Haagenson steps in as state energy ‘czar’
Fairbanksan becomes top Alaska energy coordinator
Published Monday, March 31, 2008
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JUNEAU — Steve Haagenson has a passion for energy and a knack for jumping right into things.
A few hours after Gov. Sarah Palin officially appointed him as the state’s new energy coordinator, he was already testifying on a bill in the House Finance Committee. A few days later, he had already moved from his longtime Fairbanks home to Anchorage to start work.
If you live in Fairbanks, North Pole, Nenana, Healy or Delta Junction, Haagenson was for years the man in charge of keeping your lights on at home and your machines running at work. Now, shortly after retiring as president and CEO of Golden Valley Electric Association, Haagenson is studying the statewide energy picture as head of the Alaska Energy Authority and official energy “czar.”
His job, ultimately, is to help reduce the cost of energy for all Alaskans.
Electricity has been part of Haagenson’s life for most of his 54 years.
Originally from Oregon, Haagenson moved with his family to Sitka when he was 6. His father was chief engineer at the pulp mill there. Haagenson graduated from Sitka High School in 1971, then started college at the University of Idaho. After one year, he moved up to Fairbanks and studied electrical engineering at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, graduating in 1976.
“About 16 hours after I graduated, I went to work at Golden Valley,” he said last week.
Haagenson said he got into the field because he liked his electronics classes in high school, and because he wanted to mark his own place — his father was a civil engineer, so Haagenson became an electrical engineer.
Haagenson worked his way up through the ranks at Golden Valley from engineer to manager, vice president, and finally president and CEO. In 1981, he earned his engineering management degree from UAF by taking classes at night.
Aside from the changes in position, Haagenson’s resume is easy to follow. He started at Golden Valley in 1976 and stayed there until last November.
“I’ve been at Golden Valley — forever, it seems like,” he said.
Haagenson said he liked the people at GVEA and the challenges of trying to keep costs down and bringing power to major new users like the Fort Knox gold mine north of town.
Mike Kelly, a state representative and former GVEA president, described Haagenson as a good friend and said it was always a pleasure working with him.
“He’s bright, he’s bone honest, and a straight shooter,” Kelly said.
“He’s kind of an Alaskan outdoors guy,” he added. “When he’s away from work, he’s out on the land.”
Haagenson said he made a point of trying to balance his work with everything else while he was at Golden Valley.
He was married in 1971 to Maureen, and has two children, Heather, 27, and Ryan, 24.
He has a cabin on the Goodpaster River and spends time there hunting and fishing. Haagenson also coached soccer and became an informal math tutor to several children he knew.
That said, he still put in the hours. Shortly before Haagenson retired, a Fairbanks thinktank called the Interior Issues Council put together a task force to study ways to reduce energy costs in the Fairbanks area, and Haagenson volunteered to chair it.
The group met one morning each week, and subcommittees met more frequently. Haagenson tried to attend all the meetings, and worked many weekends and nights. The task force developed a wide-reaching plan, and local officials are acting on it now.
Haagenson’s retirement didn’t last long, either.
“Mike Kelly gave me advice — don’t do anything for 10 months,” he said. “I lasted for three.”
Haagenson was appointed to his new job March 5. He moved to Anchorage a few days later, but his wife and son are still in Fairbanks, and Haagenson plans to visit whenever he can.
“When I’m done down here,” he said, “I intend to come back to Fairbanks — I have too many roots in Fairbanks.”
For more news from the capital, visit www.newsminer.com/weblogs and look for Capital Focus.
Contact staff writer Stefan Milkowski at 388-6141.
Community Discussion
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From all indicators the Governor made a very good choice and I'm sure most of us will be paying close attention.
While perhaps not being dragged kicking, we were definitely screaming for a means to get out from under the onerous burden of the exponential cost of this energy that has brought so many to their knees while fattening the state coffers.
I was beginning to lose it (patience) waiting for this inequity to be addressed while Hugo Chavez made all Alaska an embarrassment in the intervening two years.
The means must be found to translate the wealth into meaningful reductions in our cost of living even if it includes breaking the distribution monopoly that plagues Alaskans from Ketchikan to Barrow.
Companies such as Alaska Intrastate Gas must be allowed to proceed past complacent and possibly corrupt city councils and borough assemblies to market gas and freight services.
This is where the true courage has yet to be manifested.
Get on it and stay with it Mr. Haagenson, better late than never.
This is a true crisis.
OMG I hope he doesn't do to us what Golden Valley has...
The lies and deceit of GVEA through the last decade...
Alaska does not have an energy problem. We are swimming in the stuff. Alaska has a problem with greed, idiotic politicians, and energy distribution. No energy solution in this state has a chance unless the appropriate carpetbaggers stand to make a fortune out of it.
The state could cut the price of motor fuels drastically by the simple expedient of not pricing royalty crude as though it were in Washington state. They could enforce contracts. They could try to do something about the monopoly on road diesel that they have given to one company. Is it a big surprise that diesel went through the roof after the state in effect granted Tesoro Kenai a complete monnopoly on road diesel? And why in this state is a refinery using in exess of 240000 barrels per day of crude from southeast asia?
The oil compnies are flaring huge quantities of natural gas up north. The smaller flares are eight feet in diameter and run 24 hours a day. This is that same gas that the state never fails to point out belongs to "the people" (translated..the government and their pals) If a large gas fired combined cycle power station were erected on the slope, and fired with "the people's" gas, and a backbone powerline strung down the haul road, everyone could benefit. We already have and electrical distribution system that reaches all of the interior, and if there were a heavy line down the haul road, it would be possible to branch off to the areas that are now run by inefficient, expensive diesel generators. This system could be up and running in the time it takes for a bunch of folks to figure out who can make the most money out of a gasline. If some attention is paid to the contracting for construction, and the fuel is state owned gas, the price per khw could be low enough to use this for electric heating. Imagine the difference in winter air quality with 50000 boilers shut down. Not to mention that a gasline of any kind is not going be of any help to anyone who is not in the Fairbanks core areas.
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