Testimony on Community Energy Facilities

Yesterday, the House Energy Committee heard public testimony on a renewable energy bill: HB 328. The Community Energy Facilities; Net Metering bill would make community solar, wind, geothermal etc permissible.

Right now, not everyone can invest in and receive the benefits of renewable energy. If someone rents their home or business space, they don’t have the option of adding solar to their roofs. Some houses or commercial buildings just aren’t in the right location for renewable energy infrastructure- mountains and trees might shade a roof or disrupt wind, geothermal might not be right for a particular spot, or there might be another geographic or physical barrier. There are also a set of folks who have enough resources that they could invest in renewable energy and wish to do so, but don’t necessarily have sufficient upfront capital to install a full array of solar panels or a windmill.

Community Energy Facilities allow people to invest in a portion of a renewable energy project, and receive the respective benefits. For example, a local church could put up panels on their roof with investments from interested folks in the community. The investors in the project will receive credits on their energy bill that match up with their portion of the project when it produces energy. Their energy bill will go down after the payback period and the grid will have more renewable energy providing resiliency for everyone, while protecting our air, water, and climate. Community energy is essentially another mechanism to get private dollars invested in renewable energy infrastructure.

Alaska Environment’s Testimony

Thank you to Chair Rauscher and the committee for taking testimony today.  My name is Dyani Chapman, I live in Anchorage, and I’m the state director of Alaska Environment. We are in support of this bill. Community Energy projects are a great way to allow more individuals- those who rent, don’t have the right roof or property or geographic location, or those who don’t have the capital for a full project, to invest private dollars into expanding renewable energy infrastructure and allow more individuals to benefit from renewable energy. Right now, we need to expand renewable energy infrastructure quickly and this bill will increase options and investment. That’s good for our air, water, and climate. It’s also good for the resiliency of our electrical grid and our communities. I encourage you to pass this bill this session. Thank you!