HomeMy WebLinkAbout7b DRAFT Overview of Changes for R8Overview of Changes for Round 8
Paper Applications Not Required
• Paper applications will no longer be required. Word document application forms will be
improved and they will be accepted by email as a convenience to applicants. Applicants will
receive an emailed confirmation of receipt. Paper applications will still be accepted.
Due Date
• The announcement and due dates will be similar to last year. The Request for Applications will
be announced on or shortly after July 1, 2014. The application due date is expected to be
Monday, September 22, 2014 by 5:00 pm. The date is a few days earlier than last year so it does
not conflict with the Rural Energy Conference, September 23-25, 2014. Many applicants attend
this event.
Partial Funding of Projects
• AEA is exploring an option to allow more projects to be funded by partially grant funding the
highest performing projects, and offering Power Project Fund loans to cover the gap where
applicable.
Investor Class of Applicants
• AEA has conducted an initial examination of a proposal to include an “investor class” of REF
applicants. REF grants would be held for the investors until the project has been built and has
operated for several years. The payment of funds would be based on performance. The
investor would hand over or sell the asset to the local community or utility after a period of 3 to
7 years of operation. AEA is seeking to understand the level of interest of the REFAC committee
in pursuing this concept.
Stage 4 Regional Spreading Assessment
• Staff examined two aspects of the Stage 4 process, which involves identifying which regions of
the state have been underserved based on a formula that weights cost of energy and
population. For energy regions that are identified as underserved over the cumulative years of
the program, AEA and REFAC considers recommending funding for additional projects, so long
as they are technically strong projects.
• The first issue considered was whether we should try to blend in the cost of heating fuel into the
cost of energy calculation (blend electricity and heating fuel). This is difficult to perform due to
identifying heating fuel costs and volumes, and trial runs had little to no impact on the results.
Our findings are that just for the purposes of the regional spreading formula, the weighted
average cost of electricity in the region is a good metric to use to determine
• Second, staff examined breaking southeast Alaska into high and low cost energy areas. Since
the high cost areas (PCE communities) have received 84% of REF funding to southeast, and 19%
of total funding, there was no advantage to high cost PCE communities to splitting the region.
Marine Hydrokinetic Reconnaissance
• Last year’s request for applications included a special statement regarding marine hydrokinetic
project eligibility for reconnaissance. AEA is interested in REFAC feedback on this topic.
• Excerpt from Round 7 RFA:
Alaska Energy Statistics Report
• 2011 final report published
• Seeking user feedback to improve the product
• Links to the report, tables and survey at www.akenergyauthority.org
Round 8 Calendar (DRAFT)
• Early July: Request for Applications released
• Sept. 22, 2014: Application Deadline, 5:00 pm
•