The Anchorage Assembly will ask the Alaska Legislature to support the restoration of the Eklutna River, which means dismantling part or all of the hydropower dam that provides electricity to Anchorage.
The Assembly supports removing 47 megawatts of electricity from the greater Anchorage bowl. According to municipal documents, Eklutna provides enough energy to power more than 24,600 residential homes for an entire year. Eklutna hydroelectric power is the lowest cost renewable energy in Southcentral Alaska.
“The Municipality concurs with the Native Village of Eklutna’s priority to restore salmon habitat,” the Assembly document reads. “The Native Village of Eklutna (NVE) and its partners have been working toward full restoration of the Eklutna River, which is a critical salmon habitat in Southcentral, for many years, and have identified potential cost savings and fund sources. Not only is full restoration of the river the right thing to do to respect the vision, subsistence needs and culture of the people who have stewarded this land long before the dams existed, it also has huge economic potential with recreation and tourism opportunities in the area.”
Yet after asking the Legislature to help get the dam removed, the Assembly continues on to discuss the dire need of Anchorage for electricity.
“Alaska’s Southcentral region faces a looming energy crisis that threatens to impact not only Anchorage residents but also its economy. At the heart of this crisis is the depletion of natural gas reserves in the Cook Inlet oil and gas basin, long the primary source of energy for the area,” the Assembly writes. “In the next eight years, Southcentral Alaska is expected to run out of available gas, making it imperative for state leaders and decision-makers to take immediate and strategic actions to prevent an energy crisis.”
The Assembly continues, “We strongly encourage the Legislature and the Governor to craft sound policy that ensures Anchorage can meet the gas and electrical needs of its citizens, businesses, and schools. These policy changes must prioritize energy reliability and affordability. Because there is no time to waste, we urge swift, bipartisan action during the 2024 legislative session.”
“The Left is confusing. They hate fossil fuels, and I guess they hate hydro too. You would think the cleanest, most sustainable energy source out there would be exactly what the radical green movement would champion, but not in this case,” said Rick Whitbeck, Alaska state director for Power the Future.
The Anchorage legislative priorities booklet is at this link.
For some reason, the mayor has attached his name to this legislative request program.
Other priorities of the Anchorage Assembly are having the governments in Alaska return to a defined benefits retirement program for all municipal, borough, and state employees. That pension program ended by legislation in 2006, after it was discovered that the state pension plan didn’t have enough money to even meet the needs of existing retirees. The state is still trying to fund it, and currently has about 72 cents for every dollar owed to existing members of that old plan. Public employees are now enrolled in individual retirement accounts, rather than defined pensions. Many defined benefits plans around the country have gone bankrupt after being underfunded.
The document also asks the Legislature to increase the formula for public schools, known as the Base Student Allocation. The governor has not increased the BSA since he has been in office because it ties the hands of future legislatures. But he has added one-time funding ever year.
The Assembly will also push the legislature to pass legislation that gives the municipality the authority to punish property owners who don’t maintain their properties to whatever regulatory standards are set locally. The “blighted property” legislation is the brainchild of Sen. Forrest Dunbar of Anchorage and has the support of some who are close to Mayor Dave Bronson. The plan would give municipalities the authority to enact a blight tax and to define the meaning of “blight,” as they wish. Something that seems blighted in Anchorage might not seem blighted in Bethel.
The legislative priorities document leads off with an ask for continued support for the Port of Alaska, which handles 75 percent of all non-petroleum, Alaska in-bound marine cargo, and more than 39 percent of all refined petroleum products used in Alaska. The Port directly serves 90 percent of the state’s population, and is a priority of Mayor Bronson.
The document also asks the Legislature for a $10 million capital appropriation for “Housing Alaskans,” a public-private partnership, and $4 million operating budget request to help pay for a year-round homeless shelter, “location pending.”
The legislative request document also asks the governor to update the “Alaska’s Plan to End Long Term Homelessness.”
The plan, which is described as the counterpart to Anchorage’s Anchored Home Plan, ended in 2019. Ownership of this plan currently lies with the Alaska Council on the Homeless and its last progress report was in 2018.
“As the state’s designee to carry out the day-to-day management of the Balance of State Continuum of Care program, the Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness could be formally designated to oversee the plan, including conducting the plan update and providing ongoing progress reports on the plan,” the municipality’s document says.
As for the mental health needs of Anchorage, the municipality is asking for a grant of $650,000 to pay for integrated medical and behavioral health outreach services.
“The Municipality requests this funding to bring back holistic outreach services to include basic street outreach, medical services, and behavioral health services. No services currently exist for behavioral health outreach, which had been previously provided but was ended due to staffing and budgeting issues.”
The Assembly also wants a change in state labor laws to allow behavioral health staff to work 12-hour shifts, due to workforce shortages.
“Currently, behavioral health providers face significant workforce shortages, but unlike nurses who are able to work 12-hour shifts, other behavioral health staff must be paid overtime for 12-hour shifts, making it unaffordable for most providers. Behavioral health workers have requested this change in state law to assist them in better providing their services to the community. Could potentially be incorporated into HB 204 and SB 153 to exempt certain employees from overtime pay requirements,” the Assembly document says.
