Juneau-based utility selected for federal tribal energy funding
Published 11:30 am Sunday, October 25, 2026
A Juneau-based electric cooperative serving five rural Southeast Alaska communities is among the organizations selected for a new federal tribal energy funding program.
Inside Passage Electric Cooperative is one of 63 projects chosen for funding negotiations under a $125 million initiative announced Oct. 22 by the U.S. Department of Energy. The nonprofit utility, headquartered on Mendenhall Loop Road in Juneau, supplies electricity to more than 1,300 members in Hoonah, Kake, Angoon, Klukwan and the Chilkat Valley.
Its selection is listed under Chilkat Indian Village, the federally recognized tribe in Klukwan, northwest of Haines. The project’s proposed work, individual funding amount or construction schedule have yet to be publicly detailed.
For communities dependent on smaller electricity systems though, those details will determine how much the funding amount or construction schedule in the announcement.
Powering Southeast communities
Although Inside Passage Electric operates from Juneau, its customers live in communities outside the city’s primary electric service area such as Hoonah, Kake, Angoon and the Chilkat Valley, providing electricity across communities separated by water, mountains and limited transportation connections.
In Klukwan, residents receive electricity through the cooperative’s Chilkat Valley system. The Alaska Energy Data Gateway identifies the community as part of the Upper Lynn Canal electrical grid, with electricity supplied through Inside Passage Electric’s regional infrastructure.
Under an earlier Department of Energy grid-resilience program, the Chilkat Indian Village was listed as the awardee for a project involving vegetation and fuel-load management, with Inside Passage Electric serving as the subrecipient. That project carried $93,231 in federal support toward an estimated total cost of $131,944.
The same federal program listed the Organized Village of Kake as the awardee for a separate project involving battery-storage equipment, with Inside Passage Electric as the subrecipient. Its federal share was $166,517 toward a total project cost of $247,000. Both projects are separate from Thursday’s funding announcement, but illustrate previous federal efforts to address reliability concerns in communities served by the Juneau-based utility.
Inside Passage Electric’s website currently directs customers to information about an increase in its Cost of Power Adjustment, a charge tied to the expenses involved in supplying electricity.
The new federal selection has raised concerns about how future investments might affect those costs, although no customer savings estimate has been released.
Federal investment across tribal communities
The Energy Department announced more than $125 million for 63 projects on Thursday, involving 61 tribal entities across 16 states, including Alaska.
Thirteen selections involve installing community-scale energy systems, and another 27 focus on accessing transmission systems and electrical distribution. The remaining 23 projects involve planning and feasibility work for larger energy developments, including potential power generation intended to produce revenue for tribal communities.
Nationally, the department expects the selected projects to expand electricity access to 150 tribal homes currently without service and convert heating systems at 500 homes and businesses to natural gas.
Cape Fox Corporation, based in Ketchikan, appears elsewhere on the Alaska applicant list, adding another Southeast organization to the nationwide funding selections. Federal officials described the announcement as the largest single investment in the Office of Indian Energy’s 20-year history.
Funding will draw on fiscal year 2026 and previous congressional appropriations, and each selected applicant must complete negotiations before receiving an award. For Inside Passage Electric, the next step is establishing which facilities or customers the proposed project would serve, how much federal assistance is being negotiated and when the work could begin.
