Doug Isaacson

Early life and education

Douglas W. Isaacson was born on October 18, 1957 in Seattle, Washington. He grew up in Snohomish County, north of Seattle, in the City of Edmonds. Isaacson enlisted in the United States Air Force shortly after graduating from high school, where he served as a Russian translator. He came to Alaska as a result of being stationed at Eielson Air Force Base and decided to remain in Alaska after leaving military service, settling in nearby North Pole.

Isaacson earned his BA in linguistics from the University of Washington in Seattle, and his master's degree in divinity from Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon.

Mayor of North Pole

Isaacson was elected to the North Pole city council in 2000 and served until being elected North Pole's mayor in 2006. He faced a somewhat tumultuous tenure in office, which was also the case with a number of his predecessors. In 2009, he was reelected by only two votes over his predecessor, Jeff Jacobson. He survived a recall election in 2010. Isaacson was term-limited in 2012, and decided instead to run for the Alaska House of Representatives.

Alaska House of Representatives

In the 28th Legislature, Isaacson co-chaired the House Special Committee on Energy, was vice-chair of House Transportation, and served on the following committees: State Affairs, Joint Armed Services, and sub-finance committees for Corrections; Transportation; and Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. Additionally, Isaacson was named to serve on the Council of State Governments as a member of the Energy and Environment Task Force; with the Council of State Governments West - (CSG West) and served on two committees: Canada Relations and Energy and Public Lands Committee; as an alternate member of the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region (PNWER); and as an alternate member of the Energy Council's Energy Committee.

Isaacson fought for reducing the price of consumer energy, and was vocal in pressing for a "cost or supply benefit" for in-state refining of Alaska's royalty oil share for in-state use as required by Alaska law, notably AS 38.05.183. A noteworthy accomplishment was in moving the State of Alaska to address the high cost of electricity throughout Alaska. Isaacson held three effective roundtables, two of which for the first time in legislative memory placed together the utility companies, the independent power producers, the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, the Alaska Energy Authority, the American Transmission Company (Wisconsin), and legislators to discuss "Designing Alaska's Future: Removing Energy Gridlock." The goal of the roundtables was to move toward lowering rate payer costs by examining restructuring the management of electrical transmission, clarify regulatory needs, and open access issues. The first informal discussion was held in the Capital Building in Juneau, Alaska on January 31, 2014 and only included the Chairman of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska. The second roundtable discussion was also held in the Capital on April 9, 2014; the third roundtable discussion was held at the Anchorage Legislative Information Office on September 5, 2014.