A chilling report details how the Dan Sullivan-supported war in Iran could increase fuel prices to a devastating level, potentially costing Western Alaskans an extra $2,400 per year for fuel alone.

“Self-Serving Sullivan’s price-hiking agenda is putting rural Alaskans in an impossible position, potentially forcing them to pay for a 50% increase in fuel prices, if they get a shipment at all,” said Alaska Democratic Party Chair Eric Croft. “This is Dan Sullivan’s economy, and it’s become a life or death situation for our communities.”

The report lays out how, thanks to Sullivan-backed policies, Western Alaskans are bracing for potentially devastating increases in fuel prices when the next shipment comes in. Some Alaskans quoted are expecting a 50% jump, some forecasting up to an 80% increase. The fallout of these increases will be “staggering” for Western Alaska families, with airfare and grocery prices expected to rise in tow.

KYUK: Western Alaska prepares to lock in what may be unaffordably high fuel prices for the year

May 20, 2026

• As the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta emerges from a long winter that strained fuel stores, the arrival of the first barges of the season might typically be cause for celebration. But this year, it’s cause for anxiety. Suppliers have told customers to expect price increases driven by the war in Iran of at least several dollars per gallon on the millions of gallons of diesel and gasoline that flow into the region annually.

• “Everything’s just going to increase, and to what extent no one that I have talked to knows,” Strickler said.

• The global oil market and the quotes that fuel suppliers are giving rural Alaska customers are both changing rapidly as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively shut down. But Western Alaska diesel and gasoline prices that were locked in last year by the key suppliers – Crowley, Vitus, Delta Western, and Top Fuel – have held relatively steady. In Bethel and in nearby villages, that price hovers around $7 or $8 a gallon; in some coastal communities, it tops $9 a gallon.

• Upriver from Bethel, fuel rates are expected to increase by at least 50% at the three-school Yupiit School District, according to superintendent Scott Ballard.

• “I’ve been talking to Crowley for, you know, well over a month and a half now, and it’s, it’s ugly,” Ballard said.

• Ballard said that Crowley recently quoted him a price roughly $2.50 more per gallon than last year’s bulk fuel order. It would cost the already cash-strapped district an additional $500,000. Ballard said that he’s waiting to pull the trigger on the order, hoping for even a small decrease in price that could save the district thousands of dollars.

• Power utilities are also bracing for a hit. Alaska Village Electric Cooperative (AVEC) President Bill Stamm said that the power provider that serves 58 rural communities is anticipating at least a 50% fuel cost increase.

• Stamm said that if families can’t afford fuel, it will strain both household budgets and regional utility capacity.

• “What does rural Alaska look like in the spring when people haven’t been able to afford heating fuel? So they’ve been running up their electric bill, keeping their house warm, and they get to the springtime and realize, well, now I’ve got a $10,000 bill for my electric?” Stamm asked.

• Fuel shipped in by barge also has a direct impact on the small air carriers that serve Western Alaska. Ryan Air Director of Stations Justin Polayes said that the carrier recently instituted its first-ever fuel surcharge on passenger flights out of Anchorage to offset a doubling in the price of jet fuel. He said that a similar fuel price jump is likely around the corner for the smaller planes that deliver essential mail and freight to dozens of remote communities.

• “We’re preparing ourselves for fuel price across Western Alaska, across all our bush locations, to double in price,” Polayes said. “There’s a real chance we might operate at a loss or break even, depending on what the fuel is gonna look like, and it might be like that for a considerable amount of time.”

• Polayes said that no one at Ryan Air can ever remember fuel prices being as volatile. “We weren’t seeing 20, 30, 40% jumps in a week or two. It was more gradual,” he said.

• Polayes said that what’s mostly on his mind are the roughly 80 employees he oversees.

• “I’m worrying about their being able to heat their homes, fuel their cars, all my village agents in 73 villages fueling up their four-wheeler to meet the plane. This is, it’s gonna affect every aspect of life in Western Alaska,” Polayes said.

• The costs for rural families that are already struggling to shore up their communities against severe environmental impacts, or actively pursuing relocation, could be staggering. Gwen Holdmann, who is the chief scientist at the Alaska Center for Energy and Power at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said that even a $2 a gallon increase in fuel costs would add an average annual financial burden of $2,400 for every Western Alaska resident.

• “The rule of thumb would be about 1,200 gallons on average per person per year. And so you can pretty quickly do the math. So a household of four, you can pretty quickly get to approaching $10,000,” Holdmann said.

• Added fuel costs for rural families will hamper subsistence activities that are normally in full swing as the first fuel barges arrive in the region. Price increase impacts would ripple through all goods and services.