Results: Calendar of Events
March 29, 2011
By SKIP NELSON and DOUG JOHNSON in the Anchorage Daily News: The term “high tech industry” often conjures up visions of sandal-clad 20-somethings clacking away on laptops in Silicon Valley computer companies. Yet right here in Alaska, a growing number of cutting-edge companies are pushing technological frontiers to create the jobs of the future and respond to crucial Alaska needs.
That’s why we were so pleased to boast about Alaska in a standing-room-only meeting in Washington, D.C., last week attended by some of the nation’s leading high-tech business executives and two dozen United States senators. Convened by our own Sen. Mark Begich, the meeting was designed to discuss ways to regain America’s leadership role in developing new technologies.
Among those participating were Cisco CEO John Chambers; John Doerr, who helped invent the 8080 8-bit microprocessor at Intel; and Brad Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel. Scores of other high-tech business executives lined a wood-paneled room in the U.S. Capitol for a lively conversation with senators.
The meeting was assembled by the Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee, chaired by Sen. Begich, to connect business leaders and senators for frank discussions about necessary changes in national policy to improve our overall business climate.
Our message was simple: America is losing its ability to “out-innovate” countries like China and India, in part, because of misguided federal policies and budget priorities and poor preparation of young Americans for future technology-based jobs. The long-term implications are dangerous for Alaska and our nation.
We both have struggled against enormous odds to capitalize on Alaska’s unique opportunities to develop our high-technology companies. We’re way outside the Washington Beltway and don’t have lobbyists. Unlike the “technological ant farms” of Phoenix or San Jose, Alaska has a smaller labor pool and a narrower range of supporting industries.
But decision-makers in Washington seem to recognize the technology we develop in Alaska has a unique quality and credibility that Outside companies can’t ever claim. They know that if it works in Alaska, it’ll work anywhere. Read more
March 29, 2011
By Mark Trumbull | Christian Science Monitor: American incomes continued to rise in February, but not enough to offset rising prices at the gas pump and grocery stores. The unwelcome shift points to a potential danger spot in the economic recovery — the risk that inflation could chip away at consumer well-being.
Overall, income from employment and other sources rose 0.3 percent in the U.S. in February, on par with the trend over the past half year or so, according to a report released Monday from the Commerce Department. Consumer spending rose even faster, by 0.7 percent — partially due to growing confidence in the staying-power of an economic recovery.
But as the recovery has taken hold, so has an upward trend in prices for basic commodities like grains and gasoline. In February, U.S. consumers were basically forced to spend more because of rising prices for groceries and fuel. Adjusted for consumer-price inflation, the gains in household earnings disappeared, with “real” disposable personal income actually falling 0.1 percent for the month.
“The American consumer does not seem to be getting a break in the first quarter of 2011 due to rising gasoline and food prices, a poor housing market, tight credit conditions, and stock market volatility,” economist Chris Christopher of IHS Global Insight wrote in an analysis of the Commerce Department numbers.
Despite the negative forces weighing on household pocketbooks, Mr. Christopher also notes improvement in the job market and a broad income boost for Americans because of the one-year cut in payroll taxes passed late last year. Read more
March 29, 2011
By Daniel S. Friedman and Doris W. Koo of Crosscut: The world’s greenest, most energy-efficient office building is taking root in Seattle. And while the project will deliver a wide array of environmental benefits, it will also increase knowledge and create positive economic impacts that are equally significant for the people of Seattle and beyond.
The project matters for one more critical reason: As the climate changes we desperately need new models for development.
It is estimated that building construction and operations accounts for 39 percent of carbon dioxide emissions, 65 percent of waste and 70 percent of electrical use in the United States. Led by the Bullitt Foundation, a team of architects and builders aim to change these statistics through the design and development of the Cascadia Center for Sustainable Design and Construction.
Solar panels will generate as much energy as the building occupants use, showing that solar works, even in Seattle. Our ample supply of rain will provide as much water as occupants need, and wastewater will be treated on site to reduce downstream impacts. Large, operable triple-glazed windows will create offices where every worker can experience daylight and fresh air will circulate through the entire building. The use of toxic materials, which unfortunately are all too common, will be highly restricted in favor of locally sourced building products designed to last 250 years. Read more
April 19, 2011 to April 20, 2011
NOTICE OF TECHNICAL CONFERENCE
The REGULATORY COMMISSION of ALASKA (Commission) hereby gives notice that it will hold a technical conference from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., on both Tuesday and Wednesday, April 19th and 20th, 2011, in the East Hearing Room of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska: 701 West Eighth Avenue, Suite 300, Anchorage, Alaska 99501. The technical conference will feature a presentation on the topics of rate decoupling and energy efficiency and conservation programs by Richard Sedano, a Principal and Director of The Regulatory Assistance Project. The presentation on rate decoupling is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, April 19th, with the presentation on energy efficiency and conservation programs to follow on Wednesday, April 20th. Any entity interested in reviewing transcripts of this technical conference may consult the Commission’s website at http://rca.alaska.gov and type in Docket “I-11-004” in the Find a Matter search box.
To view the complete Notice please click on the link above.
March 24, 2011
From the Anchorage Daily News: The Anchorage Municipal Light and Power board met today and decided to forward a proposal to a company that wants to develop and sell power from a wind turbine farm on Fire Island.
But ML&P, a city-owned power company, did not release any information about the offer, saying only that it will not put customers at risk. Details will be made public later this week after the company behind the wind farm, Cook Inlet Region Inc., receives the proposal, said MaryAnn Hanson, ML&P public relations director.
Cook Inlet Region wants to develop wind power on the island off Anchorage to supply electricity to railbelt utilities, but has been stymied so far because no utilities have signed power purchase agreements, CIRI spokesman Jim Jager said this week.
“Realistically the project isn’t going forward until we have power purchase agreements,” he said.
Chugach Electric Association, also based in Anchorage, has been in discussions with CIRI, but they have not signed on, Jager said. The Anchorage Assembly in February approved a resolution asking ML&P, the city’s electric utility, to negotiate an agreement to buy some of the wind power.
CIRI is looking at a couple of alternatives for how much power it might generate in a first phase, Jager said. One option is to produce a maximum of 35 megawatts at any time, an amount projected to be enough to meet electrical needs of 12,000 households. A bigger version of the project, at 52 megawatts, would take care of 17,000 households, he said.
March 24, 2011
By Molly Dischner | Peninsula Clarion: As the liquified natural gas plant in Nikiski prepares for its final shipments, a tidal power company is preparing to begin collecting environmental data in the same area.
Ocean Renewable Power Company received a permit to begin studying the area last week. Tuesday, it held a meeting at the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association building to discuss its Cook Inlet projects with Kenai Peninsula residents. Eventually, the company wants to capture hydrokinetic energy for Alaskans to use. Company President and CEO Christopher Sauer said hydrokinetic means using the motion of the water to create energy.
Just who would buy the power is still an unknown, although Sauer said it is likely that the company would sell some of their turbines and also deploy some to sell the resulting electricity. ORPC sees its potential buyers as railbelt utility companies or even oil platforms that are currently using diesel to generate electricity, Sauer said.
But that is a few years out. Right now, the company has a permit to establish baseline environmental data. Essentially, it wants to see how fish and whales use the area, said Monty Worthington, the company’s project development director.
Ocean Renewable Power has three years to do that work — and then they’ll receive priority in applying for a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission permit for a pilot project, Worthington said. Bob Shavelson, from the Homer-based environmental organization Cook Inletkeeper, said the permitting process would likely be tough for the company.
Worthington said the company was trying to find the best location to get a project permitted. That project would be on a small-scale, to see if it’s feasible to do a larger project in the area, Worthington said. If the company sees that beluga are incompatible with the technology, there’s no project he said.
Last spring, the Maine-based company began similar work at a Fire Island site in the north Cook Inlet. Worthington said that bulk of that work is done. Now they’re largely focused on the Nikiski site, called East Forelands.
The Cook Inlet is ideal for tidal power for a number of reasons, Worthington said. Most simply, there’s a lot of power. More importantly, that power is close to the railbelt utility grid, where electricity is needed.
The Nikiski location has its own perks.
In that area, the ocean has about the right amount of energy for the technology Ocean Renewable Power has developed.
Sauer said that Alaskan waters can get up to 10 knots, but six to eight is the sweet spot for ORPC’s technology. East Forelands falls into that range.
“It’s another reason we’re interested in this site,” Sauer said.
The area is also farther from the protected Beluga whale population than the Fire Island site, but still has plenty of industrial infrastructure.
“There’s electrical infrastructure of a real industrial scale,” Worthington said.
That’s largely because of the variety of industries operating in the area: various oil and gas developments, as well as commercial fishing sites. Ocean Renewable Power’s goal is to cooperate with all of those entities so that the project best fits into the area.
The company has conducted a pilot project in Maine, and developed much of their technology there — from the turbines themselves, to the equipment and techniques used to do environmental monitoring. Now they’re tweaking it for their Alaskan projects.
One Alaska-specfic challenge is glacial silt. The company is working with University of Alaska Anchorage to test components of their turbines in a flume that mimics ocean conditions, Worthington said. It wants to see how silt might affect a turbine’s life (and maintenance requirements) before they’re deployed in Alaskan waters.
Another difficulty is finding a way to monitor the sound their turbines generate, and how that might affect life under the sea.
Sauer said the company has been working on developing acoustic monitoring equipment that works in high current areas.
The monitoring device is called a spar bouy. It has a microphone that eliminates outside noise so that it can catch the sound of the turbines operating.
“We can actually hear boulders rolling around on the bottom,” Sauer said.
From its work so far, the company knows that when the turbine generator is operating but not producing electricity, it’s quieter than the ambient noise. When the electric load is added, there’s a humming sound but not one they can quantify.
“That’s what we hope the spar bouy will be able to do,” Sauer said.
The turbine, another technology developed by the company, is also still in the works, Sauer said.
The turbine is made of a composite material, somewhat similar to an airplane wing, and spins as water pushes against it. Rectangular sections of the composite wrap around in a cylindrical shape, a cross between the double-helix shape of DNA and an enlarged toilet paper tube.
“We’ve absolutely proven this model in Maine,” Sauer said.
Ocean Renewable Power recently finished testing a turbine in Eastport, Maine.
Although it won’t be deploying turbines in Alaskan waters this year, the company has started to develop an idea of what set-up might work best. Essentially, the company plans to use multiple small turbines in various configurations depending on the conditions of a given location. It is also developing turbines for use in rivers, and working towards a project that would produce power in the Tanana River.
Right now, the project’s Alaska funding has come from the private and federal sources. Doug Johnson, the company’s business development director, said the project has made it onto the Alaska Renewable Energy Fund list more than once, but never received funding from that source. The fund typically has a longer list of eligible projects than it does available dollars. It’s back on the list this year.
“We’re really hopeful this session we’ll get our funding from the renewable energy fund,” Worthington said.
Although community members present had questions, they were positive about the project.
“I know my organization is very supportive of this and the conservation community generally is too,” Shavelson said. “Anything we can do, we’d like to help.”
Molly Dischner can be reached at molly.dischner@peninsulaclarion.com.
March 23, 2011
From the Bristol Bay Times: Grant money garnered from the Alaska Renewable Energy Fund will fund wood boilers for community buildings in Igiugig, Iliamna, Kokhanok and Port Alsworth, plus a wind turbine for Port Heiden, Lake and Peninsula Borough officials say.
In the latest round of energy fund grants, the borough received $369,000 for installation of wood boilers in the community buildings, and $250,000 for design and construction of Port Heiden’s wind turbine, said Borough Mayor Glen Alsworth Sr.
“The wood boilers and wind turbine are merely the latest efforts by the borough to implement alternative energy projects across the communities,” Alsworth said. “Our previous efforts, such as the Kokhanok wind turbine, have demonstrated to the state and other granting agencies that we are taking productive steps to address rising fuel costs in our borough,
“The borough has promised at least a 20 percent match for the two projects using borough funds, which shows that we are very serious about these projects and believe they are right moves at this time.”
For the wood boilers in Igiugig, Iliamna, Kokhanok and Port Alsworth, plans are to use locally and regionally sourced beetle kill spruce and other trees from the Lake Iliamna area, with the goal of sharply reducing the amount or even eliminating use of fuel oil to heat the buildings.
“The locally sourced wood is a key component of this project,” said Lamar Cotten, borough manager. Instead of using local funds to purchase imported fuel oil, residents and land owners now have the opportunity to keep that money in the community by harvesting local trees, he said. Read more
March 22, 2011
From HydroWorld.com: Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking member Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has introduced bipartisan legislation to accelerate the deployment of hydroelectric power projects across the country.
The Hydropower Improvement Act has nine original co-sponsors, including Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Washington Senator Maria Cantwell (D), making hydropower a major area of consensus on energy in the 112th Congress, the National Hydropower Association reported.
“It is now all too clear that America needs a consensus policy on energy that can help keep prices low, create jobs and ensure a safe supply of power,” Murkowski said. “Clean, safe and domestic hydropower can help us reach our shared clean energy goals. Our bill achieves common sense regulatory reform, spurs economic growth and takes advantage of hydropower’s position as the country’s leading source of clean, renewable energy.”
The National Hydropower Association said it applauds each original co-sponsor for their early support of this job-creating clean energy bill. In addition to Senators Murkowski, Bingaman and Cantwell, the list of co-sponsors includes: Mark Begich, D-Alaska, Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Patty Murray, D-Wash., James Risch, R-Idaho, Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. and Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
Senator Murkowski will be a special keynote guest speaker at the upcoming 2011 NHA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. The three-day event is planned for April 4-6 at the Capital Hilton Hotel.
The Hydropower Improvement Act, NHA said, sets a dynamic hydropower agenda for the nation.
The bill will advance project deployment (from conduit and small hydro to non-powered dams to pumped storage) by requiring better interagency coordination; through funding of competitive grants for increased production; and with continued support for research and development activities.
“Hydropower has more multi-region and bipartisan support than any other clean energy technology. It is critical to our clean energy future that this legislation is passed as soon as possible,” said National Hydropower Association Executive Director Linda Church Ciocci. “Hydropower is already responsible for nearly seven percent of total U.S. electricity generation and two-thirds of our renewable electricity. This bill recognizes the vital role of hydropower as an affordable, reliable, available and sustainable domestic energy source.”
In addition to growing the domestic supply of clean energy, local job creation is a primary focus of the legislation. Already responsible for over 300,000 jobs, a recent study by Navigant Consulting, Inc. has shown that with the right policies, hydropower could create over 1.4 million cumulative direct, indirect and induced jobs by 2025.
“The Hydropower Improvement Act will bolster the positive economic and job creation benefits of hydropower projects, supply chain companies and low-cost hydroelectricity in all fifty states,” said NHA President Andrew Munro, also director of external affairs for Washington State’s Grant County PUD. “The U.S. hydropower industry supports President Obama’s goal of generating 80 percent of the nation’s electricity with clean energy sources by 2035. Hydropower will play a critical role in reaching that goal and this bill will help America get there sooner.”
Key provisions: Hydropower Improvement Act
• Grant Program: Directs the Department of Energy (DOE) to establish a competitive grants program to support efficiency improvements or capacity additions at existing hydropower facilities; adding generation to non-powered dams; addressing aging infrastructure; conduit projects; environmental studies; and environmental mitigation measures.
• Non-powered Dams and Pumped Storage: Directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to explore a potential two-year licensing process for hydropower development at existing non-powered dams and closed-loop pumped storage projects.
• Conduit and Small Hydro: Allows for conduit projects on federal lands and directs FERC and other federal agencies to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to better coordinate reviews of these projects. Requires regional workshops to reduce barriers and investigate improvements to the regulatory process for small hydro and conduit projects.
• Federal Hydropower Development: Requires the Departments of Energy and Interior and the Army Corps of Engineers to report to Congress on the implementation of the March 24, 2010, MOU on increasing federal hydropower development. Also directs FERC and the Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) to complete a new MOU to improve the coordination and timeliness of non-federal hydropower development at Bureau projects.
• R&D Program: Requires DOE to develop and implement a plan to increase the nation’s use of hydropower through research, development and demonstration initiatives.
• Studies: Directs DOE to study pumped storage project opportunities on federal and non-federal lands near existing or potential sites of intermittent renewable resource development, and a Department study of hydropower potential from existing conduits. Directs the Bureau of Reclamation to study barriers to non-federal development at Bureau projects.
For more hydropower news and information, click here
March 18, 2011
From the Dutch Harbor Fisherman: “This was started by people before me,” said Ernie Weiss, Aleutians East Borough community development coordinator and former mayor of King Cove. “The more I get into it, the more excited I get.”
On Feb. 17, the Aleutians East Bay Borough Assembly passed a resolution supporting the city of False Pass’ submission of an application, in partnership with AEB, for the state Department of Energy’s Emerging Energy Technology fund grant for tidal energy. Abstracts were due March 2 for the first round. If the grant is awarded, the borough would be responsible for project management and grant administration. False Pass would be the owner of the utility and be in charge of operation and maintenance. If the abstract is accepted, the next step is a formal application due at the end of April.
The resolution outlined the city’s role in the application process to include data collection at the city dock and underwater video monitoring of marine wildlife. Emerging energy projects must employ technologies that are proven, but not yet tested in Alaska and should be ready for commercial use in five years.
“We really have to stop calling it ocean energy and call it an ocean current project,” Weiss said.
The vision is to look to the future and help villages wean themselves from using petrochemicals for energy generation.
“As much as possible, we’d like to make all the communities as self-sufficient as possible,” Weiss said. “This is really an energy project for the entire region.”
Funding will also come from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Tribal Energy Program and the U.S. Department of Agriculture rural energy program. The city is also working on the application with Aleutians Pribilof Islands Association, Aleutians Pribilof Island Community Development Association, the National Renewable Energy Lab and the Ocean Renewable Power Co. Read more
March 16, 2011
By Dana Blankenhorn, RenewableEnergyWorld.com: The main renewable energy industries grew 35% last year, and revenues should double again this decade, according to the Clean Energy Trends 2011 report issued today by Clean Edge Inc., the Portland-based research company.
This boom has been going on for a decade and shows no signs of stopping, the report said. Since 2000 the market for solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind has grown 20-fold, with the price to install solar panels falling by nearly half, and the percentage of the country’s venture capital invested in the space growing from less than 1% to last year’s 23%.
The report’s authors were not beneath a little gloating. They noted that their growth estimates 10 years ago turned out to be very conservative, with solar energy growing three times faster than projected although “many observers, to put it kindly, thought we were being optimistic.”
Projections for the next decade are more of the same. The report expects slightly faster growth for wind energy than for others in the renewable “big three,” led by Chinese investments.
Some of the most promising estimates are in the area of cost parity:
“For the first time in history, these clean-energy technologies are reaching cost parity in select markets. And by 2015, we project that distributed solar PV systems will be cost-competitive for residential retail customers in at least 11 states, and for commercial customers in more than six states. By 2020 that number, based on our projections, grows to an astounding 47 states for residential customers and more than 35 states for commercial customers.” Read more
