newsminer.com

The Associated Press

JUNEAU — Gov. Sarah Palin on Wednesday appointed Steve Haagenson of Fairbanks to serve as statewide energy coordinator.

Haagenson retired last November as president and CEO of the Golden Valley Electric Association after working at the member-owned utility for 32 years.

“Steve’s a proven leader known for his strategic planning ability,” Palin said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

Haagenson also will serve as executive director of the Alaska Energy Authority, a public corporation tasked with reducing the cost of energy in Alaska.

Palin first promised during her State of the State address in January to appoint an energy coordinator.

On Wednesday, she described how high energy costs were threatening to crush some rural communities and how previous efforts to address energy issues have gone nowhere.

“We’ve got plans on the shelf — they’ve been gathering dust for years,” she said.

Utilities, municipalities and other groups have plans on the shelf, too, she added. “We need to pull this together.”

Palin praised Haagenson for his experience and his ability to bring people together.

Haagenson received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in engineering management from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

He joined GVEA in 1976 the day after he graduated college and worked as an electrical engineer before moving up to manager, vice president, and finally president and CEO. He retired at the end of November, and recently chaired the Cost of Energy Task Force set up by the Interior Issues Council, a Fairbanks think tank.

Haagenson said Wednesday he was excited to get involved at the state level. He said he wanted to engage Alaskans to identify local resources and technologies that could help lower energy costs, assess energy needs in various places, match solutions to problems, and put plans into action quickly.

“We’re going to go ahead and hit the street running,” he said. “We’ll start deploying things immediately that we can do today.”

Haagenson pointed to energy conservation as one of the things that could be done immediately, and said he liked the proposal moving through the Legislature to pump $300 million into two state programs to fund weatherization and energy efficiency programs.

He said he hoped to complete some sort of comprehensive energy plan by the end of the year but would work on solutions before that, starting with rural Alaska.

“People today are making choices — whether you heat your house or buy food,” he said. “That’s about how serious this is, so we need to find a solution in the state or we’re not going to have a very happy future.”

Haagenson described renewable energy technologies such as hydroelectric, wind and biomass as ways to reduce energy costs and emissions of greenhouses gases linked with global climate change.

Tom Irwin, the commissioner of natural resources, also praised Haagenson.

“This is just what the state needs,” he said.

Irwin briefly worked under Haagenson at GVEA last year helping the utility push a reorganization proposal that members ultimately rejected.

He said Haagenson would become a member of Palin’s natural gas pipeline team and would benefit from data the team has already gathered.

Leo von Scheben, commissioner of the department of transportation, also heaped praise on Haagenson.

“Energy is so critical in the state of Alaska, and here’s a man that really, really wants to help — and has got the technical background,” he said during the news conference. “I think the word passionate is very good for Steve.”

Rep. Mike Kelly, a Republican legislator from Fairbanks and former GVEA president, described Haagenson as an old friend and said he was happy with Palin’s appointment.

After the news conference, Haagenson dove right into his new job. The House Finance Committee was hearing a bill to revisit the abandoned Susitna River hydroelectric project, which the Fairbanks task force had studied.

When Haagenson was invited to testify, he was ready with detailed cost estimates and electric rates that could be expected from a modified version of the project.

Haagenson said he will move to Anchorage for the new job.