Alaska’s economy

Alaska’s economy depends heavily on increasingly expensive diesel fuel for heating, transportation, electric power and light. Although

wind and hydroelectric power are abundant and underdeveloped, proposals for statewide energy systems (e.g. with special low-cost

electric interties) were judged uneconomical (at the time of the report, 2001) due to low (less than 50¢/gal) fuel prices,

long distances and low population.[88] The cost of a gallon of gas in urban Alaska today is usually thirty to sixty cents higher

than the national average; prices in rural areas are generally significantly higher but vary widely depending on transportation costs, seasonal usage peaks, nearby petroleum development infrastructure and many other factors.