Regulatory Commission of Alaska

Public Comment for TA432-32 by Roberta Highland

To Whom It Concerns:

We are writing in strong support of raising the net metering cap for HEA. 

• HEA is approaching its current 3% net metering cap and we need to increase the cap to at least 6% to keep up with demand.

• Residents of the Kenai Peninsula should be allowed to choose our energy sources. Increasing this cap reduces our dependence on expensive natural gas and the Hilcorp monopoly: gas in Cook Inlet is more than 3 times the price of the lower 48, and only Hilcorp has the capacity to bid on long-term contracts.

• Building a clean energy sector provides more economic opportunities for underemployed and unemployed residents. The renewable energy industry has become a major U.S. employer. E2’s recent Clean Jobs America report found nearly 3.3 million Americans working in clean energy – outnumbering fossil fuel workers by 3-to-1. 

• Renewable energy generation is a growing industry, and the Kenai Peninsula needs to grow with the rest of the country. Renewable power generation has doubled in the United States over the last ten years and is now responsible for 17% of the nation’s power generation. 

• We will soon have the capacity to store all this solar power efficiently to make it usable though the times of lower solar energy production. HEA is building a giant 93 megawatt hour battery (often called a BESS — battery energy storage system) on our grid.

Type

Comments

Date Filed

9/8/2020

Tracking Number

TR2005268

Filed By

Roberta Highland

Entities

Certificate(s)

Means Received

Internet

Related Matters

TA432-32	Homer Electric Association - Net Metering (Net Metering Cap Increase Request)

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