By Denny Schlotfeldt and Jim Crawford

Like a man dying of thirst in the middle of the ocean, Alaskans are adrift in a sea of state cash while our citizens drown in a tidal wave of unjustified costs for heating oil and electricity for homes and businesses.

Money pouring into Alaska from oil at more than $120 a barrel brings benefits for future generations such as capital improvements and budget reserve savings. Does a bigger budget reserve put bread on any Alaskans' table today? No, tragically, a large segment of our population may not enjoy these benefits if they are bankrupted and foreclosed by unbearable financial costs of energy. Families could soon give up and leave Alaska.

Energy costs are destroying Alaskan lives. Rural residents living off the road system have the Power Cost Equalization Program. PCEP provides assistance to communities and residents in rural Alaska where the kilowatt-hour charge for electricity can be three to five times higher than the average kwh rate of 12.87 cents in Anchorage, Fairbanks or Juneau.

Alaskans are paying the highest energy costs in the USA while supplying 16 percent of the nation's oil. No Alaskan should pay more for energy than an average resident of Seattle, Portland or San Francisco. Interior energy costs are higher because it's colder and transportation costs are higher. Add the cost of oil as dictated by the Saudi sheiks and you understand the reason for Alaskans' cash shortage.

It is time for a simple but radical change. When the price of oil exceeds $55 per barrel, we should subsidize energy costs for heating or providing electricity to every person in Alaska. We are the rightful owners of the resources of Alaska. Let's cut our energy costs (heating and electricity) with an all-Alaska energy cost equalization amendment to the existing PCEP enjoyed in rural Alaska.

It's time to:

1. Expand the energy program to treat all Alaskans equally. Simply calculate rebate amounts based upon equalization of “degree days” to accommodate statewide temperature differences and BTUs to equalize energy sources available.

2. Provide immediate relief to all Alaskans with the huge surplus earned from the progressive oil tax. This is so simple, it could be implemented tomorrow.

3. Connect the reward of oil and gas in Alaska to all the people.

This is not a tax increase on oil companies, utilities or citizens. We can dedicate a portion of our progressive tax surplus to reduce our energy costs. We are the owners in this owner state and can reduce the cost of living for all our citizens.

We should equalize our energy costs to the West Coast average. Think of the impact on families, businesses and jobs in Alaska. Our petrodollars, such a cash cow to the state, could provide a substantial and regionally fair return that maximizes the benefits for all Alaskans. Instead of fighting over regional scraps, if we lower the overhead of each business, we become fully competitive with Outside companies and create Alaskan jobs.

Let's petition the Legislature and governor to treat all regions of the state equally in energy matters. Ask your friends and neighbors, in fact, all who pay an energy bill to sign.

Our fuel tanks will be empty and pipes frozen long before a large or small gas line is built. Insist our legislators grant energy cost equalization statewide now. Our fellow citizens need help before next winter hurts even more people and communities.

Denny Schlotfeldt and Jim Crawford are both lifelong Alaskan friends with experience in the Alaskan home heating business. Schlotfeldt is a Fairbanks business manager, and Crawford is an Anchorage real estate developer and commercial mortgage banker.