Permanent Fund will set allocation for in-state investment The Alaska Permanent Fund will allocate up to $200 million in a special fund for Alaskan investments and hire a special manager to manage the program, Fund managers said. Under guidelines set by the Board of Trustees the investments will have to be capable of earning what the funds would have returned if invested out of state. The goal is to also attract other investors to join the Fund in projects, to…
GCI hit with cut to federal support General Communications Inc., a major Alaska telecom provider, will see federal payments to support rural health internet service of $77.8 million next year, or $28 million less than the company requested to cover its costs. The new rate finding follows a proceeding involving support payments under the Federal Communication Commission’s Rural Health Care program where the FCC paid subsidies to Alaska telecom operators to cover cost differential between internet service to rural health…
Electricity consumption dropping Energy Consumer use of electricity is dropping due to wider adoption of energy conservation practices. Chugach Electric Association said usage of electricity per residential member has dropped 14 percent since 2004. While weather and the trend toward warmer winters accounts for some of this, the primary driver is energy efficiency. While this has the effect of reducing natural gas demand, and conserving regional gas supplies, it increases the percentage of renewable energy from hydro and wind in…
Maersk finished Arctic test run The container shipper Maersk Line has completed a test voyage across Russia’s Northern Sea Route, or NSR, with its Venta Maersk, one of its smaller container ships (3,600 container capacity). The voyage was a test run to assess the idea of Arctic shipping, and not intended to be a start of regular service, Maersk said. Some competitors like China’s Cosco has sent about a dozen general cargo ships across NSR but not a container ship….
Here are the numbers for Alaskans’ annual fall rite: Moose hunting The fall moose hunt is a time-honored Alaska tradition, but how much meat does the annual rite put in the freezer? And how much money is spent? Ned Rozell, science writer at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute, cites studies showing that 29,000 Alaskans and nonresidents harvest about 7,200 moose yearly, and assuming each of these 1,600-pound animals yields 700 pounds of sliced and wrapped meat, totaling about…
Mat-Su timber project on hold; China flap is blamed A promising project to harvest mainly damaged timber in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough is on hold because of the U.S.-China trade spat, officials with the timber company have told the borough. The problem is the tariff that China would impose on timber imported from Alaska, which is a response to tariffs on Chinese imports ordered by President Donald Trump. Borough officials had hoped the project would bring in about $900,000 a year…
$940 million roll into bank accounts; cash registers jingle About $940 million rolled into Alaskans’ bank accounts Oct. 4 with the state’s 2018 Permanent Fund dividend electronic deposits. This set cash registers ringing around the state, mainly in retail stores. Payments subsequently made by check will bring the total to over $1 billion. About 640,000 Alaskans will receive the PFDs this year, state officials said. Beefing up the dividend is being promised by both major candidates for governor this year….
Plan for new Alaska telecom satellite; contracts near Alaska-based Pacific Dataport, Inc. is close to final agreements for a plan to launch a geostationary communications satellite positioned to cover all of Alaska. The new satellite could cut consumer costs for broadband Internet in rural communities to the 65 cents-per-gigabyte range, the company hopes, a bargain compared with prices typically in the $2.50-per-gigabyte range for existing consumer internet service using terrestrial-based systems, including fiber-optic. Although the 65 cents price is aimed…
Republican Dunleavy said to have edge It is eight days until the November election and the street talk is the Alaska governor’s race is Republican Mike Dunleavy’s “to lose,” meaning unless there’s an unexpected upset Dunleavy is likely to prevail over Democrat Mark Begich. Gov. Bill Walker’s surprise withdrawal from what was a three-way race (in which Dunleavy was still favored) has only seemed to solidify the Republican’s lead because Begich is unlikely to capture enough of Walker’s independent voters….
Caution raised, however, on new use of Permanent Fund earnings With some luck – and higher oil prices – Alaska’s budget deficit may be significantly smaller than forecast this year. The state could even see a balanced budget. The newly-enacted Senate Bill 26 is in effect this year, bringing $2.7 billon of Permanent Fund earnings into the state general fund. About $1.7 billion of this will be available for the budget, with the remaining $1 billion spent for the $1,600…