Is Alaska Ready for a Biden/Harris Energy Plan?

October 20, 2020

Alaska’s energy community could see a very different future if Joe Biden wins the Presidential election on November 3^rd.  Under his direction, the US would be sure to move to a more renewable-energy solution and away from fossil fuels.  That would imperil millions of energy jobs across the nation, including thousands of Alaskans working in Alaska’s cornerstone oil-and-gas sector.

But the average Alaskan residents would also be impacted, and business owners would as well, as Biden’s energy plans go well beyond the “just transition” evangelized by green-agenda radicals.

For starters, “green” energy is more expensive.  Don’t believe me?  If you’re in Anchorage, look at your Chugach Electric bill.  You’ll see a “FIW Renewable Energy Adj*” line-item.  Looking at the footnotes on the bill, it says “*Represents the cost difference of Fire Island renewable wind power compared to other generation.”

For some locations in Alaska, renewables make sense and are a key component of regional energy solutions.  In Southeast Alaska with its hydro and on Kodiak Island and small villages where the wind blows with consistency, renewable energy is cost-effective versus heating oil, coal or other sources that need to be imported to the area.

But – at least for the Railbelt from Fairbanks to Homer, an area with more than 75% of the state’s population – natural gas and clean coal are the most prevalent, lowest-cost power sources.  Forcing those areas away from abundant resources to a made-up “better” solution would have a negative effect on household costs; especially if, while doing so, households lost jobs and income sources.

Just another thing to consider as Alaskans begin to vote in-person starting today.