To borrow from a regular contributor of the Alaska Landmine, Mr. Brad Keithley, this chart may shed some light on the reality of Southcentral electric power as it relates to Chugach Electric. The chart illustrates a relative comparison of inflation, electric rates, and sales of the last five years presented at a townhall on March 24, 2026. An unsustainable trend is forming especially given our modest overall population increase in the same timeframe.

The central question for the upcoming Chugach Electric election on May 29 is what path will the board of directors take to improve affordability?

As a candidate running for one of the two board seats up for election, I believe this path should be based operational excellence and transparency. During the townhall, CEO Arthur Miller pointed multiple times to initiatives within the co-op to improve internal process that provide paths to partnership with other co-ops on the Railbelt as well as focusing on the natural gas portfolio to manage risk. I agree with both of these positions. Natural gas makes up over 80% of the energy portfolio and before any discussion of an ‘energy transition’ can occur, we must pursue every contracted means to secure this fuel source.

Great work has been down over the last few years by the Chugach and Hilcorp teams to grow the production at the Beluga River Unit. So much so, the Division of Oil and Gas highlighted this to show there is still plenty of gas in the Cook Inlet and we will rely on this reservoir for fuel for years to come. This is not a transitional fuel and neither is LNG. Anyone saying this is gaslighting you into believing that an energy transition is necessary. What you should be asking is what are we transitioning to and why?

Everywhere around the world the energy transition has been tried it has raised the cost of energy and failed to meet the expectations of reliability. Germany has often been touted in Alaska as the model for how to integrate renewables. Germany is forecasting billions of euros in grid upgrades and annual redispatch payments related to idle renewable energy sources. Alaska must learn from these mistakes and challenge the assumptions behind these transition programs or the demographic trend will reverse dramatically because no one can afford to live, work, or do business in the state.

Affordability will not come easy and it will take strategic critical thinking to refocus. I believe we are at a point where we need to make a choice. Continue the path of carbon emissions and carbon intensity reduction or choose the path to resiliency through redundancy at scale.

Chugach is positioned to be a partner of choice for any business looking at an opportunity to meet the objective of energy dominance. Growing the wedges of traditional energy sources help mange seasonal risk and provide redundancy as a method of security for business development. Security is not just about having what you need, it’s about having layers of protection that provide flexibility to respond to a situation with the same reliability. Everything comes at a cost but the return on investment of ingenuity far exceeds designing against an artificial constraint.

Voting in the Chugach Electric Board of Directors Election opens on April 29 and continues through May 29. Roughly 12% of the 90,000 rate payers vote in these elections. I urge you to look at all the candidates. This is your co-op and it’s the only option we have. Your vote for the board of directors matters for affordability.

Todd Lindley is running for the Chugach Electric Board of Directors. He is a professional mechanical engineer with 17 years of professional experience in the energy industry with ExxonMobil and Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. His expertise encompasses project management, maintenance and reliability, risk assessment, and leadership and management. He is on the board of Alaska Gold Communications, the parent company of Must Read Alaska.