Juneau's Legislative Delegation

This is the second email with information from your Juneau legislative delegation about the impacts of the Snettisham towers and transmission lines being down. (First email is attached)

Since April 16th’s avalanche, we have all changed our behavior, from turning off lights to turning down the thermostat in an effort to conserve. While our first priority is your safety, your efforts have resulted in a big drop in the town’s energy use, and this will help us all.

This email contains information we want to share with you, which we have organized below by topic. If you have any questions or concerns about these or other issues, please let us know. We really appreciate the calls and emails that we have received.

Thank you for what you are doing to help yourselves and others. We are all in this together, and we are proud to represent you.

As our first email noted, as soon as we knew about the avalanche we requested a declaration of disaster to free up state and federal aid. On Friday, April 25, we again requested that declaration, and we continue to push to get state and federal funds freed up to help with the rate. The state, through the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) owns the towers and transmission lines. On Friday, April 25, Representative Kerttula sent a letter to the Governor on behalf of the delegation requesting that AIDEA loan AEL&P funds to reduce our rates.

The letter also requested again that a disaster be declared, which would free up more state and federal funds, and finally it noted that if Juneau’s rates skyrocket, this could impact all Alaskans by increasing the base rate for our Power Cost Equalization (PCE) program (if the base is higher, there could be less funding to off-set high energy costs under the statutory formula). A copy of our letter to the Governor is attached to this email.

We have received many questions about AEL&P’s actions. We also have many questions. Last week we asked the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) to allow a public comment period concerning AEL&P’s request to raise rates. While that did not happen, we will continue to ask for the right to have a say over rates and the other issues this emergency presents. Our focus at this point is being sure people are safe, and that we get our energy costs down to a manageable level. Involved within that has got to be getting answers to some basic questions about how we got here in the first place, whether we should have to shoulder the burden, and what we can do now that may save us costs in the future.

The City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) has proposed a loan to AEL&P to reduce our rates and stretch out the payments. The CBJ may also reduce its sales tax on electricity costs. The Assembly is meeting today on these issues. For contact information for Mayor Botelho and other assembly members, you may visit this website: http://www.juneau.lib.ak.us/assembly/members.php.

CBJ is also organizing an energy forum that will happen on May 10 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Mendenhall Mall. The Mayor and Assembly are very focused on this issue and are asking many of the same questions we have (some of which are mentioned above). We are working with the CBJ to coordinate our efforts on your behalf.

Our offices have been in contact with the Alaska Congressional Delegation to discuss what aid might be available on the federal level. Two organizations that we would like to see helping Juneau are the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Small Business Association (SBA). Before either agency will come, there must be a declaration of disaster. The state must also agree to commit state funds and resources to long-term recovery. The Governor’s disaster policy cabinet met last week and did not come to a final decision. They expect to meet again this week.

Some good news is that Allen Meier, an energy expert, will be visiting Juneau this week. Meier is an energy expert from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a senior scientist in the Energy Analysis Department. He will arrive early this week to conduct a two-day assessment and advise on how and whether it is possible to install a temporary line or how to speed permanent repairs to the towers and the high-voltage line.

The current energy crisis will have a large impact on child care providers and parents. We are concerned both about providers being able to continue running their businesses and parents being able to pay for the service. We will be meeting with Karleen Jackson, the Commissioner of Health and Social Services, early this week to discuss possible solutions on behalf of the Juneau Delegation.

Among other ideas, we would like to see a list of approved measures providers can take to decrease their energy use without putting their license in jeopardy. Currently providers are required to maintain a high level of energy use to maintain their licenses because there are rules that regulate how much light, heat, refrigeration capacity, et. cetera, a facility uses and maintains. Children must be kept in safe environments. However, just as we are all turning off unnecessary lights, there may be ways child care providers can safely reduce their usage. We need to find them.

If you have any concerns or ideas for solutions, please call or email us. We know this crisis is putting a huge strain on both child care providers and parents and we are working on ways to get through it together.

As more energy conservation tips come our way, we will share them with you. An updated conservation tips sheet is attached to this email.

We have been gathering information on help available to Juneau residents. We have listed some of the assistance available below and will provide more information as we get it.

Heating assistance is available through the Division of Public Assistance at the Department of Health & Social Services. This is available through the federal Low-Income Heating Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Maximum income for eligibility is listed in the table below.

Household Size	Gross Income
1	$19,155
2	$25,680
3	$32,205
4	$38,730
5	$45,255
6	$51,780
7	$58,305
8	$64,830

Applications are due April 30, so time is of the essence. You may download the application http://health.hss.state.ak.us/dpa/programs/hap/HAPAPP08.pdf. You may mail the application or drop it off in person to 400 Willoughby, Suite 301, Juneau, AK 99801-1700. Because time is short, you may also fax the application to 465-3319.

The legislature recently passed House Bill 152, which provided a substantial amount of state funds for a state-funded heating assistance program. This program will be available in the fall and will provide assistance to families who make between 150% and 225% of the Federal Poverty Level adjusted for Alaska, listed in the table below.

Household Size	Gross Income
1	$29,250
2	$39,375
3	$49,500
4	$59,625
5	$69,750
6	$79,875
7	$90,000
8	$100,125

The program will also be administered by the Division of Public Assistance. When this program is available, it will also include a retroactive payment back to November 2007. We will let you know when applications are available.

The Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority also administers a program for heating assistance and we will have more information for you concerning their program in our next email.

We have been working with the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation to make sure that AHFC housing residents will be able to make it through this crisis. AHFC provides housing assistance in three ways and they are making great efforts to help each group of clients.

AHFC is also making sure that nobody in their housing facilities is evicted because of the energy crisis.