Dear neighbors,

A lot of emails about the status of the federal energy stimulus funds have been showing up in my inbox the past month. The House and Senate Energy Committees held a joint hearing yesterday for a presentation from House Finance Committee aide Larry Persily to get some answers about what the state will or not be required to do.

Larry has spent months researching the federal stimulus funds and working with the United States Department of Energy to find out what if any strings are attached if the state accepts $28.5 million in federal energy efficiency funds.

The bottom line states there is no requirement for a statewide energy efficiency building code. In fact, no one will be required to do anything to their property. All the state would be required to do is report how it used the money. Something already required with any federal money the State of Alaska receives.

I was relieved to hear that the only strings attached to the state energy program money are reporting and accountability strings. Those are good strings to have.

The energy department sent a letter to legislative leadership this week giving it until September 30^th to accept the funds. This officially gives the legislature time to consider overturning the veto Governor Sarah Palin’s made when she was still in office. The Legislature will hold a special session Monday, August 10^th at the Egan Center in downtown Anchorage. We will hold a veto override vote and confirm Craig Campbell as Lt. Governor.

After the committee meeting, the Joint House and Senate Stakeholders Group held its second meeting. As I mentioned in by previous blog, the stakeholders group is made up of Alaskans representing energy, natural resource development, economics and conservation groups. Our goal is to come up with a game plan for energy legislation when the legislature reconvenes in January.

It was a really good meeting and a learning experience for everyone. What constitutes good sound energy policy is a tough but necessary discussion to have if the state is going to push forward with a sustainable long term energy plan. Our next meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 24 at 1:00 p.m. in the Anchorage LIO. All my constituents are welcome to attend.

Stay tuned for another update on Monday August 10^th. I will fill you all in on how the special session unfolded and House Energy Committee meeting in Kenai went.

As always, call my office at (907) 269-0222 if there’s anything I can help you with.

Warmly,

Charisse

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 at 3:33 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.