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Going Solar in Alaska? Here’s How to Know if It’s Worth It

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Going Solar in Alaska? Here’s How to Know if It’s Worth It


Alaska could also be identified for its lengthy winter nights, but it surely’s additionally the land of the midnight solar — and photo voltaic panels may also help residents mitigate a few of the nation’s highest vitality prices.

The Final Frontier ranked forty ninth nationwide for photo voltaic capability in 2022, in accordance with the Photo voltaic Vitality Industries Affiliation. Regardless of the sluggish adoption, Alaskans have many causes to think about photo voltaic panels, in accordance with Chris Rose, founder and CEO of the Renewable Vitality Alaska Challenge, a clear vitality nonprofit. 

“In Alaska, there was once the query, ‘Effectively, why get photo voltaic if it is fairly darkish three months a 12 months?’” Rose mentioned in a cellphone dialog. “That made sense when the worth of photo voltaic was a lot greater than it’s in the present day, however there may be such photo voltaic useful resource for seven or eight months a 12 months in Alaska that it is far more seemingly [for someone] to think about photo voltaic.” 

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The quantity of solar Alaska will get modifications drastically between the winter and summer season, that means photo voltaic panels will not be the answer for all of your vitality wants. Nonetheless, they may also help you decrease your month-to-month electrical payments. 

Even nonetheless, going photo voltaic might not be ideally suited for you. Your location and relationship to the grid each matter. Here is a breakdown of what it’s essential learn about going photo voltaic in Alaska so you may make one of the best determination in your dwelling. 

Your location issues in case you’re going photo voltaic in Alaska 

The place you are positioned in Alaska impacts the way you get your energy and the practicality of photo voltaic panels. In easy phrases, Alaskans both stay on the Railbelt or off of it.

The Railbelt is an electrical grid masking the world from Fairbanks by Anchorage to the Kenai Peninsula. It is dwelling to most Alaskans and consumes practically 80% of the state’s electrical energy. Six electrical utilities — every with its personal technology sources — function alongside the Railbelt. Residents trying so as to add photo voltaic panels to their dwelling have the chance to participate in web metering, which lets you promote extra photo voltaic vitality again to the grid in trade for credit.

Outdoors of the Railbelt, a lot of the state’s distant communities rely as a substitute on tiny, disconnected grids — a lot of which use diesel-fueled turbines. The price of transporting diesel means electrical energy prices in rural areas will be three to 5 instances greater than in city areas alongside the Railbelt, in accordance with an evaluation by the Vitality Info Administration. Due to these excessive prices, the state gives financial help to clients of rural electrical utilities by a Energy Value Equalization program. 

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That prime price additionally drives innovation, Rose mentioned. “We have seen so many of those distant communities be excited by including renewables on prime of their diesel grid.” 

Going photo voltaic seems to be totally different in rural communities in comparison with these alongside the Railbelt. It is usually performed on a community-wide scale, that means their programs are considerably bigger than a person residential system. Rose mentioned there is not numerous knowledge on residential rooftop programs in these distant locations as a result of it is not inspired by the utility. 

“There is not any web metering in rural Alaska as a result of the smaller grids would have a a lot more durable time absorbing electrical energy from rooftop customers. If a small village utility loses a pair clients and likewise has to begin paying them [through net metering], that is going to be an actual drawback for his or her backside line,” Rose mentioned.

Nonetheless, it is not unprecedented for Alaskans in rural areas to spend money on photo voltaic panels for his or her houses. There are just a few extra hurdles — like the upper price of transportation and labor in addition to the shortage of entry to web metering — however photo voltaic programs in rural areas may also help residents offset diesel use in the course of the spring and summer season months. 

Alaska solar energy prices

Putting in a photo voltaic system is a giant funding, however simply how a lot it should price you goes to fluctuate. The fee is measured in {dollars} per watt, which implies the larger your system, the costlier it will likely be. Nonetheless, the price of your photo voltaic system will rely upon extra than simply the system measurement and the pitch of your roof. Whether or not you reside in a rural space or not will affect the associated fee in addition to your eligibility for web metering.

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The common system measurement in city Alaska is between 4 kW and 6 kW, in accordance with Rose. Nationwide, the common price of an 8.6 kW system is $31,558 — $3.67 per watt — in accordance with Lawrence Berkeley Nationwide Laboratory. 

Nationwide common photo voltaic panel prices

System measurement (kW) Value per watt Put in price
Nationwide 8.6 $3.67 $31,558

Alaska’s low degree of photo voltaic adoption means there is not numerous data on the precise worth of putting in photo voltaic within the Final Frontier. Nonetheless, based mostly on analysis by educational consultants on the College of Alaska at Fairbanks and our conversations with different consultants, the associated fee can fall wherever between $10,000 and $30,000. 

Installations in city Alaska usually vary from $1.25 to $3.50 per watt, whereas distant installations vary from $2.20 to $4.60 per watt, in accordance with a 2019 report from the Alaska Heart for Vitality and Energy. 

The price of putting in photo voltaic is usually costlier in rural Alaska as a result of excessive transportation and labor prices. 


Advertiser disclosure: CNET’s company accomplice, SaveOnEnergy, may also help you discover the best vitality match in your dwelling. The SaveOnEnergy market allows you to search, evaluate, join and save on the best vitality match in your dwelling — all freed from cost. In the event you’re excited by photo voltaic, reply just a few inquiries to get a precise worth quote from our photo voltaic advisers. 

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The best way to pay for photo voltaic panels

There are many choices in terms of financing your photo voltaic system. You possibly can pay upfront in money, benefit from photo voltaic leases and energy buy agreements, borrow with a mortgage or faucet into your property’s fairness. 

  • Money: In the event you can afford it, contemplate paying in your photo voltaic system in money. You will not must cowl any mortgage charges or curiosity prices, nor do you want a qualifying credit score rating. If photo voltaic panels do not match into your funds proper now, you may benefit from rising rates of interest by saving in your future array in a high-yield financial savings account. 
  • Photo voltaic mortgage: Some photo voltaic suppliers accomplice with credit score unions or different monetary establishments to supply photo voltaic loans to their clients. Photo voltaic loans out of your installer might carry greater charges than ones from a financial institution or monetary establishment. Your credit score rating may also affect your eligibility.
  • Residence fairness mortgage or line of credit score (HELOC): You possibly can faucet into your property’s fairness with a house fairness mortgage or HELOC to finance your photo voltaic array. Residence fairness loans and HELOCs help you finance dwelling enhancements, like photo voltaic panels, with out disturbing your major mortgage. There’s a threat, although: In the event you default in your funds, you would lose your property. 
  • Lease or energy buy settlement: Some photo voltaic suppliers will help you enter right into a lease or energy buy settlement at a fee usually decrease than what you pay your utility. You will not personal your photo voltaic panels. As an alternative, you may pay for the gear (through lease) or the ability your system generates (through energy buy settlement). 

Alaska photo voltaic panel incentives or rebates

The price of going photo voltaic has fallen considerably lately, but it surely’s nonetheless a giant funding irrespective of the place you reside. Alaskans can benefit from just a few authorities incentives and group tasks, the place accessible, to make photo voltaic extra inexpensive and accessible. 

The federal residential clear vitality credit score is among the principal incentives for solar-curious Alaskans, and it was lately prolonged till 2034 by the Inflation Discount Act. This credit score permits you to deduct 30% of the price of your photo voltaic system — together with set up prices — out of your federal tax invoice. 

The worth of your property can enhance while you set up photo voltaic panels. This implies your property taxes will too. However some Alaskan cities do not enhance your property taxes while you add photo voltaic panels. Examine together with your native authorities to seek out out. 

In 2010, the Regulatory Fee of Alaska (PDF) accepted web metering laws, which permit Railbelt residents to promote extra photo voltaic technology in trade for credit equal to the wholesale fee, which is decrease than the retail fee (what you pay for electrical energy). Alaska’s web metering system presently operates on a month-to-month foundation. 

“Month-to-month web metering would not incentivize photo voltaic fairly as a lot as an annual system, significantly in a spot that is so seasonal like Alaska,” Rose mentioned. “My system would possibly make six or seven instances extra energy than I utilized in June, however I am unable to roll over these credit on a retail foundation. As an alternative, I get an prevented price credit score that may assist defray the price of my payments within the winter.”

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The Solarize Program helps communities purchase photo voltaic panels as a bunch and obtain vital reductions. These reductions can vary from 10 to 17% earlier than making use of the federal tax credit score, in accordance with The Alaska Heart, an environmental advocacy group that coordinates the trouble.

Whereas you’ll find a whole listing of incentives in Alaska on the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Effectivity, listed here are some main ones price noting: 

Alaska photo voltaic incentives

Program Description
Internet metering Since 2010, Alaska web metering regulation requires sure electrical utilities to supply web metering. In case your photo voltaic system’s capability is lower than 25 kW, you may promote your extra photo voltaic vitality again to the ability firm in trade for credit.
Property tax exemption (varies) Alaska regulation permits municipalities to create their very own property tax exemptions for residential renewable vitality programs, that means you will not see will increase to your property taxes while you set up photo voltaic panels. Nonetheless, not all municipalities supply this exemption, so you should definitely examine whether or not that is an choice the place you reside.
Residential clear vitality credit score You possibly can declare as much as 30% in tax credit with the federal residential clear vitality credit score while you buy photo voltaic panels.
Solarize Alaska campaigns The Solarize Program permits communities to buy photo voltaic panels as a bunch and obtain discounted charges on panels and set up. This program was piloted in Oregon and is now accessible in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Mat-Su.

Alaska photo voltaic panel corporations

The Photo voltaic Vitality Industries Affiliation stories simply 5 photo voltaic installers in Alaska.

When selecting a photo voltaic supplier, it is necessary to buy round to seek out one which ticks all of your containers.

Some issues to think about are whether or not the corporate gives lengthy warranties and its customer support rankings, in addition to services supplied. Particularly in Alaska, you may need to be certain your installer gives high-efficiency panels so you may capitalize on each little bit of sunshine. Excessive effectivity panels will show you how to try this in low-light circumstances. 

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Here’s a listing of photo voltaic corporations you would possibly contemplate, based mostly on our analysis, professional enter and CNET’s overview of one of the best photo voltaic corporations

Alaska Photo voltaic

Primarily based in Anchorage, Alaska Photo voltaic installs grid-tied and off-grid photo voltaic in addition to battery programs. Whereas Alaska Photo voltaic solely gives one photo voltaic panel model — Qcells — the panels’ better-than-average effectivity ranking (20.6%) makes them appropriate for low-light circumstances. Nonetheless, Alaska Photo voltaic has restricted financing choices (no leases or energy buy agreements) and solely gives the producer’s guarantee for the gear. 

Arctic Photo voltaic Ventures

Based in 2015, Arctic Photo voltaic Ventures installs grid-tied photo voltaic programs and photo voltaic batteries in and round Anchorage. The corporate focuses on residential photo voltaic installations and solid-state battery programs. ASV primarily installs REC photo voltaic panels — however the panels do have a excessive effectivity ranking of twenty-two.3%. ASV gives a 30-year insurance-backed guarantee. Whereas ASV would not supply leases or energy buy agreements, you may benefit from its mortgage choices by Clear Vitality Credit score Union and Mosaic. ASV doesn’t set up off-grid photo voltaic.

Renewable Vitality Programs of Alaska

Since 2006, Renewable Vitality Programs of Alaska has supplied quite a lot of renewable vitality programs, together with grid-tied and off-grid photo voltaic programs along with photo voltaic batteries. RES serves Anchorage, Fairbanks, Wasilla and the encompassing areas. The corporate gives a choice of panels, together with Trina and Canadian Photo voltaic — each of which have above-average effectivity rankings. RES gives sturdy warranties — 50 years for the gear and 30 years for the ability output — however has restricted financing choices (no leases or PPAs).

SunPower Photo voltaic

SunPower Photo voltaic operates in all 50 states and has been in enterprise since 1985. The corporate produces its personal branded merchandise, such because the Maxeon photo voltaic panels and SunVault photo voltaic batteries. The panels have the very best effectivity ranking on this group — 22.8% — however are additionally a few of the most costly. You should purchase or lease panels from SunPower, or enter into an influence buy settlement. SunPower gives a 25-year full system guarantee. 

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Set up elements to think about

Photo voltaic panels could be the proper match in your dwelling — or they may not be. Right here are some things to think about:

  • Lack of solar within the winter months: Photo voltaic panels nonetheless work in excessive chilly temperatures — actually, they could even work higher. Nonetheless, snow and the lengthy winter nights of Alaska imply your panels will produce considerably much less (if any) energy in the course of the winter. Consequently, your photo voltaic panels are unlikely to be a year-round resolution.
  • Excessive-efficiency photo voltaic panels: As a result of Alaska sees fewer sunny days — 121 days per 12 months in comparison with the nationwide common of 205 — consultants advocate choosing high-efficiency panels to maximise your photo voltaic’s system’s productiveness. Photo voltaic panel effectivity measures how effectively the panel converts daylight to vitality. High tier panels have effectivity rankings of 20% and above. Whereas high-efficiency panels can enhance the upfront price of your photo voltaic system, they’ll enhance your financial savings in the long term. 
  • Vitality storage system: Whereas photo voltaic batteries add worth to any photo voltaic system, they’re significantly helpful in rural areas with no grid connection. Since rural Alaskans are seemingly ineligible for web metering, photo voltaic vitality storage programs enable them to retailer and draw on extra photo voltaic technology. Photo voltaic batteries generally is a expensive funding, starting from $5,000 to $20,000. Nonetheless, you may apply the 30% federal photo voltaic tax credit score in direction of them. 
  • Roof situation and pitch: Be certain your roof is in good situation earlier than putting in photo voltaic panels. A good firm will examine your roof’s situation and pitch previous to set up. In case your roof’s pitch is not suited to Alaska’s latitude, chances are you’ll contemplate ground-mounted photo voltaic panels if in case you have the area. 
  • DIY set up: Some Alaskans, significantly in rural areas, contemplate putting in their photo voltaic system themselves. DIY photo voltaic panels will not be designed to be hooked as much as the grid, which is why this technique is extra widespread in distant areas. Putting in photo voltaic panels your self requires at the very least some information {of electrical} work. Whereas it might be cheaper to put in your photo voltaic array your self, you may lose out on the extra advantages of professional set up. 

FAQs

What’s the common photo voltaic system measurement in Alaska?

In city areas, the common system is round 5 kW. That quantity is commonly a lot bigger in distant areas that go for community-scale photo voltaic programs. 

How a lot solar does Alaska get?

Alaska averages 121 days of sunshine per 12 months. In sure elements of Alaska, the solar will shine for many, if not all, of the day in the course of the summer season months. 

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Do I want to scrub snow off my photo voltaic panels?

In Alaska, snow is sure to land in your photo voltaic panels. Gentle snow will seemingly soften shortly however heavy snow can put an excessive amount of weight in your photo voltaic panels. Earlier than trying to take away snow out of your panels, you should definitely examine together with your supplier to see if they’ll help. You need to be sure to do not void your guarantee. 

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Alaska

Northern highlights: Alaska's energy, security policies are the guide feds need amid transition, group says

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Northern highlights: Alaska's energy, security policies are the guide feds need amid transition, group says


EXCLUSIVE: Private citizens — right up to the governor himself — are primed to be part of a new Alaskan initiative aimed at promoting policies that have been effective in Juneau at a national level as a new administration signals a willingness to listen and adapt to new strategies.

Just as Florida’s education policy under Gov. Jeb Bush served as a blueprint for national education reform, the nonprofit Future 49 aims to position Alaska as today’s model, focusing primarily on national security and energy.

Its top funders are a group of Alaskans of all stripes as well as a few Washington, D.C.-based advocates. It is nonpartisan and simply pro-Alaskan, according to one of its proponents.

It also seeks to dispatch with what one source familiar with its founding called the “out of sight, out of mind” feeling of some in the Lower 48 when it comes to how far-flung Alaska can translate its own successes in the cold north to a federal government that could benefit from its advice.

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One of Future 49’s founders is a commercial airline pilot whose family has lived in Alaska for more than 125 years. He said he wanted to show Washington issues Alaska deals with every day.

AK GOV: BIDEN SEARCHING FOR OIL ANYWHERE BUT AT HOME

Anchorage skyline (Getty)

Bob Griffin’s family has lived in Alaska since 1899, he said, remarking he is an example of grassroots support behind showcasing Alaska’s potential to be the driving force in key sectors for the rest of the country.

Griffin said while there has not been any direct contact yet with the new administration, Gov. Mike Dunleavy is an ally of Trump’s and, in turn, primed to have a role in the group.

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“We’re focused on not only the Trump administration, but other decision makers, to just highlight and advertise that the successes we’ve had in Alaska in energy, natural resources and other policy priorities are a good fit and benefit to all Americans.”

He noted the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge region spans the size of West Virginia, but the part of it federally budgeted for exploration in a recent fiscal year was only an area half the size of Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage, illustrating how Juneau must guide Washington.

FLASHBACK: ALASKAN F-35s PREPARE FOR MAJOR SUB-ZERO ARCTIC WARFARE

A source familiar with the founding of Future 49 told Fox News Digital how the group’s launch comes at a key juncture as one advice-averse administration transitions into one that has signaled its openness to undertake recommendations from states and local groups.

“The resources our nation needs to be energy-dominant are in Alaska, not in unfriendly nations like Russia and Iran who despise what we stand for and commit egregious environmental offenses on a daily basis,” the source said.

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ALASKA OUTRAGED AT BIDEN OIL LEASE SALE SETUP BEING ‘FITTING FINALE’ FOR FOSSIL FUEL AVERSE PRESIDENCY

While the group is primed to express a pro-development approach to energy, it will remain nonpartisan and offer Washington successful strategies to develop both green and traditional energy based on work done in Alaska.

Dunleavy has offered a similarly two-fold approach, saying in a recent interview that opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to responsible development may yield just as much economic growth for the nation as emerging green technology, such as a proposal to harness the second-strongest tides in the world churning in Cook Inlet outside Anchorage.

Those parallels show why Future 49’s advent is coming at the right time, a source told Fox News Digital.

Future 49’s plan to use Alaska’s long-term goal to utilize its energy resources as a roadmap was a sentiment also voiced in another confirmation hearing Thursday. Interior nominee Doug Burgum highlighted the need for domestic “energy dominance” for both economic and security reasons.

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Doug Burgum, the former governor of North Dakota and nominee for U.S. secretary of the interior, during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., Jan. 16, 2025.  (Al Drago)

With Russia having invaded Ukraine, Dunleavy said most sensitive national defense assets are housed in Alaska, so the state has a deep background in what is needed to deter malign actors.

“We’re very close to the bear,” he said.

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Lessons learned from managing a National Guard force so closely tied to top-level national security concerns is another avenue Future 49 will likely seek to aid Washington in.

The group plans to commission a survey of Lower 48 Americans on their view of the Last Frontier and how they perceive Alaska from thousands of miles away, said Alaska pollster Matt Larkin.

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‘Prolonged’ internet outage in North Slope & Northwest: Quintillion blames optic cable break

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‘Prolonged’ internet outage in North Slope & Northwest: Quintillion blames optic cable break


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – The president of Quintilian blamed an optic cable break for a North Slope & Northwest Alaska internet outage that will take an undefined amount of time to fix.

“It appears there was a subsea fiber optic cable break near Oliktok Point, and the outage will be prolonged,” Quintillion President Michael “Mac” McHale said in a short statement provided by a company spokesperson. “We are working with our partners and customers on alternative solutions.”

The statement mirrored what the company released Saturday morning on social media.

So far, the company has not provided a specific timeline for the repair’s next steps.

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Opinion: Alaska’s court system has had solutions for expensive, unnecessary delays since 2009. What’s lacking is accountability.

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Opinion: Alaska’s court system has had solutions for expensive, unnecessary delays since 2009. What’s lacking is accountability.


As a former prosecutor, I was shocked and saddened to read reporter Kyle Hopkins’ recent reporting in the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica on pervasive, unconstitutional, heartbreaking delays of violent felony cases. Judges granting continuances 50 to 70 times over seven to 10 years — with “typically” no opposition from the prosecution, and no mention of the victims. Victims and their families suffering years before the closure that a trial can bring, some even dying during the delays.

Hopkins’ reporting is recent. The problem isn’t. The Office of Victims’ Rights (OVR) has been covering delays for years in annual reports to the Legislature, beginning in 2014. In 2018, after monitoring nearly 200 cases, OVR said judges were mostly to blame.

Other causes have been noted: understaffed public defender and prosecutor offices; the incentive for defendants to delay because witnesses’ memories fade. But in 2019, OVR said, “It is up to the judges to control the docket, to adhere to standing court orders, to follow the law and to protect victims’ rights as well as defendants’ rights.”

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In 1994, 86% of Alaskans who voted supported a crime victims’ rights ballot. That overwhelming mandate was enshrined in our state constitution. It includes victims’ “right to timely disposition of the case.” For years, Anchorage Superior Court judges have ignored this right.

After reading the recent coverage, I began searching. Maybe other jurisdictions had found solutions to similar delays. What I discovered shocked me even more.

In 2008, a working group co-chaired by an Alaska Supreme Court justice determined the average time to disposition for felony cases in Anchorage had nearly quadrupled. “This finding amounted to a ‘call to arms’ for improvements …(.)”

In November 2008, the state paid to send three judges, two court personnel, the Anchorage district attorney, the deputy attorney general and three public defenders to a workshop in Arizona about causes of delays, and solutions. David Steelman was a presenter. He worked with the Alaska group in Phoenix and Anchorage. That work resulted in a 59-page report dated March 2009.

I found Steelman’s report online (“Improving Criminal Caseflow Management in the Alaska Superior Court in Anchorage”). His findings are revealing.

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Delays resulted from informal attitudes, concerns and practices of the court, prosecutors and public defense lawyers. To change this “culture of continuances,” it was critical the court exercise leadership and the attorneys commit to change. Judges and the public-sector lawyers must recognize they were all responsible for making prudent use of the finite resources provided by taxpayers. Unnecessary delays wasted resources.

Steelman recommended the judges and lawyers agree to individual performance measurements, and the court engage in ongoing evaluation of his Caseflow Improvement Plan. The plan included a “Continuance Policy for Anchorage Felony Cases.”

I found an unsigned Anchorage court order dated May 1, 2009. It included Steelman’s Continuance Policy recommendation that the court log every requested continuance in the court file, name the party requesting it, the reasons given, whether the continuance was granted, and the delay incurred if it was granted.

More telling, it omitted Steelman’s recommendation that, “Every six months, the chief criminal judge shall report to the Presiding Judge on the number of continuances requested and granted during the previous period(.)”

That provision might have ensured accountability.

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After years of only bad news, in 2018, OVR reported a glimmer of “good news” — a pre-trial delay working group was formed by Anchorage Presiding Judge Morse and the court system. In September 2018, Judge Morse issued a Felony Pre-Trial Order. Its goals included reducing delays of felony case dispositions and minimizing the number of calendaring hearings. (Sound familiar?)

But, OVR added, “The real test will be whether judges will hold to the new plan and hold parties accountable for delays. The jury is out on whether the will to change is actually present, but the court ultimately will be responsible for improving this problem unless the legislature steps in and passes new laws to resolve this continuing violation of victims’ rights.”

The jury has been out since 2009. The court failed that test. Based on the ADN/ProPublica reporting, the court failed the test of 2018. Things are worse than ever.

And the court’s response? A spokesperson told Kyle Hopkins there was “new” training for judges on managing case flows, as well as an Anchorage presiding judge’s order limiting when postponements may be used. (Sound familiar?)

I also reached out to the court. I requested documentation of this “new” training and a copy of the latest order. I also asked about the unsigned May 2009 court order. I’ve received no response. Similarly, when Hopkins reached out to Anchorage Superior Court judges, none of the criminal docket judges responded directly.

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There are two things courts and judges will respond to: their budget and retention elections.

First, the Alaska Senate and House Judiciary and Finance Committees should hold the court system accountable for its proposed budget. Require it to cost out delays from past years. According to a 2011 report by Steelman, just two Anchorage cases (each with over 70 scheduling hearings), “(M)ay have cost the State of Alaska the full-time equivalent of an extra prosecutor or public defender attorney.”

The court system has proven, since 2008, it can’t be trusted to not waste money on unnecessary delays. It must finally be held accountable by the Legislature.

Second, retention elections. Superior Court judges are appointed by the governor, but they must stand election for retention by the voters every six years. The Alaska Judicial Council evaluates each judge before their election and makes that information public. The council incorporates surveys of attorneys, law enforcement, child services professionals, court employees and jurors.

The Judicial Council does not survey victims, or those who assist them, such as OVR or Victims for Justice. It should. Other than the defendant, victims are the only ones with a constitutional right to a speedy trial. That right is being ignored by judges. Alaska voters who issued a mandate should know which judges are ignoring it.

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Val Van Brocklin is a former state and federal prosecutor in Alaska who now trains and writes on criminal justice topics nationwide.

The views expressed here are the writer’s and are not necessarily endorsed by the Anchorage Daily News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)adn.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Read our full guidelines for letters and commentaries here.





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