Alaska Energy Authority recommends 18 projects in Renewable Energy Fund Round 17; governor—s budget covers top tier

The Alaska Energy Authority recommended 18 projects for Round 17 of the Renewable Energy Fund, with the governor—s budget covering a portion of the list and the legislature to decide funding for the remainder.

The recommendations, presented Feb. 13 to the House Energy Committee by Curtis Thayer, executive director of the Alaska Energy Authority, and Connor Erickson, director of planning for AEA, include community-scale solar, small hydro feasibility studies, battery energy storage systems (BESS), and wind projects. Thayer said the orange line on the authority—s project list denotes projects included in the governor—s budget and anything below that line would need separate legislative approval.

The recommendations matter because the Renewable Energy Fund has historically fueled early-stage project development in Alaska—s rural communities, often enabling projects to reach the threshold for larger federal or private investment. "When we look back on the projects, like currently, we're funding the largest solar farm in Alaska," Thayer said, noting that REF-funded projects have led to sustained federal and private follow-on investments.

AEA staff told the committee the REF process uses four evaluation stages: eligibility and completeness screening, a third-party technical and financial review, an internal ranking, and advisory-committee review. Projects earn points for factors including household energy cost, project readiness, project sustainability and offered matching funds; matching funds are not required but can increase a project's score. "Matching funds are not a requirement to the program, although you can earn additional points as part of the process," Connor Erickson said.

Round 17 projects are geographically distributed; many target rural communities. Examples the authority described include: relicensing work for Pelican—s hydro facility; a 1 MW solar plus 1.5 MW BESS for Naknek (Cape Swornoff); reconnaissance and small-dam-upgrade studies such as Goat Lake Hydro in Southeast Alaska; small wind and BESS repairs and completion projects in villages that previously installed partial wind arrays; a biomass district heating final phase for Nenana; small additions to existing community solar arrays; a feasibility slate for additional wind sites proposed by Alaska Renewables; and a proposed 3.2 MW solar project sited on the Kenai Peninsula Borough landfill.

Committee members asked how to read the list below the governor—s line and how to compare incremental benefits. Erickson and Thayer said the authority—s ranking accounts for differences in project costs driven by geography, logistics and community size and that some lower-dollar projects can produce substantial per-household benefit in higher-cost communities. "You're going to see that ratio decrease, which is not necessarily entirely accurate in the sense that what we see in from a lot of communities, especially from rural communities, costs in rural communities tend to be higher," Erickson said.

AEA offered written two- to three-page project summaries for each recommended project and told the committee staff could provide the full write-ups. The authority also said its public digital library (launched December 2023) consolidates historical project documents and has supported staff work on REF project evaluation.

The committee did not take action on funding; the projects below the governor—s line will require legislative appropriation if the House and Senate decide to allocate additional monies.

Article ending: AEA staff asked the committee whether it wanted a deeper dive into individual write-ups; committee members requested the impact analysis and project write-ups be made available to legislative offices to help evaluate where to extend funding down the list.