OPINION: Alaska shouldn’t miss out on the clean energy revolution

An energy revolution is sweeping the United States, but Alaskans are being left behind. Community solar is the fastest growing segment of the renewable energy industry, with 2,500 projects totalling over 7.3 gigawatts of capacity deployed elsewhere in the US. These projects are saving families billions of dollars on their electricity bills. Yet not a single project has been built on Alaska’s Railbelt.

Community solar is a model where a group of people invest in and share the benefits of a solar array that is not located on their property. This model allows renters, small businesses, and other individuals who cannot host a rooftop solar array (most Americans) to own shares of a larger solar facility. These subscribers then receive savings on their monthly electric bills.

There are various reasons why community solar has not yet taken off in Alaska. Most significantly, Alaska has not passed enabling legislation that provides a clear regulatory and market framework for solar development. Until recently, Alaska regulators had not approved a community solar project. With no projects in the state and unclear regulatory guidelines, project developers and independent power producers (who build most community solar in the U.S.) do not think Alaska is open for business.

Fortunately, bipartisan legislation — SB 152 and HB 328 (”Saving Alaskans money with Voluntary community Energy,” or the SAVE Act) — has been introduced by Sen. Bill Wielechowski (D-Anchorage) and Frank Tomaszewski (R-Fairbanks) to facilitate the development of community energy projects. This legislation not only permits community solar but also empowers community-scale wind, hydroelectric, battery and geothermal opportunities. SB 152 passed the Senate unanimously on April 22 — Earth Day — and I hope the House acts quickly to pass the bill.

With billions of dollars available from private financing and federal incentives, this legislation will enable Alaskans to supercharge the deployment of low-cost local electrical generation, further diversifying generation sources and providing significant consumer bill savings at a crucial moment.

Alaska cannot afford to wait any longer to jumpstart community energy; we are facing an energy crisis on multiple fronts.

First, the Railbelt will likely run short on natural gas within a few years. Enstar estimates Alaska could have gas shortfalls as early as 2027. We need to bring online new power sources as fast as possible, specifically those that can reduce the amount of gas-fired electricity generation. We need to save gas for its highest value use — home heating. If passed this session, solar, wind, and battery storage enabled by the SAVE Act can be deployed quickly and at scale. A great case study is New England, where a wealth of distributed solar has helped to retire expensive power plants and stabilize the grid. In combination with tight power pools and transmission reform, community energy can provide the resources necessary to reduce gas consumption throughout Alaska’s Railbelt.

Second, Alaskans need energy choice and competition. Most Alaskans support solar and renewable energy broadly, but most Alaskans cannot directly receive benefits from solar because they rent, have a shaded roof, low credit score, or do not have sufficient capital to pay for a solar array upfront. Why are we only allowing some homeowners to invest in low-cost generation, but discriminating against renters and other hardworking Alaskans?

Third, we need to lower energy costs. Alaskans already face the second highest average electricity costs in the nation. Power costs in Anchorage are expected to rise 6% in 2024, and costs in Fairbanks are now nearly 30 cents per kilowatt hour. Costs are projected to increase significantly in the near future with gas imports. State leaders need to take action now and unlock creative energy solutions that will provide ratepayers with relief.

Solar is the cheapest electricity in human history, and community solar is a proven model for saving consumers between 10-15% on their yearly electricity bills. Cost is a key reason the Regulatory Commission of Alaska is supportive of the legislation. Chairman Robert Doyle recently told the Senate Labor and Commerce committee that the RCA supports community solar because “it can actually help save folks some money”.

The SAVE Act creates a clear framework for unlocking community energy development. We want to replicate and expand on the success and cost savings Alaskans have seen with rooftop solar over the past decade. Households have installed over 13 megawatts of distributed clean generation at an impressive rate of growth.

If you want to reduce your monthly electric bills, have more energy freedom, and fuel the buildout of the cheap, clean power that we need to diversify our electric grid, please write your representative in support of the SAVE Act. Community energy is a common-sense solution that helps address significant energy problems we face. If we enable Alaskans to invest in energy choice and low-cost clean energy, our future can be bright.

Philip Wight is a policy analyst for the Alaska Public Interest Research Group (AKPIRG). He lives in Ester.

The views expressed here are the writer’s and are not necessarily endorsed by the Anchorage Daily News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)adn.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Read our full guidelines for letters and commentaries here.