Alaska
Dunleavy signs bills aimed at modernizing energy production and delivery in Alaska’s Railbelt • Alaska Beacon
Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday signed three energy bills passed by the Legislature in response to looming energy shortages and delivery problems in the state’s most populous region.
Dunleavy said the bills are part of a wider strategy of modernizing Alaska’s energy portfolio and systems of delivery, making them more diverse and dependable.
“Over the past two years, we’ve passed several bills that will transform Alaska’s ability to tap into its world-class energy for decades to come,” the governor said at the signing ceremony, held at the Alaska Energy Authority office in Anchorage.
The first measure he signed into law on Wednesday was House Bill 50, which started out as legislation authorizing the state to make money by capturing, storing and sequestering carbon gases but was expanded as elements of other energy bills were added.
The carbon-capture section of the bill creates a regulatory framework for that enterprise, and the mature Cook Inlet oil and gas basin, in Southcentral Alaska, is the region most likely to first serve that purpose, Dunleavy said.
Another part of the bill concerns the Regulatory Commission of Alaska. That section expands the commission’s jurisdiction to include natural gas storage. The bill also authorizes a system of reserve-based lending, through which the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority would be able to help finance known natural gas fields in Cook Inlet that currently lack the investment they need to be developed. The bill also modifies the state’s geothermal leasing program, allowing for larger total lease holdings and making other changes intended to induce more development.
The newly signed bill largely focuses on Southcentral Alaska’s Cook Inlet, with good reason, Dunleavy said. Alaska’s oldest producing oil and gas region, with its towering volcanoes, dramatic tides and other natural resources, is teeming with renewable and traditional fossil fuel potential, he said.
“This Cook Inlet probably is the most energy-rich basin on the planet. Within 50 miles you have gas, oil, geothermal, tidal, coal, onshore wind, offshore wind. It’s tremendous,” he said.
The second bill Dunleavy signed on Wednesday, House Bill 307, consolidates management of the energy transmission system that serves Alaska’s Railbelt, the corridor that runs from Fairbanks to the Kenai Peninsula. The bill eliminates “wheeling rates,” the charges added for energy as it is transported between segments of the system. Through an expanded tax exemption and other provisions, it also aims to open access to the system to energy produced by independent producers like solar farms.
Senate Majority Leader Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, said energy experts have been hoping since the mid-20th century to establish such a unified system for the Railbelt.
“Here we are, 70 years later, and we’re finally accomplishing something,” said Giessel, who was one of the legislators speaking at the bill-signing ceremony.
The bill “represents unity,” she said, reflecting interests, concerns and recommendations from a widely diverse group of energy producers, utilities, consumer advocates, labor advocates and others.
“Alaskans have to come together to unify in our vision, or we’re not going to get things accomplished,” she said.
The third energy measure that Dunleavy signed on Wednesday was House Bill 273, which creates an energy fund as a subsidiary of the Alaska Housing Finance Corp. The Alaska Energy Independence Fund is intended to help finance sustainable energy to benefit homeowners and businesses and attract federal money available through the Inflation Reduction Act.
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Alaska
Dozens of vehicle accidents reported, Anchorage after-school activities canceled, as snowfall buries Southcentral Alaska
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Up to a foot of snow has fallen in areas across Southcentral as of Tuesday, with more expected into Wednesday morning.
All sports and after-school activities — except high school basketball and hockey activities — were canceled Tuesday for the Anchorage School District. The decision was made to allow crews to clear school parking lots and manage traffic for snow removal, district officials said.
“These efforts are critical to ensuring schools can safely remain open [Wednesday],” ASD said in a statement.
The Anchorage Police Department’s accident count for the past two days shows there have been 55 car accidents since Monday, as of 9:45 a.m. Tuesday. In addition, there have been 86 vehicles in distress reported by the department.
The snowfall — which has brought up to 13 inches along areas of Turnagain Arm and 12 inches in Wasilla — is expected to continue Tuesday, according to latest forecast models. Numerous winter weather alerts are in effect, and inland areas of Southcentral could see winds up to 25 mph, with coastal areas potentially seeing winds over 45 mph.
Some areas of Southcentral could see more than 20 inches of snowfall by Wednesday, with the Anchorage and Eagle River Hillsides, as well as the foothills of the Talkeetna Mountain, among the areas seeing the most snowfall.
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Alaska
Yundt Served: Formal Charges Submitted to Alaska Republican Party, Asks for Party Sanction and Censure of Senator Rob Yundt
On January 3, 2026, Districts 27 and 28 of the Alaska Republican Party received formal charges against Senator Rob Yundt pursuant to Article VII of the Alaska Republican Party Rules.
According to the Alaska Republican Party Rules: “Any candidate or elected official may be sanctioned or censured for any of the following
reasons:
(a) Failure to follow the Party Platform.
(b) Engagement in any activities prohibited by or contrary to these rules or RNC Rules.
(c) Failure to carry out or perform the duties of their office.
(d) Engaging in prohibited discrimination.
(e) Forming a majority caucus in which non-Republicans are at least 1/3 or more of the
coalition.
(f) Engaging in other activities that may be reasonably assessed as bringing dishonor to
the ARP, such as commission of a serious crime.”
Party Rules require the signatures of at least 3 registered Republican constituents for official charges to be filed. The formal charges were signed by registered Republican voters and District N constitutions Jerad McClure, Thomas W. Oels, Janice M. Norman, and Manda Gershon.
Yundt is charged with “failure to adhere and uphold the Alaska Republican Party Platform” and “engaging in conduct contrary to the principles and priorities of the Alaska Republican Party Rules.” The constituents request: “Senator Rob Yundt be provided proper notice of the charges and a full and fair opportunity to respond; and that, upon a finding by the required two-thirds (2/3) vote of the District Committees that the charges are valid, the Committees impose the maximum sanctions authorized under Article VII.”
If the Party finds Yundt guilty of the charges, Yundt may be disciplined with formal censure by the Alaska Republican Party, declaration of ineligibility for Party endorsement, withdrawal of political support, prohibition from participating in certain Party activities, and official and public declaration that Yundt’s conduct and voting record contradict the Party’s values and priorities.
Reasons for the charges are based on Yundt’s active support of House Bill 57, Senate Bill 113, and Senate Bill 92. Constituents who filed the charges argue that HB 57 opposes the Alaska Republican Party Platform by “expanding government surveillance and dramatically increasing education spending;” that SB 113 opposes the Party’s Platform by “impos[ing] new tax burdens on Alaskan consumers and small businesses;” and that SB 92 opposes the Party by “proposing a targeted 9.2% tax on major private-sector energy producer supplying natural gas to Southcentral Alaska.” Although the filed charges state that SB 92 proposes a 9.2% tax, the bill actually proposes a 9.4% tax on income from oil and gas production and transportation.
Many Alaskan conservatives have expressed frustration with Senator Yundt’s legislative decisions. Some, like Marcy Sowers, consider Yundt more like “a tax-loving social justice warrior” than a conservative.
Related
Alaska
Pilot of Alaska flight that lost door plug over Portland sues Boeing, claims company blamed him
The Alaska Airlines captain who piloted the Boeing 737 Max that lost a door plug over Portland two years ago is suing the plane’s manufacturer, alleging that the company has tried to shift blame to him to shield its own negligence.
The $10 million suit — filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Tuesday on behalf of captain Brandon Fisher — stems from the dramatic Jan. 5, 2024 mid-air depressurization of Flight 1282, when a door plug in the 26th row flew off six minutes after take off, creating a 2-by-4-foot hole in the plane that forced Fisher and co-pilot Emily Wiprud to perform an emergency landing back at PDX.
None of the 171 passengers or six crew members on board was seriously injured, but some aviation medical experts said that the consequences could have been “catastrophic” had the incident happened at a higher altitude.
Fisher’s lawsuit is the latest in a series filed against Boeing, including dozens from Flight 1282 passengers. It also names Spirit AeroSystems, a subcontractor that worked on the plane.
The lawsuit blames the incident on quality control issues with the door plug. It argues that Boeing caught five misinstalled rivets in the panel, and that Spirit employees painted over the rivets instead of reinstalling them correctly. Boeing inspectors caught the discrepancy again, the complaint alleges, but when employees finally reopened the panel to fix the rivets, they didn’t reattach four bolts that secured the door panel.
The complaint’s allegations that Boeing employees failed to secure the bolts is in line with a National Transportation Safety Board investigation that came to the conclusion that the bolts hadn’t been replaced.
Despite these internal issues, Fisher claims Boeing deliberately shifted blame towards him and his first officer.
Lawyers for Boeing in an earlier lawsuit wrote that the company wasn’t responsible for the incident because the plane had been “improperly maintained or misused by persons and/or entities other than Boeing.”
Fisher’s complaint alleges that the company’s statement was intended to “paint him as the scapegoat for Boeing’s numerous failures.”
“Instead of praising Captain Fisher’s bravery, Boeing inexplicably impugned the reputations of the pilots,” the lawsuit says.
As a result, Fisher has been scrutinized for his role in the incident, the lawsuit alleges, and named in two lawsuits by passengers.
Spokespeople for Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems declined to comment on the lawsuit.
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