June 26, 2009
The review focuses on programs that address end-use energy consumption in space heating and electrical needs of residential and commercial users. Although AHFC, AEA, and CCHRC recognize the dire energy situation in rural Alaska, primary emphasis of this report was on Railbelt communities, recognizing that there is an existing rural energy plan. This study was not intended to address transportation or industrial energy efficiency opportunities.
State of Alaska Energy Efficiency Policy Recommendations
State of Alaska Energy Efficiency Policy Appendices
June 26, 2009
Yesterday, February 17, 2009, the Joint Legislative Budget and Audit Committee of the Alaska State Legislature made history by committing an unprecedented $100 million to the development of renewable energy projects across Alaska. The projects, totaling 77 in all, range from a wind farm in Unalakleet to solar PV construction in Ambler. The recipients come from the Round I applications to the Alaska Renewable Energy Grant Fund, a piece of legislation passed last year to help finance the construction and pre-construction of renewable energy projects across Alaska. Round II applications are currently being vetted by the Alaska Energy Authority. However, the legislature has yet to appropriate the next $50 million for Round II projects.
July 27, 2009
Alaska Conservation Alliance (ACA) announces the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Photo Contest tho show off the creative things that you and your community are doing to become energy independent, save on energy bills, and reduce carbon emissions. Write a short descriptive blurb (up to 500 words) to go with the photo submission. The winners will be featured on the ACAon our website in our “energy spotlight” section. Prizes include a lodge get-a-way for two, a full-boat fishing trip, REI gear, and more.
Photos can be submitted online at www.akvoice.org, emailed to acaphotocontest@gmail.com or mailed to Laura Silverman Alaska Conservation Alliance 810 N Street Suite 203 Anchorage, AK 99501.
The deadline is July 27.
June 27, 2009
6:00 pm to 9:00 pm
GIRDWOOD – Potluck/Barbeque for Girdwood Renewable Energy and Sustainable Independence will be held starting at 6pm at Lorna and Derek Ruckel’s.
Directions: go all the way up Alyeska Ave. to end, take a right (like you are going to Resort), turn on your second left (Cortina) and they are the second house on the left. Feel free to call at 783-3083. Bring GOOD food, good ideas, and good vibrations.
July 6, 2009
Deadline for comments on the draft 2010-2013 Anchorage Transportation Improvement Program (ATIP). The AMATS TIP is a multi-year program of transportation improvements that must be prepared so that the Anchorage area can qualify to receive funding from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). The Draft ATIP is available at:
http://www.muni.org/iceimages/transplan/2010-13%20Public%20Review%20Draft.pdf.
For more information, call 343-7991. Send comments to Traffic Department, Transportation Planning Division, PO Box 196650, Anchorage, AK 99519-6650.
June 24, 2009
Alaska Village Electric Cooperative won’t cut the power in the village of Selawik June 15th, as they had threatened.
The city government in the Northwest Alaska community of 850 owes the utility $250,000.
But the two sides have worked out an agreement.
The city will pay $80,000 up front and has spelled out a plan to pay off the remaining debt, said Meera Kohler, president and CEO of AVEC, which provides power in 53 rural communities.
Read more.
June 24, 2009
Biking in Juneau
Ferry Terminal to Downtown (15 miles)
Bicyclists traveling by ferry arrive at the Auke Bay Ferry Terminal, about 15 miles biking from downtown Juneau. To get downtown turn right out of the terminal and use the wide shoulders of Glacier Highway. About 2.2 miles from the ferry terminal you will pass the University of Alaska Southeast campus at Auke Lake. Shortly after crossing the Mendenhall River Glacier Highway becomes a 4-lane divided highway: Egan Drive. After Riverside Drive, the first traffic signal after the bridge, Egan is closed to bicyclists. To get to downtown: follow the pathway on the north (left) side of the road to Mendenhall Loop Road (you’ll first see the pathway after crossing the bridge and before reaching Riverside). From the Loop Road follow the pathway on the left (north) side to Glacier Highway near Fred Meyer. Wide shoulders on Glacier Highway to the Salmon Creek intersection accommodate bicycles. A pathway connects two discontinuous segments of Glacier Highway between Salmon Creek and 2 ½ mile intersections. Glacier Highway continues into town becoming Glacier Avenue, then Willoughby. About 4.5 and 5.0 miles from the ferry terminal bicyclists can turn right to access the airport business district and the Juneau airport. About 13 miles from the ferry terminal, 9 from the airport, is 10th Street and the bridge access to Douglas Island, the town of Douglas and to North Douglas Highway.
Ferry Terminal to End of the Road (28 miles)
A left turn out of the ferry terminal leads to the USFS Auke Village campground (1.5 mile), Lena Point, Tee Harbor, the Shrine of St. Therese (8.2 miles), Amalga Harbor, Herbert and Eagle Rivers, Eagle Beach (and a State Parks campground – 13.4 miles), and Sunshine, Bridget and Echo Coves. The road ends at Echo cove, about 28 miles from the ferry terminal, 43 miles from downtown. The first three miles of highway from the ferry terminal has wide paved shoulders.
Douglas Highway
Into the town of Douglas, about 3 miles, the highway has wide shoulders. North of the roundabout intersection at the end of the bridge, North Douglas Highway has wide shoulders for 10 miles, followed by four miles of extremely scenic and sparsely used road often frequented by cyclists and joggers. Fish Creek Road leads from the highway up to Eaglecrest Ski Area, a 5.2 mile road with wide shoulders and significant elevation gain.
Juneau roads closed to bicycles
Egan Drive between Riverside Drive and Highland Drive (by the high school) (about 10 miles).
Juneau pathways
Mendenhall River Trail (Kaxidigoowu Heen Dei): 2.2 miles, follows the meltwaters of the Mendenhall Glacier from the trailhead at the Brotherhood Bridge on Glacier Highway north to a trailhead at the end of River Road, off the Back Loop Road. Crosses Montana Creek. A spur connects via pedestrian bridge to Dimond Park on Riverside Drive.
Mendenhall Loop Road pathways: 3.6 miles, parallel both sides of the main road in the Mendenhall Valley. A 1.25-mile spur connects the south end of the Loop road pathways to a trailhead near Fred Meyer (end of Glacier Highway segment). A one-mile spur along Back Loop Road connects Mendenhall Loop Road to Mendenhall River Elementary School.
Twin Lakes pathway: 1 mile, offers a pleasant ride for families along the shores of Twin Lakes, paralleling the Old Glacier Highway. A trailhead is at a city park near Salmon Creek.
June 24, 2009
Alaska Waste on Tuesday announced it has expanded its curbside recycling service to 4,000 more homes in East Anchorage and Midtown. Read more.
June 12, 2009
For decades, most of the nation’s renewable power has come from dams, which supplied cheap electricity without requiring fossil fuels. But the federal agencies running the dams often compiled woeful track records on other environmental issues.
Now, with the focus in Washington on clean power, some dam agencies are starting to go green, embracing wind power and energy conservation. The most aggressive is the Bonneville Power Administration, whose power lines carry much of the electricity in the Pacific Northwest. Yet the shift of emphasis at the dam agencies is proving far from simple. It could end up pitting one environmental goal against another, a tension that is emerging in renewable-power projects across the country.
Read more.
June 18, 2009
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Cascade Creek, LLC of Juneau, AK will hold a public scoping meeting regarding the Cascade Creek Hydroelectric Project at 7:00pm on June 18, 2009 at the Tides Inn conference room, Petersburg.
