Infrastructure

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg kicked off a three-day tour of Alaska yesterday in the Northwest Arctic community of Kotzebue. It was his first time visiting the 49th state.

The partnership is the third of its kind in the state and the first in Western Alaska. It aims to reduce costs and increase community input from rural villages by coordinating projects between the borough and state Department of Transportation.

The Northwest Arctic Borough village of Shungnak has not had any gasoline since April and is looking at a long wait for a new fuel truck.

Several weeks after an outage knocked out power in the Northwest Arctic village of Selawik, officials say it has been restored. However, the outage has exacerbated chronic problems at the local water treatment plant.

Edwin Bifelt said even with state support, energy in rural Alaska remains pricey.“Even with Power Cost Equalization, people see rates anywhere from 20 cents up to 40 to 50 cents a kilowatt-hour, which is four or five times the national average,” Bifelt said.

It’s the first step in a process to potentially relocate the entire Northwest Alaska village from the threat of an eroding coast and rising sea levels.

Selawik mayor Clyde Ramoth says frozen pipes are a chronic problem due to issues with the initial installation of the above-ground water system. The warming climate isn’t making things any easier.