Conservation Watch 2011 #5- Crowded Hallways

Crowded Hallways

Time flies  - one third of the session is behind us. As usual this time of year, there was lots of action in the legislature’s hallways last week.  Many major groups arrived in Juneau last week to hold annual meetings, give presentations, and lobby the legislature.  After spending much of their time during the first weeks of the session gathering information, legislators are starting to show their hand on what bills they care about and which are facing an early demise.  And all legislative hawks are watching Senate Finance closely for the release of an amended capital budget bill.  Voters will stay close and report back to you.

AEA Restructuring - Susitna in the Mix 

Senate Resources began to take a close look at SB 42, a bill that generally changes AEA’s structure and powers but also paves the first step of the path toward the Susitna project, AEA’s preferred project to help solve the railbelt energy challenge and meet the 50% renewable energy goal under state law.  Legislators asked some tough questions and raised some serious concerns.  

Oversight of the project came up as Sen. Wielechowski raised concerns that the bill would exempt AEA from a Regulatory Commission of Alaska (“RCA”) review.  Currently, existing law requires AEA to review its projects for wasteful spending.   It’s an open question whether a project like Susitna should have independent agency oversight by RCA or if internal AEA oversight is appropriate.  Procurement issues also were discussed which are fairly important as the state could be spending billions. 

Sen. McGuire questioned what experience AEA had in managing construction projects.  AEA answered that Bradley Lake, built in 1990, is the largest project ever managed by the agency and that Susitna is clearly a much larger undertaking.  For perspective, no state agency has managed a Susitna-sized project.

Some questions remain unanswered.  A Susitna project must include any environmental mitigation projects Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requires but it is unclear whether AEA included an estimate of those costs in the current $4.5b figure.  Also, AEA anticipates that completing the three to five year FERC licensing process will cost $71m which makes the $66m line-item in this year’s budget seem particularly large.  Voters will try to get answers to these questions and report back.

Listen in on more hearings in House Energy today at 3p and again at 3p on Thursday, and in Senate Resource Wednesday at 3:30p

House Majority Presents “Guiding Principles” for 27th Legislature

At their weekly press conference yesterday, House majority leadership presented their priorities for the two- year session.  They’ll be focusing on affordable energy, responsible resource development (with one focus on stakeholder involvement), and safe and healthy community while promoting local solutions.  Obviously, these are fairly general priorities.  Voters will wait and see what specific issues the House Majority Caucus pushes this year. The Senate said during a regular Monday press conference that it hadn’t been advised in advance of this House move.

The House Majority press release can be found here.

“Bridge to Nowhere” May Be Going Somewhere

The idea of building a bridge from Anchorage across Knik Arm to Point Mackenzie, one of the infamous bridges to nowhere, has been bandied about for years.  The project is not cheap and requires significant state support.  Two bills introduced  by Sen. Menard, SB 79 and 80, would breathe new life into the project and KABATA, the state corporation tasked with moving the project forward.  SB 79 would appropriate $150m to KABATA for design and construction.  SB 80 expands KABATA’s bonding limit from $500m to $600m and  other financing authorities.  Opponents of the project and bills argue this is bad investment for the state and population and usage figures propping up the need for the bridge are inaccurate Proponents say this is a necessary step forward in the long term development of Anchorage and the Mat Su Borough.  Both bills will be heard today in Senate Transportation at 1p.  

The Anchorage Daily News published a story in this Sunday’s paper about the KABATA bills.

Read an opinion paper on KABATA written by Voters' Board Member Jamie Kenworthy

Rep. Seaton’s Solution to Non-point Pollution

An opportunity to improve Alaska’s water quality is being carried forward by Rep. Seaton.  Currently, state agencies and municipalities have access to loans at premium rates from the Clean Water Fund (a fund administered by the state but capitalized with federal money).  The problem is there is more money available for loans than agencies and municipalities are using for water quality projects.  HB 123 allows non-profits, community organizations, developers, and individuals to apply for these loans to complete projects to prevent non-point pollution.  Banks would administer the state guaranteed loans through a financing mechanism called “linked deposit.”  While the mechanics of the program seem fairly complicated, the potential impact is not; more completed water quality projects and Alaska’s water improving.