_executive_summary.qmd

The objective of this work is to provide regulators, legislators, and other energy stakeholders with a holistic look at recent trends in electrical generation. The first impetus for this report is a lack of combined reporting on electricity generation across the state that extends to federally and non-federally regulated electric utilities (most of Alaska's electric utilities do not meet the minimum threshold for federal reporting requirements). The second impetus for this report is to aid in decision-making processes surrounding Alaska's energy future.

With uncertainty in natural gas sources on the Railbelt, technological advancements in generation technology, and improvements in the affordability of technologies, understanding trends in the state's capacity, generation, consumption, and prices is vital to more informed decision-making.

In this report, we present data collected from federal, state, and local sources supplemented by correspondence with utilities. We show trends for capacity, generation, consumption, and prices. The capacity and generation trends include data from 2011 to 2021, and the consumption and prices trends are data limited to 2019. More information on sources and methods are provided in the subsequent sections throughout the report. This report uses data visualizations as the primary mode for presenting the trends. To accommodate this presentation style, we present trends as simplified regions of the state as opposed to the Alaska Energy Authority energy regions.

We emphasize that this report is designed to provide factual information to the best of our ability without providing recommendations or in-depth analysis. However, context is provided for more impactful trends.