Friday is the last day of the Chugach Electric Utility board election. The annual election usually passes under the radar, but this year it’s been a fierce race, with nine candidates vying for three seats to guide the future of Anchorage’s electric utility.
Part of the reason for the heavy competition is that Chugach Electric is at a crossroads. Chugach and other railbelt utilities have for years sourced natural gas from Cook Inlet — but that supply is dwindling. Now the utility has to decide how it wants to produce power in the future.
Almost every candidate says they are in favor of pursuing more renewable energy options but a slate of three candidates are making renewables the centerpiece of their campaign.
One of those candidates, Shaina Kilcoyne, said she doesn’t want the utility to have to import natural gas from outside Alaska. And she wants the utility to take advantage of new federal dollars to go after renewables.
“We know that we have hydro, we have wind resources, we have abundant solar, we even have geothermal that has taken longer to research and develop, but might be an option for us as well,” Kilcoyne said.
Incumbent candidates Bettina Chastain and Harold Hollis declined or didn’t respond to interview requests. In forums and online, both have expressed interest in developing new natural gas supply options while supporting new renewables projects “where economic.”
Electronic voting closes at 3 p.m. on Friday. In-person voting begins at 5 p.m. at the utility’s annual meeting at ChangePoint Alaska.
Kavitha George is Alaska Public Media’s climate change reporter. Reach her at kgeorge@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Kavitha here.
