Alaska News Daily Brief, Friday, October 23

Alaska News for Friday, October twenty-third. Until Thursday, Fairbanks had no rules for rotating blackouts. Now it does, and much of what else moved this week takes hold in the days after the weekend. Out west, it's unusually mild. Much of the news is about what it costs to keep planes landing and lights on around Alaska.

0:21Feds seek bids for subsidized jet service to Cordova, Gustavus, 3 other towns

The federal government is opening the door for any airline to fly jets to five small Alaska towns on its dime. The Department of Transportation opened bidding Tuesday for subsidized jet service to Cordova, Gustavus, Petersburg, Wrangell and Yakutat. Alaska Airlines holds that contract now, at about seventeen point eight million dollars a year. The money comes through a federal program that pays airlines to keep flying to towns too small to support scheduled service on their own. The last time these routes went out for bid, in twenty twenty-four, Alaska Airlines was the only airline to apply. The government's payment went up almost 21% that round. Cordova's passenger subsidy alone rose about 32%, to five point seven million dollars. Yakutat's rose about 34%, to five point eight million dollars. Alaska Airlines said higher labor and maintenance costs in remote places drove the increase. And Alaska Airlines' parent company said Tuesday it now expects to lose money this year. Jet fuel ran one point eight billion dollars over plan. Bidders can propose something different. But at least one option has to match today's flights, plus 52 cargo flights a year. Six of 7 other Alaska communities whose routes went to bid this year drew one proposal each, from the airline already flying there. Last time, every community comment backed Alaska Airlines. They cited its connections and the navigation technology that gets its 737s into Southeast airports in bad weather. Proposals are due November twenty-third, and the new contract starts May first, twenty twenty-seven.

2:00AVEC says it must raise revenue 10% as delivered fuel costs climb 35% to 40%

Out in the villages, the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative says it needs to bring in 10% more money to keep up with its costs. Diesel delivered to its villages this year cost 35 to 40% more than last year. Chief executive Bill Stamm laid that out in a column the co-op posted Wednesday. AVEC serves more than 31,000 people in 58 communities, from Kivalina to Old Harbor. Fuel is more than half of what the co-op spends making and delivering power. The jump works out to two dollars to three dollars more a gallon. For a household using 500 kilowatt-hours a month, that's roughly seventy-five dollars to one hundred ten dollars more each month, before any state help. In fly-in villages, fuel alone now costs more than a dollar a kilowatt-hour. By the state's benchmark, a home in Anchorage, Fairbanks or Juneau pays about 22 cents a kilowatt-hour for all its power. Stamm blamed the U.S. offensive on Iran for disrupting fuel supply chains. Villages that get only one or two fuel deliveries a summer are stuck with this year's price until next year. The increase did come in below the 50 to 60% the co-op projected in March. AVEC has also proposed raising the part of bills that pays for its power plants, lines and staff by 4.75% on average, with Bethel's going up about 30%. That would take effect November first if the board approves it. The state's Power Cost Equalization program, which lowers rates for village homes, got fifty-six million dollars this year, up 16%.

3:48State regulators approve Golden Valley rules for rotating outages in power shortages

In Fairbanks, Golden Valley Electric can now black out neighborhoods in rotation if the Interior grid runs out of spare power. State regulators approved the co-op's rules Thursday, and they take effect October thirtieth. Golden Valley issued its first-ever energy emergency alert on October twelfth, after three generating units went down at once. The rules set three alert levels based on how much spare power the co-op has. At the second level, Golden Valley can ask big industrial customers to run their own generators or cut back. At the third, reserves are at zero. Golden Valley then shuts off only as many zones as the shortfall requires, for 30 minutes to an hour each. It can rotate through 13 of its 14 zones. The one exempt zone covers the hospital, police, fire, 911 dispatch, the airport and the Aurora Energy power plant. Golden Valley says it can't keep its 118 medical-need accounts powered. That's because zones follow substation lines instead of individual meters. The co-op says some medical devices have batteries that should last through a 30-minute outage. The Alaska Public Interest Research Group asked whether the Fort Knox and Pogo gold mines, about 30% of the co-op's power demand, are in the rotation at all. The staff memo behind the approval doesn't answer that. Golden Valley says it has worked with its largest members to use less power first. The co-op is working to print each member's zone on bills and online accounts. Now, quickly, around the state.

5:26Skagway draft budget would more than double the clinic's sales tax subsidy to $4.3 million

Skagway's manager wants to send the town clinic four point three million dollars in sales tax next year, more than double what it gets now. Temporary provider costs keep climbing. Meanwhile, the clinic is bringing in less money on its own.

5:44Pier One Theatre seeks one more Homer Spit lease, and port staff want it to be the last

On the Homer Spit, Pier One Theatre wants 5 more years in the city warehouse it rents for a dollar a year. Port staff are fine with that, as long as it's the last lease. The theater has agreed.

5:59Homer port director recommends inflation increases for most 2027 dock and harbor rates

Homer's port director is recommending most dock and harbor rates rise with inflation in twenty twenty-seven. That means higher costs for fishermen and businesses working out of the harbor. The port director is also watching Anchorage, where a cargo surcharge nearly triples in January.

6:19Southcentral Foundation land transfer is law, Begich tells AFN as other bills wait

In Anchorage, Southcentral Foundation is getting 3.4 acres of downtown land for free. Congressman Nick Begich told the Alaska Federation of Natives that the president has signed the transfer into law. Other Alaska bills are still waiting.

6:37State ends Hilcorp's idle Cook Inlet unit but gives it three years to decide on a restart

In Cook Inlet, the state agreed Wednesday to end Hilcorp's North Trading Bay Unit, the drilling area that covers 2 long-idle oil platforms. But Hilcorp gets 3 more years to decide whether to fire one of them back up.

6:53Juneau Assembly to consider $10 million loan for Glacier Highway water main

Juneau's Assembly will consider a state loan of up to ten million dollars to replace a leaky, 45-year-old water main under Glacier Highway. The city wants it done before the state repaves the highway on top of it. That way the city wouldn't have to fully repave the highway after laying the line.

7:13Juneau would borrow up to $24.7 million for the Seawalk and let cruise fees repay it

Juneau also wants to borrow up to twenty-four point seven million dollars to stretch the Seawalk out to the far cruise dock. Cruise passengers' three dollars fee would pay the loan back, leaving local taxes out of it.

7:26Feds close Central Gulf Pacific cod to most trawl catcher vessels for rest of 2026

In the Central Gulf, the National Marine Fisheries Service closed Pacific cod fishing through December thirty-first to most trawl catcher vessels, the trawl boats that deliver their catch to shore. The closure is meant to keep those boats under their 7,782-ton share for twenty twenty-six.

7:46Fairbanks Assembly picks developers' riverbank overlay at planned Chena RV park

The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly rezoned a strip of Chena riverbank at a planned RV park. The Assembly chose the developers' looser riverbank rules over the stricter version the borough's own riverfront commission wanted. Golden Valley customers: the rules start October thirtieth, so watch your bill or online account for your zone. Elsewhere today, a blizzard is headed for the Seward Peninsula with heavy snow and strong gusts. And the Park Service is bringing back local hearings before it closes harvest in Alaska parks. That's all for this edition of the Alaska News daily brief. The full stories are at Alaska News dot com. And that's the way it is, Friday, October twenty-third, twenty twenty-six.