OPINION: Clean Energy Is Key to Solving Alaska’s Natural Gas Crisis

Updated: 6 an hour ago Published: 6 an hour ago

On June 8, the ADN editorial board called on the Alaska Legislature to take immediate action on the looming gas shortage, citing royalty relief as one option to address the urgent problem of energy prices. The editorial board is right that Alaska’s politics are too often based on wishful thinking—it’s what got us into the gas crisis. But it’s equally shortsighted to overvalue extractive, dirty, polluting energy and undervalue the benefits that renewables can bring.

As Erin McKittrick pointed out in her June 13 letter, the primary responsibility for energy supply is for Alaska’s utilities, not the Legislature. At the utility level, we need to diversify our energy supply to delay the need for imported gas and reduce the total amount needed. Our largest electricity supplier in the state, Chugach Electric Association (CEA), is planning for the future.

The editorial board also claimed that “over the next five years, we will pay as much as twice as much to heat and power our homes and businesses.” When the CEA studied the impact on ratepayers of higher natural gas import costs, it found an increase in electricity prices of 10 to 15 percent, not 50 percent. Community solar, a program that has resulted in an average 10 percent drop in electricity bills, was passed by the Alaska Legislature this year. This, in addition to the creation of the Green Bank, which was also passed by the Legislature, will increase the amount of private investment in renewable energy beyond large utility projects. The lowest-cost total energy mix for the rail belt, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, is about 76 percent renewable generation by 2040. As renewable generation grows on the grid, short-term increases will be offset by long-term cost declines.

At the state level, we need innovative and independent leaders who are willing to adapt to circumstances as new information emerges. We are grateful to the leaders who passed community solar this session and invested in our ability to efficiently transmit energy along the rail right-of-way. However, subsidizing extraction is not innovative—it is more of the same tactic we have seen in Alaska for decades, prioritizing corporate profit margins over Alaska families. Moreover, there is no guarantee that subsidizing exploration at this point will lead to more gas production before renewables come online. The process from gas exploration to production can take several years. A much better use of our elected officials’ time is to focus on supporting new, clean energy generation, rather than wasting state funds on sustaining outdated industries.

As the June 8 article put it, “Alaskans can’t afford to waste any more time.” We agree. It’s important that we don’t waste time or money investing in an energy source that is being phased out as we head toward a future where all of our energy generation comes from cheap, unlimited, renewable sources.

Chantal de Alcuaz is Co-Executive Director of The Alaska Center.

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