Alaska experts on energy, housing and infrastructure said almost three-quarters-of-a-billion dollars is in limbo from President Donald Trump’s funding freezes – and that uncertainty is affecting local communities.
The Trump administration paused funding for several major federal programs back in January. Since then, the freeze has interrupted Alaska initiatives ranging from heat pump programs to major infrastructure projects that would protect communities from storm surges and tsunamis. Eight representatives from Alaska-based organizations discussed the disruptions during a joint virtual press conference on Tuesday.
“Alaskans are losing from uncertainty. Homeowners are potentially losing. Workers are losing, contractors are losing,” said Andy Romanoff, executive director of Alaska Heat Smart, a southeast Alaska-based organization whose projects are affected by the freeze.
In total, more than $5,000,000 was at risk from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and over $720,000,000 from the Inflation Reduction Act, according to data shared by one advocacy group. United Today, Stronger Tomorrow said they obtained the data from the Biden administration’s project overview. The numbers are an estimate and a moving target, they said, because some of the programs have been frozen and unfrozen irregularly.
For Alaska Heat Smart, the freeze disrupted a project that aims to lower energy costs by installing heat pumps in 48 communities for over 6,000 households, Romanoff said. Around $40 million of federal funding for that initiative has been frozen and reopened several times.
“We hope that recent thawing of funds will somehow survive more than a couple months over the 90-day review period and there will be a long lasting warmer period for all,” he said.
Making homes in rural Alaska more energy efficient can help residents and agencies offset fuel costs, said Griffin Hagle-Forster, executive director of the Association of Alaska Housing Authorities.
“The cheapest energy is the energy we don’t use in the first place. Home efficiency upgrades are a highly sensible investment in remote Native villages that rely on costly imported diesel fuel,” Hagle-Forster said.
Other frozen grants would fund projects for preventing shore erosion and stabilizing villages against permafrost melt, flooding and extreme weather, said Tashina Duttle, chief operating officer at DeerStone Consulting, which works on tribal energy infrastructure projects across the state.
One example is a Bureau of Indian Affairs initiative called the Tribal Climate Resilience Program, which supports tribally led climate adaptation. The program, which has allocated $72 million in funding for nearly 40 Alaskan tribal projects, is now on pause.
“Without this funding,” Duttle said, “villages will be lost to erosion, infrastructure will collapse under worsening climate conditions, communities will have to relocate without a plan, without resources and without dignity.”
Duttle added that the projects in question also create crucial economic opportunities in rural communities, including construction jobs. She said that agencies now aren’t sure what projects will be able to move forward, and what spending will be reimbursed.
“It's very unlikely that we'll see a meaningful construction season from the grants that are frozen right now for this summer,” she said.
