Alaskans, especially in our rural communities, are experiencing an energy crisis unlike anything that we have seen in the past, and it is not likely to improve in the short-term.  Oil prices are at an all-time high – in some villages the cost of fuel oil has gone as high as $10 per gallon.  A village home can use four or five 55-gallon drums of oil for heating each month during the winter months (a total of $2,000 per month in Arctic Village, for example).  With gasoline prices reaching above $7.50 per gallon, many families and individuals are have difficulty getting to fish camp this summer in order to harvest next winter’s food; and this will be true of hunting in the fall and winter months.  In short, the current energy crisis threatens the very survival of our rural villages. 

AFN at its May Board meeting passed a resolution urging Governor Palin and the State Legislature to adopt a long-term energy policy for the State, covering all regions of Alaska.  AFN suggested that the plan should have as its overall goal the equalization of energy costs for all Alaskans, and should provide additional funding for long-term development of alternative energy resources and conservation measures while providing immediate relief through measures that would help individuals deal with the rising cost of energy.  

With those goals in mind, AFN's working committee on energy issues, chaired by Ralph Anderson, President/CEO of Bristol Bay Native Association, developed a working matrix that sets forth a number of ideas for addressing the current crisis and for developing long-term programs/projects that will lessen our dependence on fossil fuel.  Our top five recommendations for the Governor and the Legislature are as follows: 

1. Strengthen the Power Cost Equalization Program by fine-tuning its mission, adding more resources and expanding the eligibility requirements;
2. Buy down debt of rural utilities in order to reduce costs passed on to consumers and include a price cap on fuel stock purchased prospectively, with a mechanism for reimbursement from the State for costs in excess of the cap;   
3. Expand and support bulk fuel purchasing, transportation and cooperative purchase agreements and contribute to the Denali Commission bulk fuel storage program in an effort to eliminate the storage tank backlog and rural upgrades; 
4. Provide a family fuel subsidy to help meet the immediate crisis.  
5. Make a sizeable investment in projects that promote renewable/alternative energy and conservation efforts.  The high cost of fossil fuel is not going to go away, so we need to start investing in alternative/renewable energy and in energy conservation efforts.