Power The Future Energy Hour Recap: Dave Stieren and Brad Keithley

June 25, 2020

Every Tuesday night from 5:00-6:00 PM local time, Alaska State Director Rick Whitbeck hosts the “Power The Future Energy Hour” on KNVT (92.5 FM, 1020 AM and online at 1020KVNT.com).  The show (also replayed during the same hour on Saturday night) is heard throughout Southcentral Alaska communities, and acts as a recap of Power The Future activities in Alaska, as well as an opportunity to hear from various members of Alaska’s energy community.

Since the show’s inception in January 2018, it has had dozens of guests, including members of Congress, Alaska’s Governor, Lt. Governor, State Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners, members of the Governor’s leadership team, executives from organizations throughout Alaska who fight for jobs, opportunities and progress alongside us (The Alaska Support Industry Alliance, Resource Development Council, Alaska Oil & Gas Association, Alaska Miners Association and others), state legislators from both parties who have a role in energy policy as part of their legislative duties and executives from many of Alaska’s leading resource development projects (both current and potential).

Guests on last night’s show were Dave Stieren, the Communications and Community Liaison Director for Governor Dunleavy, along with Brad Keithley, the Founder and Managing Director of Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets.

Our discussion with Dave focused on the ongoing efforts of the Dunleavy administration to minimize the economic damage done to the state’s economy from COVID-19 and other factors, as well as aggressively protect Alaskans from the health effects of the pandemic.

Dave acknowledged the incredible efforts of the employers across Alaska’s mining and oil and gas industries for the proactivity they showed in putting health and safety measures in-place to minimize the opportunity for COVID-19 to spread throughout their jobsites. Also discussed were the obvious – and not-so-obvious – impacts on the state from the gutting of the summer’s tourism season.  Power The Future appreciates the regular updates from the Administration.

Following Dave was Brad Keithley, a frequent guest who has a keen understanding of Alaska’s oil and gas sector, as well as innovative ways for lawmakers and policymakers to look at building a sustainable budget, even with all of the pressures facing the budgets for the foreseeable future.

Brad spoke about a recent article on FinancialTimes.com that discussed “peak oil”, and how the current pandemic and geopolitical situations may lead to billions of barrels of known oil reserves staying in the ground.  Brad’s insight as to how the shortened timeframes will affect Alaska’s budget should serve as a warning to those who think we can get by with current projects only, and not continue with responsible development opportunities as they present themselves. He also talked about how many of the major producers – BP, Shell and others – have begun to call themselves “power” companies, rather than oil and gas extractors.  His intuition is always welcomed on the Energy Hour.

Guests in upcoming weeks will include lawmakers, industry executives and senior-level government officials, as well as experts on Alaska’s resource economy and our budget.

If you’re not listening to the show live, feel free to catch the replay on SoundCloud.  You can catch this week’s show here.  Feel free to reach out to us at Rick@PowerTheFuture.com if you have ideas for future shows!