Daniel Jensen

CANDIDATE STATEMENT

“Our cooperative is facing rising electric costs and uncertainty about the long-term stability of our power supply. For too long, MEA and the Railbelt grid have relied heavily on a single supplier to meet generation demand, increasing risk and contributing to upward pressure on rates.

I bring a business-focused skill set to these challenges, grounded in community and Alaska outdoor values. As a Certified Public Accountant making majorinvestment decisions in the energy sector, I have experience in long-termplanning, risk management, and protecting customers from unnecessary ratevolatility and waste. Like any responsible business, MEA should avoidoverreliance on a single resource when prudent alternatives can reduce riskwithout placing undue burdens on members. Tools such as power purchaseagreements can introduce competition, provide price certainty, and deserveserious consideration alongside MEA-owned resources.

Working families are important in MEA’s mission. Rising energy costs disproportionatelyimpact low- and moderate-income families, and affordability goes alongsidereliability. My interest in serving on the MEA Board is rooted in my family andmy commitment to Alaska’s long-term prosperity. I offer a disciplined,independent perspective focused on reliability, affordability, and long-termvalue for MEA’s member-owners. Thank you for your consideration.”

BIO

Daniel Jensen is a Principal of Business Development and Asset Management at Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI), one of Alaska’s twelve Alaska Native Regional Corporations. In this role Daniel manages CIRI’s diverse portfolio of energy investments, totaling 1,020 megawatts of generation capacity, with 540 megawatts from wind and 480 megawatts from gas, located inside and outside of Alaska. In addition to generation assets, CIRI’s portfolio includes investments in support and supply chain services for energy such as gas storage for Southcentral Alaska, an international offshore wind turbine installation provider, and a publicly traded wood biomass company. Cumulatively, these provide a well-balanced experience through the energy sector, allowing Daniel to take an unbiased view of the financial and operational reality of many energy technologies.

Afterhours, Daniel is active in the community through non-profit service. He is the Treasurer at Anchorage Ski Club, who owns and operates Arctic Valley Ski Area. During his tenure as Treasurer, Daniel has overseen nearly 300% revenue growth and helped transition to a self-sustaining business model. He is also a Board member at REAP at Launch Alaska, a local accelerator program bringing energy, transportation, and industrial technologies to help build resilient, sustainable communities.

Daniel holds an undergraduate and graduate degree in business and accounting, with honors, from Montana State University. He started his professional career at KPMG, an internationally recognized accounting firm, as an auditor. In this position he was able to gain insight into a vast array of companies. After KPMG, he worked at Waste Connections, which owns and operates Alaska Waste, as a District Controller. At Waste Connections, he was able to further his knowledge of regulated utilities, as well as build his business and financial acumen. Daniel holds an active Certified Public Account license through the Alaska State Board of Public Accountancy, as well as a Financial Modeling and Valuation Analyst certificate from the Corporate Finance Institute.

Daniel lives in Eagle River with his wife, Riley, three blocks up the street from the house she was born and raised in. Together they have two young boys, who are fourth-generation Alaskans.

Connie Fredenberg

CANDIDATE STATEMENT

“MEA should develop alternatives to natural gas as a utility or connect with some Independent Power Producers to develop projects. Otherwise, our price for power will continue to steadily increase. Developing generation projects of all types takes time, though. In the meantime, there is a whole lot we as customers can do to conserve the remaining gas now used for heat and power and keep our own costs down.

For many years I’ve been helping both utilities and customers to keep costs down while keeping the lights on in Rural Alaska. I’d like to do the same for my own neighborhood now.”

BIO

Connie was raised in a small Ohio farm town that reminds her a lot of Palmer – except Palmer has better scenery. As a Wildlife Biology student at Ohio State University, Connie chanced upon an unbelievable opportunity to travel from Ohio to Utqiagvik in June of 1978 for a summer job as an Animal Research Intern at the Naval Arctic Research Lab. It changed her life. She went from a struggling student to straight A’s at OSU – until she dropped out and decided to stay in Alaska during her internship the next summer.

When Connie became pregnant with her first child, she and her partner moved from Utqiagvik to Pt. Hope, his family home. Connie loves the Arctic. The Inupiat elevate sharing to a science. Connie learned countless valuable lessons and skills from the people of Pt. Hope and she is honored to still call many her friends and family. Connie gave birth to three children while there and graduated from UAF in 1989 with a degree in Applied Linguistics with minors in education and biology through the old distance delivered X-CED program. She worked as a postal clerk, bilingual aide, elementary teacher, magistrate, and agent for bush airlines over the next ten years.

In 1993 Connie’s life circumstances changed. She left the Arctic and returned to her roots and took a job as Farm Manager at the Palmer Musk Ox Farm. After 3 years she built her own house on land she bought at the far end of the Farm and moved on to other work that was easier on her body. Connie’s children grew up, she gained seven grandchildren and one great grandchild, and she keeps enough animals on her own little farm to satisfy her need for caretaking. She raises chickens, pigs, and a big garden every year now. She loves making sauerkraut and jarring fish – and sharing the bounty. Connie looks forward to sewing again now that she is retired.

For over 20 years Connie worked with Rural independent community owned non-regulated electric utilities –installing pre-pay electric meters, teaching conservation strategies, providing and teaching utility management, rate setting and reporting for the Power Cost Equalization program. The cost and headache of importing fuel to remote communities is agonizing. Connie has helped several communities through the first steps of developing a local renewable energy resource, including resource and environmental assessments and successful grant applications.