Legislative Updates: Clean Energy, Juneteenth, and Voting Rights
by the alaska center
This year’s legislative session was very busy, focusing on several key areas. In the final days, many clean energy and climate priorities succeeded, but a crucial bill to protect voting rights in Alaska did not pass.
This year’s legislative session was very busy, focusing on several key areas. In the final days, many clean energy and climate priorities succeeded, but a crucial bill to protect voting rights in Alaska did not pass.
Community energy is a structure that allows more people to subscribe to solar arrays or other clean energy rather than installing those technologies on their own properties. The SAVE Act (Saving Alaskans Money with Voluntary Community Energy) passed the Senate unanimously in late April. Senators from different parties and districts supported it. Just before the session ended, the bill passed the House. Now, we are waiting for Governor Dunleavy to sign it into law.
The legislature also passed a bill to create a Green Bank. This will help fund renewable energy technology like heat pumps and electric vehicle charging stations. The bill says that the Green Bank will benefit the people of the state by providing loans for sustainable energy projects. Alaska’s Green Bank will be part of the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, which is a community-oriented agency that focuses on the best interests of Alaskans.
Although several clean energy standards were introduced throughout this legislative session, they did not move forward. Instead, energy transmission (how energy moves from one area to another in the region from Fairbanks down to the Kenai Peninsula) became a major focus. The budget included $30 million for GRIP (Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships) funding to upgrade our transmission system. Another law reduced the costs of sending electricity along the Railbelt. These changes are important for using renewable energy efficiently.
Voting rights were also a big topic this session. On the first day, there was a hearing about repealing open primaries and ranked-choice voting (RCV). A bill to purge voter rolls quickly moved out of the House and into the Senate. The Senate then changed a bad voting rights bill into a good one by removing the witness signature requirement on mail-in ballots, adding a system to fix mistakes on ballots, and allowing Alaskans to register to vote on election day. Unfortunately, the House did not support these changes, and the bill did not pass. The repeal of ranked-choice voting and open primaries will likely be on the ballot this November. We will keep updating the public on how to protect our democracy.
In the final hours of the session, the House voted to make Juneteenth a legal holiday. Juneteenth is important because it recognizes our shared history and the central role of Black leaders. In Alaska, many of those leaders helped build the state’s physical and political infrastructure, moving Alaska toward statehood. By officially recognizing Juneteenth, we honor the work and sacrifice of Black communities and join the rest of the nation in celebrating freedom.
We are thankful to the many elected officials who worked hard this session to pass important and complex bills for our climate and communities. Stay tuned for updates on the next session!
