US to announce US$150 million for Alaska power lines as Vance visits battleground state
The US Energy Department will announce US$150 million in new funding for power lines in Alaska on Monday as Vice-President J.D. Vance visits the state, where Republicans are fighting to hold a critical Senate seat in the November midterm elections.
Vance is set to rally voters for Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, who is locked in a tight re-election battle with Democrat Mary Peltola. Flipping the seat is key to the Democratic Party’s strategy to take control of the US Senate and recent polls have Peltola, a former member of the US House of Representatives, leading Sullivan.
The energy plan is the latest in a series of economic and investment announcements US President Donald Trump and his administration have highlighted ahead of the midterm elections amid voter concerns over the Iran war and high petrol prices.
Under the Energy Department plan, the Trump administration will tap federal funds to help construct 359km (223 miles) of new electrical transmission lines linking the Beluga power station on Alaska’s southern coast with Healy in the state’s interior, an administration official told Reuters.