December 02, 2006
Saturday

Alaska Governor Frank H. Murkowski on Friday received a 133-page interim report on energy policy and strategy recommendations from his Energy Policy Advisor, Nels Anderson, Jr. Murkowski appointed Anderson to the position in mid-October, with the charge to produce a report by December 1.

The report recommends an energy policy that increases supplies, encourages conservation, searches for alternatives to fossil fuels (especially diesel), and seeks to achieve energy self-sufficiency by 2025.

"I am very pleased that Nels has moved the ball forward on energy issues in a very short timeframe," Murkowski said. "Without a doubt, affordable, safe energy in our rural areas is the one over-arching issue to which every family can relate. This interim report should provide a solid foundation upon which the incoming administration and the Legislature can formulate a realistic and workable energy policy for all Alaska."

The interim report makes the following general policy statements:

- Alaska must provide energy equality for all citizens of Alaska.
- Energy must be affordable, reliable, and long-term.
- Energy conservation must be encouraged for all Alaskans.
- Alaska must work toward a common statewide energy grid.
- Energy alternative research and development must be encouraged and supported.
- Non-renewable oil and gas set-asides need to be adopted to allow for in-state use.
- Energy providers and producers must plan collectively for energy infrastructure development.
- Alaska must be on a path of energy self-sufficiency by 2010, and be energy self-sufficient by 2025.

"In my first year in office, we recognized how critical it would be to address the high cost of energy in rural Alaska," Murkowski said. "We created the Rural Energy Action Council, whose number one recommendation was to fully fund the Power Cost Equalization endowment, which we accomplished with the Legislature this spring. Nels' report is the next step forward in this ongoing effort to bring down the cost of energy in rural communities."

Source of News:

Office of the Governor
www.gov.state.ak.us

 

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