A document submitted as a state energy plan falls short of its mark, while renewable energy projects submitted for funding might go too far, legislators said.

Members of the House Energy Committee, including Rep. Jay Ramras, R-Fairbanks, were critical of the Alaska Energy Authority’s state energy plan as director Steve Haagenson detailed the more than 240-page volume during a hearing Tuesday afternoon.

Rep. Bryce Edgmon, a Democrat from Dillingham and committee co-chairman, said calling the report an energy plan was something of a misnomer. Instead, the report seemed a “first step” toward a state energy plan, he said.

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The State of Alaska has published its proposal for grant allocation from the Alaska Renewable Energy Fund. This money will fund the construction of a wide range of alternative energy projects throughout the state. The total proposed expenditure from the State of Alaska is $100 million, with a Federal match of approximately $300 million.

Click here for a link to the Alaska Energy Authority page that outlines the proposal and links to relevant documents.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks is crunching numbers to study how much greenhouse gas we emit.

The university’s Alaska Center for Energy and Power is conducting the study using a $20,000 grant from the Fairbanks North Star Borough.

The work will serve as a baseline document needed to responsibly advance a proposed coal-and-biomass-to-fuel project, borough Mayor Jim Whitaker said. Whitaker said organizers are committed to reducing the community’s aggregate emissions through that proposed project and its capacity for spinoff energy and heat generation.

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A new energy research center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks is looking for alternative funding after Gov. Sarah Palin last week vetoed a $1.5 million state and federal appropriation for the center.

Palin’s budget director Karen Rehfeld said Wednesday the governor was concerned about the growth of the state’s operating budget and wanted to let the Alaska Energy Authority complete its statewide energy plan.

“Energy clearly is a huge priority for the state,” Rehfeld said, “but I think the governor wanted the other work to get done before we start deciding where we want to invest energy dollars.”

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