Energy costs have been a recurring economic issue that
despite the recent consumer cost declines in part of Bristol Bay, remains
something that has to be addressed. The
volatility of oil markets, global futures and even world peace will continue to
plague the Alaskan consumer energy markets as a whole, but even more so in
Western Alaska.
On Monday, Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski hosted fellow US Senators
and Administrators in a trip to the Y-K area and more specifically Bethel. During that trip she explained that the
majority of the ‘grid’ in Western Alaska is diesel powered. Then she pointed out the natural resources such
as the wind, sun and hydro that available all over Western Alaska, although in
sporadic availability. The one thing
that isn’t apparent in all of this pontificating about fixing problems is how
We are going to pay for it all.
Let’s Define what We means in the context of government and
public interaction. We are the
stakeholders of the Federal, State and Local/Municipal governments as taxpayers
and citizens. That is written into the
US and Alaskan Constitutions.
Stakeholders are responsible to themselves and for themselves. That means having at least a general
knowledge of the major issues facing these entities that We are a part of. Got It? Okay… here We go.
As anyone that is paying attention knows, the State of Alaska can’t afford to anything other than the Price Cost Equalization Program for personal homes and the private sector really can’t afford it either. The statutory and regulatory requirements just to submit an idea to the various levels of government are daunting beyond imagination. One can only imagine this when realizing that the various stakeholders in the Pebble Mine Project have spent over ½ a Billion dollars and were basically shutdown before submitting it’s ideas and plans, officially. There have been several grid augmentation plans floated across Bristol Bay as well that have been shutdown early in the planning phase due to the sheer astronomical costs of getting them shovel ready. So how does it get paid for?
Taxes… more and more taxes.
When the government develops “incentives” and grants for private
economic development of anything, that means that they are cutting something
elsewhere or taking more money from the consumer end of the process. In the case of things like energy and
communications, the people are the ones that actually end up contributing twice
and even thrice, the first being as a stakeholder in government and the second
as the consumer and third by paying government fees/taxes on that energy or
communication product.
The federal deficit has surpassed a supposed
$16Trillion. So, where’s the money
coming from (Taxes) and going to?
Just last week,
President Obama announced over a Billion in projected spending directed sort of
at Alaska,
$295 Million for the new F-35 Wing for the US Air Force at
Eielson AFB and few other projects
$150 Million for a new Icebreaker
$400Million "to
cover the unique circumstances confronting vulnerable Alaskan communities,
including relocation expenses for Alaska Native villages threatened by rising
seas, coastal erosion, and storm surges."
Murkowski’s implication that the Federal government dump
monies into Western Alaska for local grid development comes with several very
big caveats. The first big caveat to all
of this spending of Our monies is that the federal government rarely just gives
out money. They prefer to be involved in
capitol development instead of program management. They kickstart things and leave the States
and Local Municipalities and receiving entities responsible for the maintenance
of the ‘projects’. This leads to the
second caveat of the fact that federal regulatory compliance in the energy
sector is constantly changing and driving up the costs for the producers and
consumers. The third, but certainly not
last caveat to federal investment in “Alaskan” projects is this… off all that
money projected to be spent of the next several years, how much is really going
to Alaskan interests and will stay in Alaska?
It sure would be nice to see the regional ANCSA Corporations getting the
bids for all this construction and hiring Alaskans… not PFD chasers and
temporary residents that come here for the high paying Davis-Bacon Wages on
federal projects.
Originally Posted as an OpEd on Alaska Telegraph: