September 2021 Back Page – PCE Endowment Restored and AVEC 2021 Annual Meeting

Posted: September 7, 2021

Last month the Power Cost Equalization program was put in jeopardy by Governor Dunleavy’s action of sweeping the PCE Endowment into the Capital Budget Reserve (CBR), and the Legislature’s in-action to reverse the sweep. The Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN), AVEC, and a host of other utilities and municipalities filed a lawsuit against the State claiming that the PCE Endowment was not a “sweep-able” fund. We won! The Superior Court ruled that the PCE Endowment is a separate fund, not eligible to be swept into the CBR at the end of every fiscal year. This is a big win for rural Alaska; knowing that the endowment, put aside to invest, grow, and fund the PCE program, is restored and cannot be “swept” in the future. For now, AVEC members can rejoice knowing that if they see a PCE credit on their bill, it will be paid by the state through the PCE program.

Challenges to the PCE program can still develop. There will still be the annual effort to encourage the Governor and Legislature to include an appropriation in the annual budget to pay for the PCE program. This year the budget included $32.2M to fully fund the program. Also, the legislature always holds the purse strings. They could pass legislation to dissolve or otherwise appropriate the PCE Endowment in the future. AVEC continues to advocate and educate on the critical importance of PCE for rural communities.

In other news, the AVEC Board of Directors met in August. Among selecting AVEC scholarship winners for the fall semester and starting the search for nominating committee members for the election of board members this winter, the Board also considered the venue for this year’s Annual Meeting. Although the cut-off date to have community meetings this year was extended a second time to August 31, 2021, as of the board meeting in mid-August, only 19 communities had successfully completed their meeting. The COVID-19 virus continues to hamper gatherings and many communities have had a difficult time reaching quorum, even when meetings were held via teleconference. With the limited number of delegates eligible to participate in the Annual Meeting and the rising rates of infection and hospitalizations from the Delta variant, the board voted unanimously to hold the 2021 Annual Meeting via teleconference on October 13, 2021.

If you were unable to attend your community meeting this year, don’t worry, the window to have a meeting for next year is fast approaching. Community meetings to submit resolutions and elect delegates for the 2022 AVEC Annual Meeting will occur between November 1, 2021, and March 1, 2022, as scheduled by your local AVEC Chair. It is our hope that all the delegates will be able to gather in person in April 2022. We look forward to hearing from you.

Although the cut-off date to have community meetings this year was extended a second time to August 31, 2021, as of the board meeting in mid-August, only 19 communities had successfully completed their meeting. The COVID-19 virus continues to hamper gatherings and many communities have had a difficult time reaching quorum, even when meetings were held via teleconference. With the limited number of delegates eligible to participate in the Annual Meeting and the rising rates of infection and hospitalizations from the Delta variant, the board voted unanimously to hold the 2021 Annual Meeting via teleconference on October 13, 2021.

If you were unable to attend your community meeting this year, don’t worry, the window to have a meeting for next year is fast approaching. Community meetings to submit resolutions and elect delegates for the 2022 AVEC Annual Meeting will occur between November 1, 2021, and March 1, 2022, as scheduled by your local AVEC Chair. It is our hope that all the delegates will be able to gather in person in April 2022. We look forward to hearing from you.