The historic Chilkoot Trail, a 33-mile international hiking route that stretches from Dyea, Alaska, to Bennett, British Columbia, is now open for the 2025 summer hiking season.
However, hikers are not permitted to cross the international border between Canada and the United States along the trail this year, continuing a restriction that began in 2022.
Both Parks Canada and the US National Park Service confirmed that while each side of the trail is open for hiking — the Canadian side from June 4 to Sept. 13, and the US side for similar dates — the international boundary at the summit of the trail remains closed to through travel. This means hikers must begin and end their journey on the same side of the border.
On June 5, 2025, Parks Canada issued an update to its website and social media, stating clearly: “Crossing the international border on the Chilkoot Trail is not permitted during the 2025 hiking season.” This followed a period of uncertainty, during which earlier messaging had suggested the Canada Border Services Agency was still evaluating whether cross-border hikers could meet legal entry and reporting obligations.
The final determination was the continued ban, aimed at upholding security and reporting protocols in remote border areas.
The Chilkoot Trail was once a major route for Klondike Gold Rush prospectors. It was shut down in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic policies in Canada, and in 2021 and 2022, flood damage on the US portion of the trail delayed its reopening. Although the American side is finally open again in 2025, the cross-border restriction from 2022 remains.
This ongoing limitation stems in part from increased scrutiny of remote border crossings. In January, the CBSA announced it would discontinue the issuance of Pacific Crest Trail permits for northbound hikers entering Canada, thus ending another popular cross-border trail.
The remote and rugged nature of the Chilkoot Trail poses significant challenges for monitoring hikers and verifying legal entry at the border, which lacks any permanent customs infrastructure.
The Canadian government is considering the Strong Borders Act (Bill C-2), a proposed law intended to combat transnational threats such as fentanyl trafficking and to strengthen immigration controls.
“Canada’s borders must be secure, modern, and efficient,” the CBSA stated earlier this year in its strategic vision. Measures include enhanced screening, improved data-sharing with US counterparts, and the discontinuation of leniencies in remote border crossings.
Hikers can still enjoy multi-day trips on either the Canadian or US portion of the trail. Parks Canada continues to issue permits for hikes beginning in British Columbia and terminating at the border, while the US National Park Service has reopened access from the Dyea trailhead up to the international boundary.
HB 123 represents a critical reform to Alaska’s vehicle rental tax system, addressing years of confusion, legal disputes, and economic inefficiencies. Building on the intent of a previous Senate bill, this legislation introduces a smarter, fairer approach that benefits Alaskans, particularly in rural areas, while strengthening the state’s $4 billion tourism industry. With a history of outdated tax policies and the rise of rental scheduling platforms like Turo, the need for this change has long been evident.
Th 10% State excise tax on passenger vehicle rentals, originally designed to target tourists using Alaskan roads, has remained unchanged for years and failed to keep pace with a shifting market. The emergence of Turo, a peer-to-peer rental platform founded in 2009, created new income opportunities for Alaskans renting out personal vehicles. Yet the state’s tax framework lagged behind, leading to inconsistent enforcement and legal disputes between the Department of Revenue and platforms like Turo.
Alaskan vehicle hosts, especially in rural areas, faced retroactive penalties and even bank garnishments, while the state lost revenue due to unclear collection responsibilities. A Senate bill introduced last year proposed an 8% tax rate for platforms and protected hosts from past liabilities; though it had bipartisan support, its failure left the problem unresolved. HB 123 builds on that foundation and delivers a more effective solution.
This bill reduces the rental tax to 9% for traditional rental companies and 7% for platform-based rentals, delivering savings to both renters and small businesses.
The 3% tax cut for local vehicle “hosts”, many of which are family-run businesses in rural Alaska, improves tourist access to rental vehicles and supports economic opportunity. By requiring platforms like Turo to collect and remit the tax, HB 123 removes the compliance burden from individual hosts, especially those in remote communities with limited resources. It also shields those hosts from retroactive enforcement, ending an era of arbitrary penalties.
This legislation will significantly boost Alaska’s tourism industry, which relies heavily on vehicle rentals. With most of the projected $9 million in annual tax revenue coming from tourists, the burden on Alaska residents remains light.
In rural areas, where public transportation is scarce, greater vehicle availability through platforms like Turo will improve access to destinations such as Denali and McCarthy. Aligning state taxes with local rates, like Anchorage’s 8%, removes confusion and enhances our competitiveness. The bill’s subpoena provision gives the Department of Revenue the tools to pursue tax cheats without growing the size of government; this ensures fairness and compliance.
Rural Alaska, home to roughly 20% of our state’s population, is a cornerstone of our tourism economy. Attractions like wildlife viewing, fishing charters, and Alaska Native cultural experiences depend on vehicle rentals to bring visitors into remote communities. Historically, high operational costs and limited availability in these smaller markets have limited rental car access. HB 123 addresses these challenges by lowering taxes and encouraging participation from more local hosts, thereby increasing rental availability in places like Healy or even villages like Bethel. The 3% tax cut for local businesses fosters economic diversification, supports job creation, and boosts related industries such as lodging and retail. Revenue from the bill can support community initiatives, from cultural preservation to conservation, tying tourism growth to sustainable development. This long-delayed reform positions rural Alaska to meet increasing demand for authentic travel experiences.
Rental tax revenue in Alaska flows into the state’s general fund, helping support vital services like education, infrastructure, and public safety. Historically, this tax has served as a tourist levy, offsetting the costs that visitors impose without heavily taxing residents. Under HB 123, the $9 million in projected annual revenue, largely from out-of-state renters, will help maintain roads and services critical to rural tourism. This ensures that the economic gains from tourism are reinvested into the communities that host our visitors, striking a balanced and fiscally responsible approach.
Turo’s growth since 2009 has transformed the vehicle rental landscape, offering Alaskans a way to earn income while serving tourism demand. But the absence of clear tax guidelines created friction, penalizing hosts and costing the state lost revenue. HB 123 embraces innovation by integrating Turo and similar platforms into a structured tax system that ensures compliance without stifling entrepreneurship. The bill’s effective date allows time for a smooth transition, reflecting a forward-thinking, solution-oriented approach. It replaces decades of outdated policy, where the rigid 10% tax clashed with the rise of peer-to-peer rentals and created legal uncertainty.
The need for HB 123 has been clear for years. The old tax structure, poorly suited to the growth of platforms like Turo and indeed unknown by many Turo hosts, caused confusion and unfair penalties that hurt both tourism and rural Alaskans. The failure of prior legislation prolonged this uncertainty, costing local entrepreneurs and denying the state much-needed revenue. HB 123 rectifies these shortcomings with lower tax rates, streamlined compliance, and protections for small operators. This is not just a policy adjustment; it is a long-overdue correction to a system that has failed Alaskans for too long.
HB 123 is a win for affordability, competition, and fairness. It aligns with a limited-government philosophy while strengthening rural economies and bolstering our tourism sector. By resolving longstanding inefficiencies, supporting small businesses, and modernizing our tax framework, this legislation helps secure Alaska’s economic future. The time for reform is now, and HB 123 delivers the change Alaskans deserve.
Rep. Kevin McCabe serves in the Alaska Legislature on behalf of Big Lake.
A coalition of groups, some funded by the George Soros-Arabella Advisors network of dark money, is planning protests that may turn into riots on Saturday in cities and towns across America, including Alaska.
The June 14 “No Kings” riots are being organized online, with several protests planned in Alaska communities such as Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Sitka, Nome, Haines, and others that may emerge.
These are anti-Trump protests similar to the ones fomented by Democrats during the first Trump Administration, but with the added intensity of active rioting now taking place in Los Angeles by illegal aliens and their allies. The National Guard has been called out to help restore order in the city, but the Democrat mayor and governor are actively fomenting street violence.
All that is leading up to the “No Kings” Day events on June 14, which are organized by a coalition of Marxist advocacy groups, with Indivisible, the 50501 Movement, Third Act, Public Citizen, and others playing key roles.
The American Federation of Teachers is a key organizer. In preparation for the rioting, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten is holding a tele-town hall on June 10 to prepare for the nationwide anti-Trump activity. Weingarten is also a board member of the National Democratic Institute, a taxpayer-funded subsidiary of the National Endowment for Democracy, a group that was a proxy organization for the Biden Administration. In Alaska, AFT features such staff members as former Alaska Democratic Party Executive Director Lindsay Kavanaugh.
Much of the organizing activity is taking place on the BlueSky social network, where Marxist activists gather. Some organizing for the planned riots are taking place on Reddit, where on private channels organizers are looking for men in the mood for street-fighting and who will be paid, such as in this Reddit posting:
Funding for the events — fromsign makingto training and organizing — is not transparent.
The protests coincide with Flag Day and the celebration of the US Army’s 250th birthday — and President Donald Trump’s birthday. A military parade in honor of the Army is taking place in the nation’s capital, complete with tanks that protest organizers say is for Trump’s birthday.
“On June 14—Flag Day—Donald Trump wants tanks in the street and a made-for-TV display of dominance for his birthday. A spectacle meant to look like strength. But real power isn’t staged in Washington. It rises up everywhere else,” the group states on its website. “Instead of allowing this birthday parade to be the center of gravity, we will make action everywhere else the story of America that day: people coming together in communities across the country to reject strongman politics and corruption.”
The group says that it will not host a No Kings event in Washington, D.C. but instead will build the contrast by having a counter-event in Philadelphia.
Be aware. Be alert. Be prepared. Be safe.
Because these protest groups cannot control their fringe, law enforcement will likely be put on high alert across the country. The intensity of the organizing and the melding of causes — from pro-illegal immigrants to anti-Israel — may lead to rogue members sabotaging roads, power grids, and other infrastructure. In cities, they may block highways and attack businesses and cars.
This would be a day for Americans to be on alert and guard their families, and in heavily Democrat areas stock up in advance on essentials such as life-saving medicines and foods, and keep children away from areas where violence may occur or from where roads may be blocked or buildings vandalized.
In a major moment for her campaign, Alaska gubernatorial candidate Bernadette Wilson received a high-profile endorsement at a rally in Anchorage on Sunday: Florida Congressman Byron Donalds, a national figure and close confidante and ally of President Donald Trump, taped a special video message for Wilson, calling her a “true conservative, committed to America First principles.” Donalds himself carries Trump’s endorsement in Florida’s governor’s race to replace Gov Ron DeSantis, who is term-limited.
The rally, with a packed house of supporters, featured a lineup of conservative voices from Alaska, including:
Pastor Ron Hoffman of Mountain City Church
Father James Moore, Holy Family
Captain Dino Sutherland, star of Alaska Fish Wars on National Geographic Wild
Jiujitsu fighter and Moms for Liberty Anchorage chapter chair Gabby Ide (not speaking on behalf of group)
Steven Holmstock, with Bikers for America (not speaking on behalf of group)
Pam Melin, business executive and president of the Valley Republican Women of Alaska, who formally introduced Wilson
Theo Ransum, business lending officer and emcee for the event
Wilson, a business owner at Denali Disposal, focused her remarks on the need for action, not just talk, on topics such as infrastructure and education, vowing that her administration would build roads and restore Alaska’s schools to national prominence. When the next cabinet members visit Alaska, she said, it should be for a ribbon cutting for a project that is done.
Supporters at the Bernadette Wilson for Governor rally in Anchorage on June 8, 2025.
Wilson also shared a personal story about a weekend fire that occurred this winter, which destroyed her decade-old garbage business, including garbage trucks and equipment that went up in flames that burned for an entire day before being extinguished by firefighters.
Describing how she worked tirelessly over the weekend to ensure her employees still had jobs when they returned to work on that following Monday morning, she committed to the room on Saturday that she “will bring that level of grit and determination to the governor’s seat.”
Though Wilson is a political veteran, she has never run for office herself. She has run campaigns and state ballot initiatives, and was most recently a senior campaign advisor to Congressman Nick Begich and original sponsor of the Repeal Now, to repeal ranked choice voting in Alaska.
She reminded the crowd that Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, and Wilson’s own great-uncle — former Alaska Gov. Wally Hickel — all entered high office without prior elected experience. The same could be said about Congressman Nick Begich, who came from the business community.
Her campaign team, already announced, includes CJ Koan, Paul Smith, Ben Yoho, Brad Herold, and Stephanie Williams, among several others. She revealed that she and Congressman Donalds share a top campaign advisor in Chris Hudson.
Wilson deeply roots her candidacy in her Alaska background, including her family, which has strong business ties, her great-uncle Gov. Hickel. Her heritage includes being a member of the Naknek Native Village Council.
As Gov. Mike Dunleavy reviews the stack of legislation on his desk, a critical June 19 deadline looms. Among the most significant are three major budget bills: the state’s Operating, Capital, and Mental Health budgets. In addition to those, numerous other bills await action — some likely to be signed, others vetoed, and a few potentially allowed to become law without the governor’s signature.
Already, lawmakers have taken the rare step of overriding one of Dunleavy’s vetoes, an increase to Alaska’s education funding formula. Whether the Legislature will take further steps to challenge the governor on other spending matters remains to be seen. A special session to override additional vetoes is possible, though not probable. Such a move would require 40 votes, and several Democrats appear reluctant to pursue that route. More likely, legislators could wait until the 2026 regular session in January, when a joint session could be called to take up veto overrides.
Much of the state’s approved spending this year relies heavily on diverting funds from the 2025 Permanent Fund dividend. Lawmakers allocated roughly 85% of available Permanent Fund available proceeds to state operations, leaving Alaskans with a dividend of just $1,000 — far short of their statutory 50% share. The Legislature also dipped into funds originally intended for college scholarships for Alaska students. The question now is how the governor will see those two funding raids.
Two of the most consequential spending bills have now been formally transmitted to the governor’s office:
HB 53 – Operating, Capital, and Supplemental Budget (Transmitted: May 27, 2025)
HB 55 – Mental Health Budget (Transmitted: May 27, 2025)
Notably absent from the governor’s desk, however, is Senate Bill 113, the controversial internet income tax bill. More than a month after its passage, it still hasn’t been transmitted, suggesting a calculated delay by the Democrat-led majority. Their strategy may be to hold the bill until November, daring Dunleavy to veto it late in the year, with an eye toward overriding the veto during the January session.
Regardless of when it reaches his desk, SB 113 appears destined for a veto. The only question now is when that battle will begin.
The Alaska Center, formerly the Alaska Center for the Environment, has officially secured majority control of the Chugach Electric Association Board of Directors following the 2025 election, which ended May 30. The control by the leftists of Alaska’s largest utility will influence how it governs for years to come and may eventually lead to power insecurity in the Railbelt.
With the election of Katherine Jernstrom to a four-year term, five of the board’s seven directors were endorsed by The Alaska Center.
That gives the group a solid 71.4% majority, with serious implications for future energy policy, ratepayer impacts, and the political influence of the board.
Katherine Jernstrom, Director – Alaska Center-endorsed
Only Dan Rogers and Sisi Cooper are independent of pressure from The Alaska Center. The rest owe their seats to a powerful leftist coalition that includes the Renewable Energy Alaska Project (REAP) and wealthy labor unions such as IBEW 1547 and the AFL-CIO.
These coordinated endorsements on Alaska’s largest utility’s board consistently deliver 6,500 votes in elections that typically see about 10,000 to 11,000 votes cast.
For example, when Bettina Chastain, an independent candidate in 2023, Susanne Fleek-Green got 6,700 votes, Jim Nordlund received 6,400, and Chastain came in with 6,200, beating The Alaska Center’s Shaina Kilcoyne’s 6,000 votes. In 2024, when Alaska Center’s Mark Wiggan ran, he received 6,400 votes, and this year Katherine Jernstrom pulled out 6,500 votes.
The membership of Chugach Electric Association is not quite 90,000. The participating voters, just 11–12% of eligible cooperative members, determine the outcome. For a regular candidate running independently, breaking through is nearly impossible without matching the Democrat-identifying coalition in both funding and visibility. The high turnout for board seat elections came in 2023, when 15% voted. This year’s election season at Chugach Electric Association was more subdued.
In 2024, Dan Rogers pulled off a rare upset by unseating then-chair Sam Cason. But Rogers was uniquely positioned. He is well-known in the electric utility sector, a former Chugach Electric employee, and was able to finance a significant campaign. Chastain, once a longtime board chair, also managed to win in 2023 by spending her own money and benefiting from name recognition. But even she barely edged out an Alaska Center-backed challenger.
Now, with Jernstrom’s win, the door has effectively closed on independents. The Alaska Center is the new gatekeeper.
In utility association elections, there are no campaign finance disclosures, spending limits, or election transparency laws that govern the races. That lack of oversight has allowed advocacy groups to dominate what are supposed to be member-owned cooperatives, and it’s beginning to show.
Readers of Must Read Alaska will recall that The Alaska Center gets funding through the shadowy Arabella Advisors network of donors, with funding coming through subsets that include the Sixteen Thirty Fund and the Tides Foundation, League of Conservation Voters, another 501(c)(4) environmental advocacy group that gets funding from Arabella Advisor groups.
The board’s Alaska Center-aligned majority is expected to push hard for environmental policy priorities, including the controversial removal of the Eklutna River dam, a push that is concerning to ratepayers and those concerned about long-term energy reliability in Southcentral Alaska.
Group photo of The Alaska Center staff and board, which now effectively is the puppet master for Chugach Electric Association.
Meanwhile, the looming natural gas shortage, which is expected to become acute after 2028, demands urgent strategic planning. However, the majority of the board of Alaska’s largest electric utility are firmly anti-fossil fuel and deeply committed to renewables, even as some experts warn that large-scale wind and solar projects for the region are neither economically viable nor technically feasible as replacements.
By resisting cheaper natural gas options in favor of renewables, the board may be steering the utility toward higher rates, less reliability, and costly infrastructure changes that burden ratepayers.
Compounding concerns about the environmentalist takeover of Chugach Electric, board member Susanne Fleek-Green recently took a job as Chief of Staff to Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance. That’s raised eyebrows in the wake of a new Anchorage Assembly ordinance that permitted Assemblywoman Anna Brawley to also serve as partisan legislative staffers to Democrat Rep. Andrew Gray, who represents Anchorage in the Legislature. Fleek-Green being both on the board of the utility and running the city of Anchorage raises questions about political loyalty vs. sound energy policy.
Katherine Jernstrom’s successful 2025 campaign shows just what has happened to Chugach Electric. She was backed by a long and influential list of endorsers, as published on her campaign website. These endorsers include Democrat Mark Begich, who was the person who negotiated the deal to sell Municipal Light and Power (the Anchorage utility) to Chugach Electric and for whom Fleek-Green was a paid congressional staff member when Mark Begich was in the Senate:
The Alaska Center
IBEW 1547
Alaska AFL-CIO
Renewable Energy Alaska Project (REAP)
Alaska Carpenters Union
Rep. Andrew Gray
Sen. Forrest Dunbar
Rep. Zack Fields
Rep. Carolyn Hall
Rep. Ky Holland
Assemblyman Daniel Volland
Former Anchorage Mayor and U.S. Senator Mark Begich
Former Rep. Jennie Armstrong
Former Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins
Jimmy Miner
Matt McDaniel
Ben Kellie
Jon Bittner
Karen King
Lori Davey
John-Henry Heckendorn
Katie Scovic
Eric McCallum
Andre Horton
Kate Consenstein
Radhika Krishna
Kirk Rose
Laile Fairbairn
Claire Pywell
Gretchen Fauske
Jenna Wright
Brit and Jerrod Galanin
Veronica Slajer
Isaac Vanderburg
Penny Gage
David McCarthy
Bill Popp
As the power dynamic on the Chugach Electric board shifts sharply toward a Green New Deal ideological direction, ratepayers may soon feel the impact in the form of higher bills, costly and unreliable experimentation projects, and fewer checks and balances at the utility’s top level. The governance of Alaska’s utility cooperative is no longer representing the members, but is now representing the Democratic Party and its surrogate — The Alaska Center (for the Environment).
The Alaska Permanent Fund reached a new milestone last week, closing at an all-time high of $83,384,400,000 on Thursday. The figure,published by the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, surpasses the fund’s previous record of $82.1 billion set on Dec. 7, 2021.
The Permanent Fund, managed by the APFC, is a state-owned sovereign investment fund established in 1976 by a constitutional amendment approved by Alaska voters. Its purpose is to invest a portion of the state’s oil revenues to benefit current and future generations of Alaskans.
The fund receives a constitutionally mandated deposit of at least 25% of all mineral lease royalties collected by the state, and its earnings have become a major source of revenue for both the state government and the annual Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) paid to Alaska residents, since Alaskans are not able to own the subsurface mineral rights on their own properties.
Despite the record-high fund value, Alaskans can expect a relatively small dividend in 2025 of $1,000. While the Permanent Fund has grown through long-term investment strategies and market gains, most of the annual draw from the fund’s earnings reserve, set by a statutory percent of market value formula, is being drained off for government spending this year after the Legislature opted to allocate the bulk of the earnings to balance the state budget, leaving only a modest amount for Alaskans.
This year, the Legislature took 85% of the available earnings from the fund for government spending, whereas before 2016, when former Gov. Bill Walker first vetoed half of the Permanent Fund dividends, the split was 50-50, an formula that is still on the books in statute, but that has not been honored since 2016.
The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation operates independently under a board of trustees tasked with managing the fund’s investments across a portfolio that includes public equities, private equity, fixed income, real estate, infrastructure, and other alternative assets. The principal and earnings reserve account vary from day to day but has generally remained over $80 billion for the past year.
The fund’s record high comes amid the public debate over the size of state government and the future of the PFD itself.
I was going to continue writing on the topic of climate by responding to an article from Yereth Rosen on the cost of permafrost related damage, and the response from Rep. Kevin McCabe, but I attended the Commonwealth North Forum on Cook Inlet gas recently and attended another meeting about annual net metering for grid-tied renewable energy. I spent much of one afternoon thinking on both these meetings and the context of Alaska Energy, so changed my immediate plans.
I consider the attitude of Alaskans, and the population nationwide on whether greenhouse gas is the primary cause of warming of our planet or if we have just recovered (or are recovering) from the Little Ice Age, to be most important to developing a proper energy plan.
Those who read my columns know I think that greenhouse gas is not a significant problem and that IPCC and various complicit organizations around the world that manipulate the climate data to enhance the argument of human caused warming through emission of greenhouse gases are misleading the masses. This premise will lead to a totally wrong energy solution as our bulk power generation needs to be based on high energy density fuels.
I have stated in many of my articles that wind and solar are appropriate for locations that do not have high energy density fuels readily available, or where they are prohibitively expensive. I also promote residential and commercial solar projects which are connected behind the meter, or on the load side of the meter.
Utility scale wind and solar projects installed in Alaska must be thoroughly thought out and properly engineered on both the Utility side and the Solar/Inverter side to be truly beneficial to Alaska. There are complexities of Inverter Based Resources (IBR), which are generally using variable sources of energy (wind and solar). Problems in states with high IBR penetration and the recent power outage in Spain and Portugal should give pause to consideration of increased use of utility scale IBR without providing inertia and long term energy storage (i.e. not batteries) with the design of new installations. Geothermal, tidal and nuclear power are three alternate sources we can look forward to that will provide less variable power that would more sustainable and resilient than wind or solar power.
Now back to Alaska energy and how to move forward.
We learned at the Commonwealth North “Energy on the Edge: Future of Cook Inlet Gas” that to provide confidence to utilities that we have enough gas on hand, we need to drill more wells.
But drilling more wells just to have in reserve does not pay for those wells if they don’t flow gas. We need a financial mechanism that provides financial resources to the producer to cover the expense of drilling new wells. Legacy financial institutions have been influenced by ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) policies and are less likely to finance any hydrocarbon fuel projects in the recent past. That influence is still present.
So let’s try something different. A few years ago I thought that venture capital could be set up in Alaska so that individual citizens of Alaska could invest in a venture capital fund so they could earn from Alaska projects. Each Permanent Fund dividend recipient could be allowed to designate a portion of their annual dividend to a venture capital fund that could provide financing to particular Alaska projects.
This Cook Inlet gas drilling effort could be one of those qualified projects. Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority could manage the fund and provide financing to gas producers in Cook Inlet to encourage drilling enough holes to provide more certainty of gas reserves to provide the confidence needed. So we are on our way to secure our future with Cook Inlet gas.
Next, the Alaska LNG project can help with our Railbelt energy issues by accelerating the North Slope-to-Fairbanks gas pipeline to get gas into Fairbanks and the rest of the interior sooner than later. With natural gas in Fairbanks, a new natural gas fueled power plant could be built, which would provide less dependence on power from the south and reduce the demand on Cook Inlet gas for energy for the Interior.
I still recommend large long duration energy storage to enhance the ability to save summer solar for use in the winter or other times of need. Pumped hydro seemed to be an ideal means to store renewable energy at the time of generation, and to store the potential energy for a long time, (i.e. many months). No one seems to be very excited about pump hydro, but we’ll leave that tool on the table for use eventually.
The non-hydro energy storage means are all still fairly short duration. Batteries are not long duration and cannot discharge at significant rates for any significant length of time, so we should not build very many battery energy storage systems (BESS). We just need to install sufficient BESS to provide system stability for the utility without much consideration for the variable energy sources to be installed. We need to focus on non-hydro long duration energy storage to be installed through-out the Railbelt to have an energy source available for whatever part of the system is islanded from the Railbelt grid and these energy storage devices can drive rotating machines to ensure there is inertia in that part of the system that will allow existing and normal controls and protection means to function properly.
As I have mentioned before, the island of Kauai can use BESS with their solar because the sun will be there every day, for about the same amount of time every day and it will not be freezing. Here in Alaska, I continue to advocate for storage of the solar energy for those cold stormy days. If the utility scale wind and solar can directly feed storage and then have the energy released through a high inertia rotating machine we can definitely improve our sustainability and resilience.
Of immediate importance is that Alaskans in leadership positions must look at the available data to determine how realistic the climate crisis concerns are. My findings show that while the average annual temperature may be increasing slightly, the high temperature is not increasing over historical norms. The high annual average gets higher when less cold temperatures in the winter while summer temperatures remain in their historical normal range. We need people looking at the impact of the Little Ice Age and make a determination of whether or not our present condition is just a recovery from that era. I have been following the jet stream movements the last three or four years and it sure looks like the unusual weather across the country and the world is driven by the changes in the jet stream. If that is the cause of the “climate problems,” then our focus needs to be on adapting and preparing for the impact of high rainfall, high winds, or lack of rainfall.
Planning for the future of our energy and power systems is simplified if we truly understand our weather and our climate.
Robert Seitz is a professionally licensed electrical engineer and lifelong Alaskan.
A fatal helicopter crash on Alaska’s remote North Slope claimed the lives of two men who were experts in their fields: Shiloh Schulte, 46, a shorebird biologist from Maine, and Jonathan Guibas, 54, an experienced helicopter pilot recently hired by a Wasilla-based aviation company.
The crash occurred on June 4 about 25 to 30 miles southwest of Deadhorse, near Kuparuk. The Robinson R66 helicopter, operated by Pollux Aviation, departed from Prudhoe Bay around 10:40 am under special visual flight rules clearance, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The aircraft was supporting a wildlife research mission when it went down.
Schulte, a senior scientist at Manomet Conservation Sciences based in Plymouth, Massachusetts, had traveled to Alaska for fieldwork. According to the organization, he was en route to deploy recording devices on shorebirds as part of an ongoing research effort. Schulte was known nationally for restoring populations of the American oystercatcher and for his broader work in shorebird conservation. He lived in Kennebunk, Maine, where he had previously served on the town’s Select Board, and was the father of two daughters.
“Shiloh was a deeply respected member of the Manomet Conservation Sciences team, whose passion for shorebird conservation and unwavering commitment to protecting our planet inspired everyone fortunate enough to work alongside him,” the nonprofit said in a statement.
Also killed in the crash was pilot Jonathan Guibas, who had recently joined Pollux Aviation. Guibas had a long and accomplished career in rotorcraft aviation, with prior experience as chief helicopter pilot and operations officer at Protocom Aviation, and leadership roles at Skyland Aviation Services and Hampton Roads Helicopters in Virginia. Before relocating to Alaska, he had lived in California, Guam, and Virginia. His mother told Alaska Public Media that he had only recently moved to Wasilla to begin work with Pollux.
The wreckage was located by North Slope Borough Search and Rescue teams, and recovery operations began on June 6. The helicopter is being transported to Deadhorse as part of the ongoing NTSB investigation. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
