Juneau Watchdog - Bills in the Spotlight

Bills in the Spotlight

SB 289

Home Energy Conservation

Senate Bill 289 PASSED the legislature and is awaiting Governor Palin's signature! This bill received a $300 million appropriation to the Alaska Housing and Finance Corporation to expand their home weatherization and efficiency programs. It allows greater flexibility to the agency for the administration of this program and allows better response to issues such as rising fuel costs and energy crisis in Rural Alaska. Additionally, this bill broadens the scope of AHFC through greater weatherization and efficiency funding.

It allows AHFC to “plan, study, implement, and assist Alaskans through existing programs to deal with home energy conservation and weatherization without limiting it to low income. It still give first priority to those most in need.

SB 289 also gives an added boost to construction and development workers at a time when construction of new homes is declining by encouraging home improvements.

The benefits of this bill is that it helps to decrease household energy demands, provide short-term relief, and invest in long-term solutions for Alaska's energy needs

Please write to Governor Palin reminding her how important this bill is to us.

Weatherization: Income-based

Cost: Aid for weatherization is currently given at 60% median income. This bill would change it to 100% median income to serve a greater number of Alaskans, especially important because of rising fuel costs. Sponsors of the bill are asking to $200 million to fund this portion of the program.

Benefit: According to a 2006 study conducted by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) the average natural gas heated house that participates in the low income weatherization program sees a 32.3% decrease in energy consumption for space heating. The 2005 Statewide Housing Assessment estimated the number of weatherization income-eligible households in AK to be 45,000 statewide. If two-thirds of these homes were weatherized we would see more than one billion pounds of avoided carbon emissions and present value savings of more than $227 million

Efficiency: Not income-based

$100m to increase the number of grants available for improving energy efficiency in Alaskan homes.

Anyone who increases the energy efficiency of their homes according to the standards of the program could be eligible for between $2,500 and $5,000 for efficiency upgrades.

Other Talking Points:

Low income Alaskans will continue to receive the priority focus of the programs, however. This change would simply allow AHFC to assist a larger number of Alaskans. This broader scope will allow AHFC to design a menu of programs that will address the needs of Alaskans from the neediest to the average Alaskan homeowners relative to residential energy efficiency.

SB 289 is at its core a responsible action to the energy crisis in rural Alaska. But is more than that. Energy conservation and efficiency is the first prong of a building a secure, affordable energy future, the second prong requires investing in renewable energy: as such, SB 289 represents the first prong and HB 152 the second. One provides much needed short-term assistance, the other sets the stage for Alaska’s secure, clean energy future. We encourage you to contact your legislators to ask them to support both of these bills - by passing them this session and by providing the funding necessary for them to succeed.

Other interesting & helpful AK housing statistics from the AEA/AHFC Energy Efficiency report:

Of the more than 1,500 survey respondents, roughly 7.5 percent indicated their housing was in need of repair that they were unable to make.
Five percent of people who live in homes with 300 square feet per resident or fewer also report living in a dwelling that is falling apart and in need of replacement.
Sixty-eight percent of households with less than $10,000 annual income report having homes that are drafty.
In 2005 there were an estimated 20,741 units in need of major repair.

Take Action:

To write to your legislator Click Here!

To write a letter to the editor Click Here!

Please contact the Juneau Watchdog at if you have any questions or would like more information.

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