Alaska’s congressional race reached its conclusion last night, with conservative Nick Begich clinching a victory for the state’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. This win marks a significant shift for Alaska as it embraces a leader who prioritizes American energy independence and the economic empowerment of energy workers. Fox News reports, “Conservative Republican Nick Begich has won a tight race for Alaska’s lone seat in the House of Representatives, according to the Associated Press. Begich defeated his main rival, Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, the first Native Alaskan in Congress, and one of only five House Democrats currently representing a district…

Part of Power The Future’s mission is to expose the outright lunacy of the eco-left.  As early voting gets underway across Alaska, it is important to note that energy is on the ballot in 2024, and that candidates’ endorsements matter to the future of the state. While Power The Future – as a 501(c)4 – doesn’t endorse candidates, we certainly take note of which other organizations do.  What those organizations’ missions and priorities say about their endorsed candidates drives their ongoing mission to move Alaska away from reliable, affordable energy and into risky, higher-cost options. In the case of the…

Alaska’s Governor Michael J. Dunleavy seemed to have an easy choice when it came to reauthorizing or rejecting a proposed fish and wildlife agreement for the Eklutna Hydro energy and water distribution system just outside of Anchorage.  In the end, he made the right choice. His options? Choose to accept the five-year scientific process that the owners of the hydro project undertook to meet the qualifications of the original 1991 agreement.  By doing so, he’d enhance fish habitat, preserve some of the least-expensive power in the state, and secure 90% of Anchorage’s fresh water supply for the next 35 years….

Make no mistake, the future of the Last Frontier is on the ballot on November 5th. With a Presidential election, a race for Alaska’s lone Congressional seat, 40 state House and 10 state Senate seats in play, and two ballot measures being decided, the general election ballot will be jam-packed when voters go to the polls. And with in-person early voting opening October 21st, candidates and campaigns will fill the airwaves, stuff mailboxes and inundate online sites with messaging these next three weeks. As we’ve said all along, energy is on the ballot, and with energy touching every facet of…

The Alaska Energy Authority’s mission statement declares its role is to reduce the cost of energy to Alaskans, and “strive to diversify Alaska’s energy portfolio – increasing resiliency, reliability and redundancy.” The AEA has taken in almost half a billion dollars in federal funding from recent legislation, including the Inflation Reduction Act.  Some of those dollars are being used to build solar and wind installations in rural Alaska. While a few of the projects make sense and help lower energy costs for villages and their residents, many are never going to return the start-up costs in their project lifecycles. AEA…

There’s a message being driven by eco activists, renewable power champions and well-funded non-profits that Alaska’s urban population centers from Fairbanks to the Kenai Peninsula (known as the “Railbelt”) can achieve 80% renewable power generation by 2040. Not only is that goal completely unnecessary, but their plan also is complete hogwash. Groups pushing this agenda – and the “renewable portfolio standard” legislation to force it on consumers and businesses – overlook the fact that here are centuries of known coal and natural gas reserves that could power the Railbelt.  They’d provide low-cost and always-on power from deposits and fields located…

The Department of Interior and its Bureau of Land Management can’t say they haven’t been busy these past three-plus years. For the 46th time since January 20, 2021, they tag-teamed to lock up yet another section of Alaska from being available for responsible resource development.  If that sounds extreme, realize it is only a portion of the current administration’s 69 overall executive or administrative orders designed to lock up the Last Frontier. Yesterday’s announcement finalized previously announced plans to designate lands and waters under federal management from being available to mine, log or drill on.  It takes a total of…

With a super-majority in its Assembly and a new mayor who embraces the need to ‘fix the climate crisis’, you’d expect energy policies in Anchorage to move away from its historical dependence on natural gas and proven, reliable technologies.  But last week’s release of the mayoral transition plan doesn’t just focus Anchorage toward a ‘green’ transition, it hurtles the Municipality of Anchorage into unnecessary and risky territory for its 270,000 residents. The transition team members – including nearly a dozen affiliated with ‘just transition’-focused ENGOs and renewable energy advocacies – began by declaring that there is an energy crisis in…

We’ve written before about the Anchorage Assembly’s fascination with threatening the infrastructure that allows for 90% of the Municipality’s water supply and approximately six percent of Southcentral Alaska’s overall power generation. The Eklutna hydroelectric project is currently in the final phases of a reauthorization of its fish and wildlife mitigation and enhancement plan.  The final plan, as developed over a five-year process by the voting members of its ownership group, is in the hands of Alaska’s Governor, Mike Dunleavy.  The Governor is set to make a final decision on whether to accept the plan, no later than early October. However,…