Alaska begins distributing residents' annual energy dividends

Alaska residents will start receiving their annual dividends from the state’s energy fund Thursday, and this year’s checks will be slightly above average.

The 2023 payment will total $1,312 per resident, a decrease from last year’s dividend of $3,284 but higher than the roughly $1,200 average payout since the endowment’s inception.

Alaskans determined to be eligible for the annual dividend payment prior to Sept. 22 will receive the funds in accounts Thursday as part of the state’s first mass disbursement. 

A second disbursement is scheduled for Oct. 26 that will encompass electronic and paper applications determined eligible by Oct. 18, including Alaskans who requested a paper check.

"The Alaska Permanent Fund was created by Alaskans coming together and voting to amend the Constitution to dedicate, save, and invest a portion of the state’s oil and mining revenue to benefit all generations," Deven Mitchell, executive director of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, wrote. "As a public endowment, the wealth of the Fund is the responsibility of every resident of the state.

"Through challenging investment markets, the Fund once again demonstrated its resilience by withstanding economic headwinds," Mitchell added. "The fiscal year of 2023 concluded with a total performance return of 5.18%."

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline moves crude oil from Prudhoe Bay to the ice free port of Valdez, Alaska. (Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Alaska’s state constitution was amended in 1976 to establish the Alaska Permanent Fund as a state-owned corporation. Since 1982, the endowment has paid out the annual Permanent Fund Dividend to eligible state residents. 

The dividend amount is computed through a formula based on net income to the fund from the current and past four fiscal years, prior year obligations and expenses related to the dividend program's operations and the number of eligible applicants.

The fund’s principal is constitutionally protected and grows each year, and a minimum of 25% of royalties from leases and other income related to oil and mineral development are contributed to the fund. The proceeds of the fund can be spent and are used to finance the dividend payments to residents.

An aerial view of the North Slope community of Nuiqsut, Alaska. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Alaska residents are eligible for the annual Permanent Fund Dividend unless they were: 

• Absent from the state for more than 180 days (unless it was an allowable absence under law);

• Sentenced in the state for a felony conviction during the qualifying year; or

• Were incarcerated for either a felony or a misdemeanor following a prior felony conviction or multiple prior misdemeanors in the qualifying year.

The trustees of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation endowment are working on a study examining the history of the fund, an overview of its structure, durability issues arising from its current construct and solutions to those challenges.

The trustees plan to publish the paper in early 2024, which will help inform potential changes to the fund in the future.