Page 484 – Must Read Alaska

Robert Seitz: In House Bill 368, no ‘renewable portfolio standard’ should be approved without a plan, energy storage, and a deal for Cook Inlet gas

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February 27, 2024

Robert Seitz: In House Bill 368, no ‘renewable portfolio standard’ should be approved without a plan, energy storage, and a deal for Cook Inlet gas

By ROBERT SEITZ

House Bill 368 was introduced on Feb. 20, and it looks like a Renewable Portfolio Standards bill with dates extended from earlier dates in previous RPS bills, requiring 35% “clean energy” by 2036 and 51% by 2051.

There are, however, some things to pay attention to in this bill.

There is requirement to begin reporting about the progress for “clean energy” beginning March 1, 2026. This Act takes effect July 1, 2024 and there are a number of requirements that are to be met soon.

The greatest failing of this bill is that there is no provision to control or limit the cost of energy that is added to the Railbelt. Cheap energy should be the goal. Rather than an RPS bill, it would be more profitable to all to have a bill that has the Railbelt utilities map out a plan that would be a guide for the future development. Without energy storage in the Railbelt, this clean energy bill is much less important than securing additional Cook Inlet natural gas.

Robert Seitz: Let’s use positive motivations to encourage renewable additions to power grid

This guide should investigate first the ability to add pumped hydro to the system as an energy storage mechanism, which would benefit the wind and solar energy sources to allow all excess energy generated to be stored. atteries would not be effective storage devices for Alaska, but are very effective for Kauai, Hawaii as the sun is there every day for about the same amount of time all year, and it will be warm enough for no one to be at risk to freeze if the power is interrupted.

Alaska is a different sort of place; a place in which people can suffer and die when the energy sources are not present when the days are dark and cold.

The next step would be to identify stable base energy sources such as hydroelectric dam, geothermal source or nuclear reactor which would be likely candidates to add to the system. Each of these energy sources must be estimated for size and for the timeline for when each can be brought on line and estimate the cost/kwh for each. These are all non-CO2 sources so should eliminate decarbonization discussions. In the course of this effort, the Railbelt utilities need to consider the amount of expansion to the energy sources that is required to accommodate whatever additional electrification will be needed.

Then the entire Railbelt needs to be evaluated for where the system needs to have microgrids formed to provide resilience to those portions of the Railbelt transmission and distribution which could be without power upon disruption of the transmission lines during earthquakes, fire, or wind and ice. Each of these microgrids would probably contain wind and/or solar sources supplemented by a battery energy storage system and then some base source of power such as a diesel generator, methanol fueled generator or maybe even a small geothermal generator. The identification of these microgrid locations would be sites made available for utilities or IPP to propose installation of necessary equipment some of which would be wind or solar (variable energy sources.)

At this stage, the Railbelt utilities will be able to work out what transmission line additions and changes are necessary to build out for the future system. To install the transmission lines to upgrade the system required by HB368 could well be a waste of time when a full understanding of where the energy sources will be installed is not yet known.

Rick Whitbeck: Red states should run far, far away from Renewable Portfolio Standards

As we develop our long term energy plan, the first thing that is needed is to secure future Cook Inlet natural gas production and distribution. From comments I have read, those working on solutions to get more Cook Inlet natural gas is that the natural gas is subject to pricing as a commodity on the world market.

Some way to decouple Cook Inlet natural gas from the commodity market and ensure future price to the Railbelt utilities through contracts, using reduced royalties, streamlined permitting and favorable taxation to bring all parties together in mutual agreement, must be found. This will help secure our energy reliability and resilience, and allow proper engineering for whatever the future Railbelt system needs to be.

Encourage you legislators to find solutions to our Cook Inlet Gas supply problem and to resist entanglement with a renewable portfolio standard for our Railbelt Electrical utility.

Wind and solar would not provide “sustainable” energy without an energy storage. Cook Inlet natural gas will ensure continued energy for life safety and a growing economy. Let’s do what is sensible.

Robert Seitz is a licensed PE Electrical Engineer and lifelong Alaskan.

Idita-drama continues, as Eddie Burke Jr. drops out to honor agreements he made to lease team

Suzanne Downing

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February 27, 2024

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Idita-drama continues, as Eddie Burke Jr. drops out to honor agreements he made to lease team

The past two weeks has been a twisted trail for the Last Great Race. If having PETA chasing away sponsors wasn’t enough, the internal politics has been a public relations challenge.

First, on Feb. 19, the race’s governing body met in an emergency meeting and disqualified up-and-coming racer Eddie Burke Jr from the 2024 race, which begins with the ceremonial start in Anchorage on March 3, and the actual start from Big Lake on March 4.

The race organization said that two pending assault charges stemming from 2022 against Burke made him not the kind of guy they wanted on the trail. He had violated the race’s personal conduct standard.

Then, two days later, after the Alaska Department of Law dismissed the charges and closed the case, the board reinstated him, with a terse statement.

The board then turned around and disqualified champion racer Brent Sass, due to unsavory allegations from a couple of women regarding sexual conduct that they said was nonconsensual. No charges are pending in those matters.

Now, just six days before the race start, Eddie Burke Jr. has withdrawn himself. He made his decision known on his Facebook page, explaining that after he had been disqualified, he had agreed to let other racers run some of his team, and he wants to honor the commitments he made.

Burke, a former amateur boxer and truck driver, finished seventh in the 2023 Iditarod, and was named Rookie of the Year.

“Due to recent events, I made the decision to lease out my race team to six individual mushers, competing in this years Iditarod. At the time, my main focus was letting dogs do what they love. Over the past 7 months, the dogs and I have put in over 2,000 miles on the trail and countless hours of preperation. Traveling to Nome is what this team deserves, even if that means traveling the trail without me,” Burke wrote on his Facebook page on Monday.

“After being reinstated, it has been a challenge to gather my team back together and prepare for the race. This has not only been difficult for me but also the mushers I have made agreements with. After tough consideration, I have made the decision to withdraw from this years race and honor the agreements I have made with my fellow mushers,” he wrote.

“This was not a easy decision to make but I am excited to watch my team travel the trail. There will always be another dog race and I never plan to be out of dogs. I look forward to cheering on my friends, running the few dogs left at the kennel, and most importantly, spending time with family. Thank you to all of my fans, sponsors and supporters. Your kind words and support has made it possible to work through these difficult times.”

Meanwhile, Sass has vehemently denied the accusations made against him.

Sass has won the Yukon Quest three times and won the 50th running of the Iditarod in 2022. He received the Vet’s Choice award in 2015 and 2019 for the way he took care of his team.

The two mushers leaving the race this year leaves 38 teams. This is up from the 33 teams that ran in 2023, which was the lowest number in the race’s history, reflecting the hardship many mushers suffered from the Covid pandemic policies. In 2019, before the pandemic, 52 mushers and over 1,000 dogs participated.

Read more about the twisted trail of these recent events at Craig Medred’s website.

Defense Department investigates, finds itself without blame in Sec. Austin secret hospitalizations

Suzanne Downing

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February 26, 2024

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Defense Department investigates, finds itself without blame in Sec. Austin secret hospitalizations

An unclassified summary of a 30-day review of circumstances surrounding the hospitalization last month of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was released Monday.

The short version is: The department investigated itself and absolved itself of all blame for the president and Congress being kept in the dark as the secretary of Defense was in the intensive care unit.

Austin was diagnosed with prostate cancer in early December and was scheduled for surgery at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for Dec. 22. He kept it secret from the president.

On Jan. 1, he was taken by ambulance back to Walter Reed after experiencing pain and was admitted to the intensive care unit. He transferred decision-making to Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks during his first surgery and then when he was admitted again, but he didn’t tell her why and did not inform the president or Congress.

The summary claimed Austin’s staff couldn’t share information about the secretary’s health due to medical privacy laws. Apparently, they felt they could not even tell the commander-in-chief. They said Austin’s medical condition fluctuated and “timely secured communication couldn’t be assured.”

The 3-page summary of the audit is accompanied by action items that the department will take to better prepare for a transfer of authority from the secretary to the deputy secretary or another official, should the secretary ever become incapacitated.

“The review found that the deputy secretary was at all times positioned to perform all the functions and duties of the secretary of defense during the period of transfer from January 2-5, 2024,” said Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder during a briefing with reporters. “It also identified several processes and procedural improvements that could be made.”

The audit summary said, ““nothing examined during this review demonstrated any indication of ill intent or an attempt to obfuscate” the transfer of authority from the ailing secretary. The audit itself remains classified.

Austin has been called to the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday, Feb. 29, where Chairman Mike. Rogers of Alabama, has said that “Congress must understand what happened and who made decisions to prevent the disclosure of the whereabouts of a cabinet secretary.” The committee “will meet to receive testimony from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on the circumstances surrounding the failure to communicate his absence to the President in a timely manner during his recent hospitalization.” The hearing can be watched on YouTube:

Aaron Lojewski: Don’t let Fairbanks politicians overturn a popular tax cap

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

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February 26, 2024

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Aaron Lojewski: Don’t let Fairbanks politicians overturn a popular tax cap

By AARON LOJEWSKI

After a series of special meetings of the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly seeking to break the decades-popular “tax cap” via a special election proposition, the Assembly voted 7-2 to advance the $10 million tax increase question to the voters in a special election on May 7, 2024.

Voters will need to vote “No” to protect the tax cap and prevent a large $10 million tax hike.

The Assembly chose to put it to a special election in May rather than the October election, even though they just “found” an extra $13 million over the last couple of weeks that one Assembly member referred to as “magic money.” They know local voters have overwhelmingly renewed the tax cap for decades. They are hoping to suppress the voice of the voters who typically participate in the regular October local election and skew the electorate in favor of special interest groups by spending $125,000 to hold this special election in May.

If the grassroots turnout at the meeting is any indication, it won’t work.

Scores of citizens turned out to testify against the special election to break the Tax Cap. Based on the looks of contempt on many of the assembly members’ faces during the meeting, which started at 5:30 p.m. and lasted beyond midnight, the assembly had little respect for the will of the voters. They appeared to be caught completely off guard. Still, they pressed on with their plan even though testimony was about 3 to 1 against the proposal.

The ordinance claims the proposed increase in taxes is for education. In Alaska, it is unconstitutional for funds to be dedicated and bind future elected bodies. The state has a constitutional duty to fund education to the basic need. This means that even if all of the proposed $10 million in new borough taxes went to education this coming year, the extra $10 million in subsequent years can and will be spent on any valid expense, such as labor agreements, at the whims of future assemblies.

At the same time as politicians on the Assembly are trying to trick local voters into raising taxes on themselves, the borough is in labor negotiations with three bargaining units. Negotiations typically wrap up in the fall of a mayoral election year, as this year is, and the contracts are valid for three years. There is no question that a large influx of new tax dollars in the middle of negotiations will invigorate the unions to successfully negotiate better compensation packages for themselves, helping themselves to the new influx of cash.

For this reason, massively increasing taxes in the middle of labor negotiations would put the borough at a strategic disadvantage at the negotiation table and in the end would unnecessarily drive up long-term labor costs. This also means that in the long run, much of these new tax dollars wouldn’t make it to fund education but rather drive up labor costs.

The tax cap has worked well over time by keeping government growth in check. It limits the total tax revenue the borough can raise but it also allows the revenue to grow with inflation and population growth. This lets the government maintain its scale over time even as the borough changes. It has frequently gained the ire of those who want to raise taxes and waste public resources.

Official special election information is available here.

Business owner Aaron Lojewski served on the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly and was term-limited from serving after October, 2023. He is a candidate for borough mayor.

Aaron Lojewski signs up for mayoral race, North Star Borough for 2024

Governor seems unimpressed with education spending bill, plans press conference Tuesday

Suzanne Downing

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February 26, 2024

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Governor seems unimpressed with education spending bill, plans press conference Tuesday

Gov. Mike Dunleavy put out a message on X/Twitter on Monday that indicates he’s not entirely thrilled with the massive spending package for education sent to him by the Senate and House.

“My initial review of the education bill is that it falls far short of improving outcomes for students. It appears to do the same thing we have done for decades – just spend more money. It doesn’t support the Reads Act, it fails to improve access to public charter schools, and it does nothing to recruit and retain teachers. We can’t do the same thing over and over again and expect different results,” he wrote.

SB 140 has a quarter billion dollars of new education spending every year going forward in the $680 base student allocation, the largest boost to the spending formula in at least a decade.

That BSA spending is essentially a blank check, with no accountability measures in it to ensure better outcomes in Alaska’s failing schools. With some of the highest spending in the nation, students in Alaska still score at the bottom in almost every measure, except for charter schools, which are performing well in Alaska.

The governor is planning a press conference on Tuesday at 12:45 p.m., sources said, and SB 140 is going to be the topic. Whether he decides to sign or veto the bill in whole or in part, or whether he wants something from the Legislature in order to sign the bill will certainly be the top question reporters have for him.

The Senate put out a statement saying it is happy with the bill, but the announcement from the supermajority makes no mention of revenue sources. The only place to get the money is from Alaskans’ Permanent Fund dividends, which were cut by three-quarters by last year’s Senate.

SB 140 stripped out language to help charter schools thrive, and eliminated the governor’s priority, which was a retention bonus for teachers in Alaska. The teachers’ union did not want that bonus, possibly because it is outside the union’s ability to assess for union dues.

Some analysts say the bill’s funding for the Reads Act, which is to help students learn to read at grade level, is structured in such a way that it doesn’t really help, as it just goes into a district’s general funding pot.

Peltola takes credit for FTC lawsuit against Albertsons-Kroger merger, and supports Jones Act

The 907

Suzanne Downing

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February 26, 2024

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Peltola takes credit for FTC lawsuit against Albertsons-Kroger merger, and supports Jones Act

In a short speech that she read to a joint session of the Alaska Legislature on Monday, Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola led with the news that the Federal Trade Commission had filed a lawsuit to stop the merger of Albertsons and Kroger grocery stores. She did that, she said.

Albertsons and Kroger announced months ago that they would be selling off at least 14 Albertsons stores (Safeway) in Alaska, in order to assuage the concerns that they would drive prices higher for Alaska if their stores were under one parent company. Peltola failed to mention that aspect of the merger, and focused on higher prices.

Peltola said it was her efforts, and the listening sessions she held to get Alaskans’ voices heard about the merger that resulted in the lawsuit against the two private sector companies. She said breaking up monopolies is the way to go, just like the government did in the old days. She contrasted the grocery store merger to the break up of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) monopoly in the 1980s.

Peltola did not mention that she is following the directions of major unions, which oppose the merger.

In fact, the FTC lawsuit has not much to say about prices and a lot to say about collective bargaining as an antitrust decision point..

The lawsuit says that if the two companies combined, then unions would not be able to pit one store against another during bargaining negotiations.

“In some regions, such as in Denver, the combined Kroger/Albertsons would be the only employer of union grocery labor,” the FTC said. “Union grocery workers’ ability to leverage the threat of a boycott or strike to negotiate better CBA terms would also be weakened.”

Defending union bargaining position is a new frontier for the Federal Trade Commission.

Later in her remarks to the Legislature, Peltola took questions. Asked by Rep. Jamie Allard of Eagle River to comment on the Jones Act, which drives prices higher in Alaska and makes Alaskan goods, such as fish and oil, more expensive to ship south, Peltola said she supports the Jones Act.

Alaska is disproportionately and negatively affected by the Jones Act because of its dependence on waterborne shipping. The Jones Act affects both supplies shipped north to Alaska and crude oil and fish products shipped south.

The Cato Institute, a Libertarian think tank, says “This is not only a direct assault on Alaskan’s freedoms, but their pocketbooks as well. Besides reducing competition, the law forces carriers who ply routes between Alaska and other domestic locales to buy U.S.-built ships that cost as much as eight times more than those from Asian shipyards. In addition, these ships are, on average, estimated to be 2.7 times more expensive to operate than their foreign counterparts.”

In fact, a 1982 analysis conducted for the Alaska Statehood Commission calculated that every Alaskan paid $267 more per year for goods, or more than $1,000 annually for a family of four, because of the Jones Act.

“The state’s oil industry, meanwhile, was found to suffer an additional $600 million inflation‐adjusted hit. A separate study published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office in 1988 said that the U.S. build requirement alone imposed a cost equal to 2 percent of Alaska’s total personal income,” the Cato Institute says.

The Jones Act requires that domestic cargoes be transported only on U.S.-built, U.S.-flagged, U.S.-owned, and U.S.-crewed ships. Oil cannot be exported from the North Slope without first stopping at a domestic port.

The Act has had a monopolistic effect on shipping to and from Alaska and Hawaii.

“Because the Jones Act severely limits the supply of shipping to and from our communities, it has allowed a very few companies to control our very lifeline to the outside world and as a result command shipping rates way higher than the rest of the world,” said Democrat Rep. Ed Case of Hawaii, another state that suffers from high shipping costs because of its reliance on maritime shipping. Case has worked on legislation to amend the Jones Act.

“Because Jones Act shipping has shrunken and international shipping has increased dramatically, especially in the last quarter-century, the Jones Act results in a very few carriers serving all domestic shipping needs,” Case said.

But Peltola said that in spite of whatever issues it may have, the Jones Act was good for unions, so she supports it.

It turns out, Peltola thinks monopolies are fine, as long as they are run by unions.

The Allard question about the Jones Act was the only question of policy substance from the Legislature. Other questions came from Democrats in the room and focused on things like Peltola’s grieving over the loss of her husband. House Minority Leader Calvin Schrage asked her to expound on why Alaskans should return a Democrat to Congress, allowing Peltola a few more minutes to campaign at the speaker’s podium.

FTC sues to stop Albertsons and Kroger merger, and gets a reaction

Suzanne Downing

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February 26, 2024

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FTC sues to stop Albertsons and Kroger merger, and gets a reaction

The Biden Administration’s Federal Trade Commission has sued over the merger of two of the nation’s large grocery retailers — Albertsons, which owns Safeway; and Kroger, which owns Fred Meyer stores.

The proposed deal is the largest supermarket merger in U.S. history.

“This supermarket mega-merger comes as American consumers have seen the cost of groceries rise steadily over the past few years,” the FTC Bureau of Competition said in a statement. “Kroger’s acquisition of Albertsons would lead to additional grocery price hikes for everyday goods, further exacerbating the financial strain consumers across the country face today.”

Joining the lawsuit were attorneys general from Arizona, California, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia.

An Albertsons spokesperson said that by trying to block the merger, the FTC is giving more power to Amazon, Walmart, and Costco.

“Albertsons Cos. merging with Kroger will expand competition, lower prices, increase associate wages, protect union jobs, and enhance customers’ shopping experience. If the Federal Trade Commission is successful in blocking this merger, it would be hurting customers and helping strengthen larger, multi-channel retailers such as Amazon, Walmart and Costco – the very companies the FTC claims to be reining in – by allowing them to continue increasing their growing dominance of the grocery industry,” the spokesperson said. “In contrast, Albertsons Cos.’ merger with Kroger will ensure our neighborhood supermarkets can better compete with these mega retailers, all while benefitting our customers, associates, and communities. We are disappointed that the FTC continues to use the same outdated view of the U.S. grocery industry it used 20 years ago, and we look forward to presenting our arguments in Court.”

Win Gruening: Juneau School District edges closer to a balanced budget, but what’s next?

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR

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February 26, 2024

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Win Gruening: Juneau School District edges closer to a balanced budget, but what’s next?

By WIN GRUENING

After a marathon public hearing last week, the Juneau School District Board of Education voted 5-2 to combine and close several schools. The preliminary plan envisions consolidating high school grades 9-12 at Juneau-Douglas High School and middle school grades 7-8 at Thunder Mountain High School. 6^th graders will be housed in neighborhood elementary schools.

Floyd Dryden Middle School, Marie Drake, and the district office building would be closed and released back to the city. Optional and alternative programs would be located in remaining facilities.

This was an important and long overdue first step to resolving the school district’s financial challenges. The five courageous board members approving the plan deserve credit for their refusal to kick the can down the road any longer.

With projected savings and a possible increase in state funding, the district has whittled down their structural deficit considerably, at least for next year.

But the district is not out of the woods yet.

The FY25 school district deficit, originally estimated to be over $11 million, could theoretically fall to $1.5 million, if an increase in state funding and all projected changes occur as planned.

That’s not guaranteed.

Baked into the numbers is a pending $680 increase in the Base Student Allocation for state funding awaiting passage in the Legislature and requiring the Governor’s signature. That alone accounts for $5.2 million of the district’s deficit reduction.

It also includes $1.65 million contributed by the city to subsidize non-instructional costs (building utilities and maintenance) for next year. After scheduled public hearings, that appropriation awaits adoption at the city’s regular Assembly meeting on March 4.

Even if all this comes to pass, additional revenue and/or cuts in future years will be necessary beyond those needed to eliminate the remaining $1.5 million shortfall.

The city will also need to commit to continue paying some district non-instructional costs since the current subsidy is for next year only.

The district budget is not static. Regular merit and step salary increases for personnel can amount to millions of dollars. Inflation will increase other costs as well.

But the elephant in the room is the continued projected decline in Juneau’s student population. This will lead directly to lower state funding every year.

Based on current enrollment in grades 5-8 and adjusting for attrition, total high school enrollment for grades 9-12 in four years will be reduced by hundreds of students and will be well below building capacity for either Juneau-Douglas High School or Thunder Mountain High School.

The district’s 2022 demographic study estimated that Juneau would lose another 1,200 students in the school system by 2032.

This overriding fact dictates that school board decisions must be based on the long term, not just what public pressure demands today.

Much of the testimony at the public hearing centered around Career and Technical Education classroom space. If Juneau is serious about attracting and retaining students and providing them with tools to earn a living, it’s incumbent on elected officials to explore how this capacity can be expanded.

A recent national study tracking more than ten million people who entered the job market over the past decade suggests that 52% of graduates are underemployed – in jobs where their credentials are not needed or underutilized. Providing and retaining students with Career and Technical Education training and skills needed for a wide variety of careers that don’t require a traditional college degree should be a priority for our community.

The vision to accomplish that involves more than shop classes and other courses now offered at the downtown high school. It may mean, in fact, investing in a 21^st century state-of-the-art facility in the Mendenhall Valley that could become a regional hub for Career and Technical Education curricula. This facility could offer programs in aviation, culinary arts, veterinary assisting, cosmetology, hospitality, healthcare technology or any of a myriad of fields that are needed today, especially in Juneau.

I’m betting Juneau voters would look kindly on approving a bond issue for a facility this essential instead of flashy arts and culture facilities or new city offices.

It’s easier to cling to the old ways but where has that gotten us?

It’s past time to do things differently in the future.

After retiring as the senior vice president in charge of business banking for Key Bank in Alaska, Win Gruening became a regular opinion page columnist for the Juneau Empire. He was born and raised in Juneau and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1970. He is involved in various local and statewide organizations.

Win Gruening: Juneau School District’s financial challenges require deliberate, thoughtful response

Explainer: Alaska’s March 5 Republican Presidential Preference Poll happens Super Tuesday

Suzanne Downing

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February 26, 2024

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Explainer: Alaska’s March 5 Republican Presidential Preference Poll happens Super Tuesday

On Tuesday, March 5, Republicans in Alaska will head to the “polls” to cast a vote for their preference for president. They won’t be the regular Division of Election polls, staffed by state workers or paid volunteers working with state employee oversight. They won’t even be in the usual polling locations.

Instead, this is a privately run “caucus by ballot”systems that helps the party determine who its delegates will represent when they attend the Republican Nominating Convention in Milwaukee in July. This is grassroots caucusing, without having to stand in a gymnasium all day.

There will be three names on the March 5 Presidential Preference Poll ballot. They are the names of the three candidates who paid a fee to the party to be included, a fee that helps defray the cost of the statewide operation.

Those candidates are Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, and Vivek Ramaswamy, who announced Jan. 15 ago that he is no longer a candidate. The Republican Party has given no explanation for why Ramaswamy’s name will still appear on the PPP ballot, now that he has endorsed Trump.

Alaska Republican Presidential Preference Poll: A year away

Participating in a PPP takes a bit more effort than voting in a regular government-run election. There are not as many places to cast a preference ballot. This is the reality of being a grassroots organization and a function of how many volunteers the party was able to muster and train over the past several months. Also, the volunteers will be doing this for the first time since 2016, and the technologies have changed since that PPP.

Republicans can vote in this caucus-by-ballot exercise. You can register as a Republican on the spot to participate in the PPP. You’ll be asked to show identification, given a simple ballot, and you mark your preference, drop it in the ballot box, and be on your way.

Depending on weather and enthusiasm, lines may be long and may stretch outside the buildings where these PPPs are taking place.

Find your House district at the Alaska Division of Elections map page.

Here are the House districts where PPP voting locations are located:

District 1:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

2417 Tongass Ave. Ketchikan, AK

District 3:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

Nugget Mall – 8745 Glacier Hwy. Juneau, AK

District 4:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

Nugget Mall – 8745 Glacier Hwy. Juneau, AK

District 5:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM 403

West Marine Hwy. Kodiak, AK

District 6:

Site 1: 3/5/2024 3PM-8PM 91

Sterling Hwy. Homer, AK

Site 2: 3/5/2024 3PM-8PM 51540

Mercantile Ave. Kasilof, AK

District 7:

Site 1: 3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

209 Princess Ln. Kenai, AK

Site 2: 3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

161 Farnsworth Ave. Soldotna, AK

District 8:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

52075 Marie Ave. Nikiski, AK

District 9:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

Anchorage Grace Church – 12407 Pintail St Anchorage, AK

District 10:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

Anchorage Grace Church – 12407 Pintail St Anchorage, AK

District 11:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

Anchorage Grace Church – 12407 Pintail St Anchorage, AK

District 12:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

Anchorage Grace Church – 12407 Pintail St 4025 W 88th Ave. Anchorage, AK

District 13:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

Jewel Lake Community Church of the Nazarene – 4025 W 88th Ave. Anchorage, AK

District 14:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

Jewel Lake Community Church of the Nazarene – 4025 W 88th Ave. Anchorage, AK

District 15:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

Jewel Lake Community Church of the Nazarene – 4025 W 88th Ave. Anchorage, AK

District 16:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

Jewel Lake Community Church of the Nazarene – 4025 W 88th Ave. Anchorage, AK

District 17:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

Jewel Lake Community Church of the Nazarene – 4025 W 88th Ave. Anchorage, AK

District 18:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

Mountain City Church – 6401 E Northern Lights Blvd. Anchorage, AK

District 19:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

Jewel Lake Community Church of the Nazarene – 4025 W 88th Ave, Anchorage, AK

District 20:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

Mountain City Church – 6401 E Northern Lights Blvd, Anchorage, AK

District 21:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

Mountain City Church – 6401 E Northern Lights Blvd, Anchorage, AK

District 22:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

Mountain City Church – 6401 E Northern Lights Blvd, Anchorage, AK

District 23:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

12001 Business Blvd, Eagle River, AK

District 24:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

12001 Business Blvd, Eagle River, AK

District 25:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

655 South Valley Way, Palmer, AK

District 26:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

655 South Valley Way, Palmer, AK

District 27:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

Wasilla Senior Center – 1301 S. Century Cir, Wasilla, AK

District 28:

Site 1: 3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

655 South Valley Way, Palmer, AK

Site 2: 3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

Wasilla Senior Center – 1301 S. Century Cir, Wasilla, AK

District 29:

Site 1: 3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

Valdez Convention and Civic Center – 314 Clifton Ct, Valdez, AK

Site 2: 3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

Wasilla Senior Center – 1301 S Century Cir, Wasilla, AK

District 30:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM

Wasilla Senior Center – 1301 S Century Cir, Wasilla, AK

District 31:

3/5/2024 3PM-8PM