Friday’s election of Susanne Fleek-Green and Jim Nordlund, who ran on “clean energy,” marked a significant shift. But the results weren’t a wholesale rejection of Chugach Electric’s incumbent board.
The incumbents’ track record clearly supports renewables, but they are not willing to rush headlong down that path, which could jeopardize the reliability of electric energy.
It’s the first Chugach Electric Association election since the announcement that Southcentral Alaska is facing a supply crunch for natural gas the primary fuel used to generate power by the region’s utilities. That news has prompted nine candidates to jump into the race for three board seats.