Results: Calendar of Events
July 21, 2009
Everyone agrees Cook Inlet needs help. No one agrees on how or where to get it.
Just to get your attention, here’s the worst-case scenario: A mid-winter cold snap hits Southcentral Alaska, bringing temperatures of 20 below zero. People from the Matanuska Valley to the Kenai Peninsula turn up their heat in unison, sucking natural gas from the Enstar Natural Gas Co. distribution grid buried beneath the city streets. This network is fed by transmission lines leading back to wells that pump natural gas from underground reservoirs across Cook Inlet. As more people turn up the heat, engineers search for additional molecules of natural gas to manage the increased demand. But the cold doesn’t let up. Then, a compressor trips at one of the major gas fields, and the pressure in the pipeline system drops below the threshold needed for making electricity. So the lights go out. System operators worry the drop in pressure allowed air to get into the grid, and federal regulations require them to stop delivering to customers. So the heat goes off.
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July 31, 2009
8:30 am to 2:30 pm
Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) invites you to attend a presentation on tidal and wave energy by Voith Hydro in the AEA boardroom on Friday, July 31st, 8:30AM to 12:30PM. There will be an opportunity to participate by webinar.
Please RSVP to Marge Cabanski or call 771-3081.
July 20, 2009
Southwest Washington’s high-tech industry is wising up to the business opportunities in the smart grid — also called the Internet for the electrical power grid.
Bringing the nation’s aging electrical grid into the information age will require overlaying the existing grid with a digital communications system that includes sensors, controls and wireless devices. Such systems, proponents say, will give utilities more precise control over power production and distribution that in turn creates energy savings, increases power quality and reliability, and allows more renewable energy sources to come online. Consumers will also gain more control over their energy costs through flexible utility rates and in-home monitoring devices a smart grid would allow.
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July 20, 2009
Alaska’s six Railbelt utilities are tapping into renewable resources — but a lot of energy is still going to waste because of duplicated services and facilities. So the utilities companies are developing a plan to connect their resources, from Homer to Fairbanks.
The idea is to save energy by sharing energy resources — so Alaska’s utility services could all hook into the same grid. But the six utilities — Municipal Light & Power, Chugach Electric, Golden Valley Electric, Matanuska Electric, Seward and Homer Electric — have six different ideas on how to roll together.
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August 7, 2009
The Denali Commission is releasing up to $4 million towards alternative and renewable emerging energy technology and demonstration projects. The Emerging Energy Technology Grant (EETG) seeks to develop emerging alternative and renewable energy technology that has the potential of widespread deployment in Alaska, and that has the potential to reduce energy costs for Alaskans. The following link leads to the Denali Commission’s Emerging Energy Technology Solicitation, released on Monday, July 13th, 2009. First round applications are due August 7th, 2009.
This is a competitive solicitation. Contact Jason Meyer This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it at 271-1767 or Denali Daniels This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it at 271-1189 for further information.
July 13, 2009
In its continuing efforts to support the development and implementation of alternative and renewable energy projects in Alaska, the Denali Commission (Commission) is releasing up to $4 million towards alternative and renewable emerging energy technology and demonstration projects.
This is a competitive solicitation. Application deadline in August 7, 2009. Contact Jason Meyer This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it at 271-1767 or Denali Daniels This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it at 271-1189 for further information.
July 2, 2009
As the most ambitious energy and climate-change legislation ever introduced in Congress made its way to a floor vote last Friday, it grew fat with compromises, carve-outs, concessions and out-and-out gifts intended to win the votes of wavering lawmakers and the support of powerful industries.
The bill was freighted with hundreds of pages of special-interest favors, even as environmentalists lamented that its greenhouse-gas reduction targets had been whittled down.
The biggest concessions went to utilities, which wanted assurances that they could continue to operate and build coal-burning power plants without shouldering new costs. The utilities received not only tens of billions of dollars worth of free pollution permits, but also billions for work on technology to capture carbon-dioxide emissions from coal combustion to help meet future pollution targets.
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July 2, 2009
The Environmental Protection Agency has released a list of 44 “high hazard potential” coal ash waste dumps across the country. The “high hazard” rating applied to sites where a dam failure would most likely result in a loss of human life, the environmental agency advisory said, but did not assess the structural integrity of the dam or its likelihood of failure.
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July 2, 2009
President Obama announced tougher energy efficiency requirements for certain types of fluorescent and incandescent lighting on Monday, the latest step in the administration’s push to cut the country’s energy use.
The new rule, scheduled to take effect in 2012, will cut the amount of electricity used by affected lamps by 15 to 25 percent and save $1 billion to $4 billion a year for consumers, the White House said.
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Comments will be accepted thru August 4; with a public hearing scheduled for July 15th from 2pm – 5pm here at the authority’s office. Oral or written testimony will be accepted at the hearing.
Text of proposed changes
Summary of proposed changes
If you have questions or need additional information, contact Butch White at (907) 771-3048.
