Bills aimed at reducing energy costs, boosting Cook Inlet gas and carbon storage advance in Legislature’s final days

Senators stitchery astir nan table of Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, connected May 14, 2024. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)

Two high-priority power bills aimed astatine boosting Cook Inlet state production, sequestering c dioxide and lowering user costs look headed for last transition successful nan Alaska Legislature. Both bills were initially projected by Gov. Mike Dunleavy and now incorporate a number of different proposals.

In nan House, legislators greenlit a bill aimed astatine making it cheaper to transmit power astir various communities connected nan Railbelt. It would besides make it easier and cheaper to bring caller power sources connected nan grid, particularly for independent powerfulness producers.

Rep. Will Stapp, R-Fairbanks, said it’s each astir lowering power costs.

“The unified transmission organization, nan RTO [Railbelt Transmission Organization], is really nan first measurement successful saying, OK, let’s return a holistic look astatine really we tin move up and down nan full Railbelt system, nan cheapest electron, right, from Homer to Fairbanks, aliases from Fairbanks to Homer and everyplace successful between, and past let’s look astatine wherever we tin deploy caller forms of generation,” Stapp said.

The measure would besides forestall utilities from passing connected nan costs of building earthy state import terminals to customers done rates. It’s owed for a Senate Finance Committee proceeding Wednesday and is apt headed for nan governor’s table aft a last Senate vote.

Meanwhile, nan Senate passed a measure that would let companies to inject c dioxide into underground reservoirs. Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, who presented nan measure connected nan Senate floor, said it could beryllium a boon for nan state.

“Carbon capture, utilization and retention is an expanding manufacture that companies are opening to perpetrate billions of dollars to put in,” Stedman said. “SB 50 will let Alaska to return portion successful that.”

Stedman said nan Senate Finance Committee had scrutinized nan measure to guarantee it would not upwind up costing nan authorities money done taxation credits — and Stedman said nan usage of c dioxide injection for alleged “enhanced lipid recovery” had nan imaginable to boost authorities lipid revenue. 

The measure besides includes respective provisions aimed astatine addressing nan looming state proviso crunch. One would modulate nan value of earthy state storage. Another would group up a reserve-based lending programme wrong nan Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority. That would supply authorities loans to mini drillers successful Cook Inlet who person been incapable to find investors. 

Earlier this year, Texas-based BlueCrest Energy said it was willing successful drilling an offshore state good to entree a state deposit successful nan Cosmopolitan Unit estimated to incorporate much than 4 years’ worthy of existent Southcentral state demand. Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, said nan programme could thief support Alaskans’ power costs down.

“That proviso unsocial could unlock complete 300 cardinal cubic feet of state successful 1 field, we think, which solves our problem successful Cook Inlet for nan adjacent decade,” Wielechowski said. “There’s much to beryllium done. And I deliberation nan icing connected apical is that nan money that we whitethorn get from this that we dream to get will spell into nan Permanent Fund and turn people’s dividends.”

The c retention measure besides seeks to grow geothermal power by easing immoderate rules and mounting up a caller licensing system. Dunleavy offered support for nan c retention measure package successful a connection from his property office.

Senators besides passed a abstracted measure Tuesday mounting up a “green bank” wrong nan Alaska Housing Finance Corporation that would finance renewable power projects. The greenish slope was added arsenic an amendment to a House measure that removes a lending headdress connected AHFC location loans. It would request a last ballot successful nan House to caput to nan governor. Dunleavy backed nan greenish slope conception successful different bill.