The “climate change” industry is making a play to take over the board of Chugach Electric. The current election of board members attracted endorsements from The Alaska Center for three candidates: Shaina Kilcoyne, Susanne Fleek-Green, and Jim Nordlund. These are the candidates who have made promises and pledges to the environmental industry to kill natural gas.
Starting April 19, the board election can be voted on by all customers (members) of the association. Voting takes place electronically, when on that day members with emails on file will receive an election notification email from Chugach Electric.
Since Chugach Electric bought all the accounts from Municipal Light and Power, it now has 90,000 voting members from the northern Kenai Peninsula, Whittier, and greater Anchorage.
Hardly any ratepayers vote in sleepy electric utility elections, which gives The Alaska Center the leg up in stacking the board with people who are anti-natural gas. This election is right down their ally in developing a green energy future, whatever that may be for Anchorage.
The Democrats have pushed this deal from the outset. The arrangement to buy ML&P was brokered by former Mayor (and former Senator) Mark Begich with then-Mayor Ethan Berkowitz. Voters approved the purchase in 2019, and the Regulatory Commission of Alaska approved the merger details in 2020, when the deal was complete.
The total transaction was $986 million and the promise was that ratepayers would have lower rates and would save about $200 million over 15 years.
But then the environmentalists decided to take over the board and keep the rates high. The Democrats have fingerprints all over this latest move.
Sen. Mark Begich’s former press secretary Julie Hasquet now serves as Senior Communications manager for Chugach Electric and runs the communications about the elections.
The Alaska Center, meanwhile, dropped the “for the Environment” part of its name a few years ago, but its mission has remained the same — support Democrat candidates and build a Democrat, climate change and anti-oil political base in Alaska, controlling local, state, and national government.
It endorses almost exclusively Democrats and candidates who identify as nonpartisans or undeclareds in order to get elected in marginal districts. Now the Alaska Center is working to take over the electric association and disconnect Alaskans from their natural gas.
Candidates supported by the Alaska Center have Mark Begich and former Mayor Berkowitz in common: Susanne Fleek-Green was statewide coordinator for Alaskans for (Mark) Begich and was a key advisor on the staff of Mayor Berkowitz. She now works as the superintendent of Lake Clark for the National Park Service.
Shaina Kilcoyne was Energy and Sustainability Manager for Mayor Berkowitz. She wrote the municipality’s climate change plan and installed solar panels on top of the Egan Center, claiming they would save the municipality $21,000 a year once the $200,000 investment is paid off. The panels are covered by snow for about six months a year and no one has looked to see if they are actually functional. She also worked the Alaska Center, and is associated with the Alaska Venture Fund, an environmental group at alaskaventure.org.
Jim Nordlund is the Alaska Center’s third pick and is a former Democrat member of the Alaska House of Representatives. He was Alaska State Director of USDA-Rural Development and is a reliable vote for the Alaska Center’s mission.
The Alaska Center’s top three donors are the Sixteen Thirty Fund, League of Conservation Voters, and Tides Advocacy Fund, all 501(c)(4) left-of-center advocacy groups, according to InfluenceWatch.org.
The Sixteen Thirty Fund has gotten involved in Alaska politics increasingly in recent years, including supporting Forrest Dunbar for mayor, unsuccessfully, and successfully opposing an Alaska constitutional convention.
The Sixteen Thirty Fund is a dark-money behemoth. In 2020, it poured $400 million into efforts to unseat President Donald Trump, according to Politico. It gets involved in Alaska politics because it’s a cheap state to work in, with a small population and voters that are mostly in the undeclared column.
The Sixteen Thirty Fund also brought ranked choice voting to Alaska by funding Alaskans for Better Elections.
In addition, the Alaska Center is funded by the Soros-linked Tides Advocacy Fund, which also helped pay for the expenses of Alaskans for Better Elections, the ranked choice voting group.
Chugach Electric’s election ends on May 19, when it will host a community open house event from 3 pm – 6 pm at ChangePoint Alaska. The voting takes place electronically. On April 19, members will receive an election notification email from Chugach Electric.
Learn more about the voting process here:
