Times are Hard . . . with no end in sight

Here in Alaska there are more natural resources in and under our land it is hard to believe how our gas and fuel oil prices have gone through the roof. It is not just here in the arctic regions but all over the country.

Gas prices keep escalating about ten cents ($ .10) every two weeks with our averages around town in the 4.29 to 4.59 range for 87 Octane. Premium is at five dollars a gallon and diesel has broken the five dollar mark in many stations around town.

An odd concept to me has turned into reality for some Alaskan’s . . .

What happens when a village runs out of fuel?

That's not theoretical for the village of Manokotak, about 25 miles south of Dillingham. Our company did some plumbing work there last year so it was strange seeing a report in the Bristol Bay Times recently.

The entire village ran out of gasoline June 2 with the spring barge not due until June 6. The problem was a delay in a Dutch Harbor dry dock held up the vessel, finally due in this Monday.

In the meantime, the village moved to emergency energy, at a costly dire price. The first 1,600-gallon supply had a price tag of $8.30 per gallon. The next shipment, a 400-gallon batch brought in by air, went for $9.85 per gallon. And we think things are bad here . . . but the remote villages feel the pinch more than those of us ‘city dwellers’.

When the barge arrives, gas will be $6.70 per gallon, and stove oil will be $7.50 per gallon. The increase in stove oil will affect electricity in the village, which will climb from 34 cents per kilowatt-hour to 45 cents on July 1.

How about this country building a couple of new refineries (one in Alaska) and getting crews in to open up the vast oil reserves in ANWAR and build the natural gas pipeline to get this product to market. It will take time but the Caribou and Moose will have a little shade to stand under and for the two tourist who actually ‘see’ ANWAR it may open a few eyes in Washington to the ‘tree hugger’s’ opposition.

Ice

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