Lawmakers examine Power Cost Equalization Endowment Fund

The Kwigillingok Power Plant. Photo: Rachel Waldholz/APRN
Rural Alaskans can pay three to five times as much for electricity than those in urban areas. That’s why the state launched the Power Cost Equalization Endowment Fund in 2000. It’s paid roughly $40 million annually to subsidize rural energy bills.
But some are questioning whether the fund, which now is worth $900 million, should be committed to benefit only about one in nine Alaskans.
Senate Finance Committee Co-Chairwoman Ann