If Alaskans aren’t at a crossroads politically, we’re drawing close. Most all candidates running for statewide offices this year have given due time to talk about the state’s energy future, since we’ve been living off of our energy past for so long and change is coming. A dwindling flow of oil down the pipeline makes it impossible to ignore. It’s the way the state pays for much of what it does, so it impacts nearly everyone. Two of the five questions posed to candidates by Alaska Newspapers Inc. deal directly with energy and how we acquire it.

We also asked them about other issues important to rural Alaskans: subsistence, fisheries, jobs. Every candidate running for the U.S. House, U.S. Senate, governor’s office and lieutenant governor’s office was sent the same questions. Below are answers from those who responded.

Continue reading: Finding energy at the ballot box

The recession is lingering, and so is the unspent stimulus money that was meant to help end it.

The latest example is the $3.2 billion that Congress voted in February 2009 as part of an economic stimulus package to simultaneously provide jobs and improve energy efficiency through block grants to states and cities.

Only about 8.4 percent of the money had been spent by the beginning of this month, according to an audit released on Friday by the inspector general of the Energy Department, and it has produced or saved only about 2,300 jobs as of the second quarter of this year.

The program was to provide money for the purchase of better lighting or heating and cooling equipment for buildings like city halls and schools. But it is off to the same slow start as a bigger program that was initiated at the same time to weatherize the homes of low-income people around the country. An audit of that program in February, also by the  inspector general, found that only $368.2 million of $4.73 billion, or less than 8 percent, had been spent.

Continue reading: Energy Funds Went Unspent, U.S. Auditor Says

BY CCHRC STAFF

The “Ask a Builder” series is dedicated to answering some of the many questions Fairbanks residents have about building, energy and the many other parts of home life.

Q: Many people are fixing their old home and getting a rebate from the state. Is there still rebate money available for building a new home?

The statesponsored Energy Rebate Program for new construction is still active, although continuous longterm funding is uncertain. Any homeowner who builds a home that meets the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) 5Star Plus energy standards is eligible for a $7,500 rebate, however there are some important details that determine who qualifies and a specific process that must be followed.

The program operates from a statewide waiting list on a firstcome, firstserved basis. So the sooner you sign up, the better your chances are for benefiting from the program. The first step is to get on the waiting list. Locally, the staff of CCHRC’s Portal on Retrofits Training and Loans (PORTAL) can guide you every step of the way.

Call 455HEAT (4-328) or contact the AK Rebate Call Center tollfree at1-877AKREBATE (1-877-257-3-228). Once your name reaches the top of the list, AHFC sends out two forms: “5 Star Plus New Construction Energy Rebate Encumbrance Request” and the “5 Star Plus New Construction Energy Rebate Form.” As an ownerbuilder, when you submit the completed forms, you must also include a copy of an energy rating taken from the building plans that validates that the home will meet 5 Star Plus standards, which can be found on the AHFC website: www. ahfc. state.

ak. us. Once AHFC receives and approves the forms, $7,500 is set aside for one year during which the house must be completed.

There are several criteria to meet to be eligible for the program.

Only the original owner qualifies for the rebate, and the home must serve as the primary residence.

If the home is purchased from a builder, it cannot be more than one year old at the time of the first sale. Ownerbuilders can qualify too, however the home cannot be occupied for more than one year from the date of completion.

To qualify if you are an ownerbuilder , you will have to submit the right forms to the state once the home has been completed. These forms include the “Building Energy Efficiency Standard Certification (BEES),” which certifies that the home was built to meet the 5 star Plus thermal and ventilation standards. The form can be signed by a certified home inspector , engineer , energy rater , architect, or the builder if he/ she is approved to certify and has met the current BEES training and testing requirements.

A “Summary of Building Inspection” form must also be submitted, which validates that the home was built in compliance with local building codes. This form must be signed by a statecertified building inspector who has conducted all the inspections during the construction process, starting with the building’s footings. For this reason, it is important to begin the rebate process and hire an inspector before breaking ground on the home. Finally , the finished home must also have an energy audit.

These three forms must be completed, signed by the appropriate authorities, and submitted to AHFC with the reimbursement form. Although this process may sound complicated, the new home construction rebate is a great opportunity for an ownerbuilder or new homebuyer to offset a significant portion of the construction costs, and ultimately enjoy the long term financial and environmental benefits of building an energy efficient home.

Alaska HomeWise articles promote home awareness for the Cold Climate Housing Research Center (CCHRC). If you have a question, email us at akhomewise@cchrc.org.You can also call the CCHRC at (9-07) 457-3-454.

Congress focuses on whether the Environmental Protection Agency should go where no federal regulators have gone before and regulate greenhouse gases. But the agency did something more prosaic on Monday, albeit something it has not done effectively for the last 15 years or so: it put more than 100 cement kilns on notice that they will have to spend almost $1 billion annually to clean up the pollution they put into the atmosphere.

That’s the agency’s estimate. A statement by the Portland Cement Association, a trade group, put the cost at “several billion dollars.”

The E.P.A. estimates that the new rules will eliminate 92 percent of the mercury and fine-particulate emissions from cement kilns (more than 10 percent of the national total). The rule will also save 960 to 2,500 lives annually starting in 2013, not to mention avert hundreds of cases of bronchitis and 1,500 heart attacks, the agency said.

Continue reading: E.P.A. Cracks Down on Cement Pollution

The borough began taking applications last week for its wood stove repair and replacement program.

“The program is up and operational,” air quality director Glenn Miller said.

Applications are available at the borough air quality office on Peger Road.

The program is still evolving, and applications won’t be available on the borough website until final modifications are made, Miller said.

Qualifying residents will receive government assistance replacing outdoor wood boilers and old wood stoves for cleaner-burning models approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. Cash payouts and tax credits are available to those who switch to gas or oil heat.

The program is part of a larger endeavor to improve the air in Fairbanks.

The Borough Clerk last week compiled ballot language for the home heating initiative.

Fairbanks North Star Borough voters on Oct. 5 will be asked to vote yes or no on the following statement: “The borough shall not ban, prohibit, or fine residents for the use of home heating devices.”

If the ballot measure passes, the outcome is a matter of debate.

The Borough Attorney said she won’t issue a legal opinion on the measure unless the voters approve it.

Sponsors say their goal is to repeal regulations on home heating devices, but some local leaders think approval of the ballot measure effectively would turn over air quality enforcement to the state.

The Borough Assembly passed a resolution approving the port authority’s plan to purchase Fairbanks Natural Gas LLC and launch a natural gas trucking operation.

A separate measure calling for a public vote on the plan narrowly failed.

The $250 million project now goes before the Regulatory Commission of Alaska.

“People are waiting for energy relief,” Assemblywoman Kelly Brown said. “I don’t believe they need to wait anymore.”

Architects of the plan include municipal officials who belong to the Alaska Gasline Port Authority’s board of directors. The agency is backed by the Fairbanks North Star Borough and the city of Valdez.

They say the trucking operation will result in a 25 percent drop in natural gas prices in Fairbanks and a 6 percent drop in electric bills.

Continue reading: Fairbanks Borough Assembly gives it approval to plan to truck liquefied gas

The number of people who heat with wood in the Fairbanks North Star Borough is slowly rising, a new study shows.

Researchers called 300 area households last winter and asked a series of questions, mostly regarding home heating habits.

They found the number of borough households using wood heat has gone up about 7 percent since 2006.

A breakdown by area shows wood heat is more popular in North Pole than any other ZIP code.

Borough administrators are using the survey results to help decide where to steer funding for a wood stove replacement program. Future studies will be used to gauge whether the local air pollution control program is working.

Continue reading: Study finds more Fairbanks borough homes keep warm by burning wood than in 2006

Assemblyman Guy Sattley has drafted an ordinance requiring a public vote on the plan to truck liquefied natural gas to Fairbanks, but Borough Mayor Luke Hopkins said delaying the $250 million project is risky.

“If we stretch this timeline out,” Hopkins said Thursday at a Borough Assembly work session, “basically, the project is going to be very difficult to be financed in the way the port authority wants it to be.”

Hopkins, who belongs to the governing board of the Alaska Gasline Port Authority, said the main problem with delaying the project for a public vote is an expected rise in interest rates.

“As financing money begins to cost more, it could cost the project greater and greater amounts,” Hopkins said. “That would take away from the revenue stream.”

A ballot group succeeded in gaining the signatures to put a question to the Fairbanks area voters that, if approved, would reverse new air pollution regulations.

A Fairbanks North Star Borough canvassing board approved the signatures last week.

The question about whether the borough should be allowed to regulate home heating devices will appear on the Oct. 5 ballot, according to borough officials and a member of the ballot measure group. The group needed 2,379 signatures.

Rick VanderKolk, treasurer of the North Star Landowners, said the ballot measure group is raising money to publicize the measure, dubbed The Home Heating Protection Act.

If approved by the voters, the act states that “the borough shall not ban, prohibit or fine residents for the use of home heating devices.” It effectively reverses air pollution regulations passed last month and aimed at dense chimney smoke that puts out a harmful pollutant known as PM 2.5. The federal government has put the borough on notice to reduce levels of PM 2.5.

The ballot measure group is backed by Rep. Tammy Wilson, R-North Pole; businessman Craig Compeau; radio personality Michael Dukes and others.