technology; CO2, instead of water, could be injected into the aging oil underground oil reservoirs killing 2 birds with one stone; keeping excess CO2 out of the atmosphere, and squeezing every last drop of black gold out of the fields.
a carbon tax would help to give coal companies the incentive to invest in the carbon sequestration technology.
yeah, you heard me, TAX, TAX, T-TAX-TAX-TAX!!!
its the only way to encourage conservation, energy efficiency, and new technology! otherwise we're the frog in a beaker of water sitting on a hot plate metephor.
Renewable energy utilization is a welcomed alternative to outrageous fuel prices and electrical power, particularly in rural Alaska.
The danger lays in the illusion that converting from non-renewable to renewable for a sole source of heat and electrical power that; 1.) will be cheap, and 2.) will be universally applicable. Wind generation in one location may not work as efficiently as other locations, or geothermal, or hydro, or biomass methane.
BUT the greatest danger is that the slide of card trick to export ALASKAN GAS and OIL that should have been shared by ALL ALASKANS until viable alternative energy sources can be built and put into operation thought Alaska.
$50 million dollars a year for five years = $250 million. Since most of the money will be used for site specific engineering, there will not be sufficient money to have a working alternative energy system in place.
The renewable energy funding is a step in the right direction but it is not the finish line of the race.
yes, the future of energy will lay in local diversification: some areas may be suitable for wind, while others, geothermal or hydro.
there's no one size-fits-all single source solution, which fossil fuels have provided for the last century.
I think you've hit the nail on the head, Pat. We'll likely see the same thing with automobiles as well ... hydrogen, electric, biofuel, etc. working simultaneously, with no one type of car becoming dominant.
This car is soon to be mass produced in China...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf-dNLSnl...
Lithium batteries are fast evolving with nanotech,
likewise carbon-aerogel ultracapacitors have revolutionized EMD-systems.
http://www.maxwell.com//ultracapacitors/...
CarbonFoam has revolutionized lead-acid batteries to make a superior AcrticClimate battery..
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...
....and I have a college geek friend in China who is building a snowmobile that has no engine but runs like a dream..
..the track is loaded with magnets and is the armature to a linear-motor...but the really neato part of it is the propane-fuelcell that really cranks out the juice....a sno-go with only one moving part>> the track.
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