Hmmm...She's paying attention after all....

Here's this taken directly from the KINY Radio website:

NEW - Palin proposes $1.2 Billion energy relief program. Governor Palin is proposing a two pronged approach to providing Alaskans energy relief in a $1.2 Billion program that she'll propose to the Legislature to fund.

The program calls for grants to electric utilities and debit cards to Permanent Fund Dividend recipients for the next 12 months. The amount allocated for children’s benefits will accrue to the card of the sponsor on their PFD application. Money not used on the card one month will carry over to the next month. It is expected that the amount available to individuals through the card will be considered income by the IRS. The temporary Energy Debit Card can be used for purchases from Alaska energy vendors, such as heating oil distributors, natural gas utilities, electric utilities, gas stations and other retail fueling stations.

The governor says returning surplus funds through grants to the utilities will reduce in a 60 percent reduction for all rate payers. She says the benefit will flow to homeowners, renters, schools, government, and businesses.A review by the Department of Law indicates that there should be no federal income tax consequence since the grants act to offset the revenue collected by utilities.

In addition, there will be conservation incentives for the utilities. For every 1 percent reduction in 2008 kilowatt hour sales from 2007 sales, the state will make a year-end contribution for capital energy projects to the utility. "The state treasury is swelling, while family check books are evaporating," the Governor says. "The right thing to do is to return surplus monies to the resources owners through energy relief. "The grant to electric utilities is expected to be $475 million, while the Energy Debit Card totals are forecast to be $729 million. The Governor has proposed this energy relief plan for one year.