Results: Calendar of Events
September 30, 2011
Jill Burke of Alaska Dispatch: As the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) listens to arguments about whether Chugach Electric Association should be allowed to incorporate wind energy into its power portfolio, another government body – the FAA – is taking steps to make sure development on Fire Island won’t interfere with navigation signals beamed to planes flying overhead.
On Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced its plans to replace the island’s existing beacon with a new one. A recently constructed beacon at the Ted Stevens International Airport will provide navigation data for flights in the area once Fire Island’s old beacon is taken out of service.
According to a press release from Murkowski’s office, the announcement “allows the Fire Island Wind Project to proceed” during the transition period to the new tower.
“I’m glad the FAA sees what I see at Fire Island: a project being managed collectively to both help Southcentral Alaska’s energy needs while also addressing safety concerns for air travel in and out of Alaska’s largest city. I continue to support this project and have confidence that the FAA will develop any necessary changes to the navigational system in the most safe and comprehensive manner for Alaskan aviation,” U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said in the press release. Read more
September 30, 2011
By Becky Bohrer The Associated Press: U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski says high energy costs are “sapping the economic strength” of Alaska and its families. With the focus in Washington expected to stay on reducing federal spending, she says it will be critical for state and private funding to help fill the void and make new energy projects a reality.Murkowski told a rural energy conference in Juneau Tuesday that finding ways to lower energy costs is the best way to spur the state and local economies.
She said replacing diesel generation with renewable energy is the wisest course for rural communities.
Murkowski said she’s introduced legislation with a provision calling for putting a portion of money the federal government gets from conventional fuels, like oil and gas, into a fund to help advance renewable energy projects.
September 30, 2011
Jill Burke of Alaska Dispatch: A third floor room in an office building in downtown Anchorage was breezy Tuesday as dark-suited attorneys aired arguments for and against allowing a new wind farm close to Anchorage to sell power to the state’s largest electric utility.
Chugach Electric Association, Inc. needs approval from the Regulatory Commission of Alaska to purchase wind-generated power from Fire Island Wind LLC, a subsidiary of the Native corporation Cook Inlet Region, Inc. The two companies have already signed an agreement solidifying their relationship and are pushing for a quick decision from the RCA. Without it, nearly $19 million in grant money available to Fire Island Wind through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will expire. That could irreparably sink the deal and any short-term hope of a new $65 million wind farm on Fire Island, 3 miles across Turnagain Arm from Anchorage. The project is expected to provide about 4 percent of Chugach’s annual demand, 90 percent of which is generated from natural gas. Read more
September 30, 2011
By Len Anderson, KSKA – Anchorage | September 28, 2011
This week, the power purchase agreement between Chugach Electric Association and the Fire Island Wind Project has come before the Regulatory Commission of Alaska for its needed approval. But if Tuesday’s opening statements are any indication, the agreement is facing some strong headwinds. Hear more
September 30, 2011
By Ed Ronco, KCAW – Sitka:
An apartment building for senior citizens in Kake will get $50,000 from the federal government to improve energy efficiency.
The Kake Elderly Apartment Building has 12 units and serves low income tenants over the age of 62. The money is from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development arm, and will be used for a new roof, windows, smoke alarms, doors and energy efficient appliances in all of the units.
A USDA statement says energy efficiency is especially important in Kake, where electricity costs more than 60 cents per kilowatt hour.
Judith Mason is spokeswoman for the Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority, which runs the apartment building in Kake.
Mason says the improvements to the building will also mean local jobs. The Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority serves 12 communities. Within the KCAW listening area, the organization serves Kake, Yakutat and Angoon. Hear more
September 21, 2011
From Alaska Dispatch: WASHINGTON, Sept. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is accelerating clean energy innovations in an effort to reduce risks to America’s military, enhance energy security and save money, according to a report released today by The Pew Charitable Trusts. “From Barracks to the Battlefield: Clean Energy Innovation and America’s Armed Forces” finds that DoD clean energy investments increased 300 percent between 2006 and 2009, from $400 million to $1.2 billion, and are projected to eclipse $10 billion annually by 2030.
“As one of the largest energy consumers in the world, the Department of Defense has the ability to help shape America’s energy future,” said Phyllis Cuttino, director of the Pew Clean Energy Program. “DoD’s efforts to harness clean energy will save lives, save money and enhance the nation’s energy and economic future. Their work is also helping to spur the growth of the clean energy economy.”
The department’s priorities for energy efficiency and renewable energy sources have been driven by recent experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, where fuel shipments account for 80 percent of all supply convoys. As many as one in 46 convoys suffered a casualty in fiscal 2010. The report finds that DoD’s major energy challenges include risks associated with transporting liquid fuels to the battlefield, growing oil price volatility, the impact of fuel dependence on operational effectiveness, the fragility of energy supplies and compliance with energy policies set by Congress and Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
“For the Department of the Navy to meet the challenges we face in the 21st century, we must reduce our dependence on foreign oil and find ways to use energy more efficiently,” said Navy Secretary Ray Mabus. “We must ensure that we remain the most formidable expeditionary force in the world, even in these challenging economic times. We can do that in part by changing the way we use, acquire and produce energy. Before the end of the decade, our programs to develop and use alternative sources of energy, on shore and at sea, will pay for themselves. We will save the department money, but more importantly, these energy initiatives will make us better war fighters and will saves lives.” Read more
September 19, 2011
By Reba Lean of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Workers are finishing construction on a wood chip biomass boiler at the Delta High School. The boiler will provide heat for the 77,000-square-foot high school building and possibly other buildings around the school in the future.
The 5 million Btu boiler is the second in the state to be installed for a school. Tok had the first, and its boiler powers its school’s electricity in addition to heating.
Kent Scifres, project manager in Delta, believes only good will come from Delta’s new system.
“For this area, this project makes sense because we have lots of trees,” he said.
The boiler, made by Messersmith Manufacturing out of Michigan, will feed on wood chips from slab wood provided by Dry Creek’s Lumber and Milling Association. Trailers will dump tons of chips into a storage area inside the building, where augers will then feed the chips onto a conveyor belt into the boiler itself. Large particles are collected at the bottom of a 65-foot stack, where exhaust travels out the top invisibly.
“You won’t see any smoke go out it’s so clean burning,” Scifres said.
The boiler heats water heaters inside the building, which pipe into an existing system inside the school. The former fuel system won’t kick on unless the new boiler goes offline for some reason.
“It just ties into the existing system and circulates all around.”
Money for the boiler building’s construction came from a $2 million grant from Alaska Energy Authority and $800,000 from the state.
The move to biomass heat is a cost-cutting one for the school district.
The high school spends about 102,000 gallons of heating oil per year, which is priced at around $4 per gallon. It will cost $60 per ton of wood chips, and the school plans to use about 2,000 tons per year. Read more
September 19, 2011
By Dermot Cole of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Businessman Mike Craft and his partners in a Delta wind-power project filed a request for a certificate of public convenience and necessity with the state, according to a filing with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska.
One condition of a $2 million state grant they received to build the project was to file for such a certificate.
Craft, the managing partner, owns 50 percent of the limited liability company, Alaska Environmental Power, while accountants Richard Clymer and Marvin Hall own 25 percent each.
The application says:
“Applicant has constructed a wind farm in the Delta Junction area with nine turbines; seven with a generating capacity of 1.8 kW, one with a generating capability of 100 kW and one with a generating capability of 900 kW (the “Project”). All output is sold to GVEA pursuant to the terms and conditions of a current 2 MW experimental power sales agreement. Applicant intends to construct an expansion to the Delta Junction Wind Farm with sixteen 1.6 MW turbines. All output of the expansion will be sold to GVEA pursuant to the terms and conditions of a power sales agreement to be negotiated.”
In June, the Alaska Energy Authority wrote to Alaska Environmental Power that the grant would not be “closed out” until the certificate was applied for. The company filed the request Aug. 24. Read more
September 19, 2011
By Dermot Cole of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Electric rates are going up again because of higher fuel costs, according to documents filed by the Golden Valley Electric Association with the state.
The cost to a consumer using 500 kilowatt hours a month will go from $111.96 to $116.42, under rates approved by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska Thursday.
“The proposed increase is driven primarily by higher than anticipated fuel costs, as well as lower projected sales than the previous quarter. The effective price of fuel per gallon is increasing to $2.79/gallon, which represents a 19.7% increase of $0.46 per gallon over the previous price, $2.33/gallon, and the estimated sales for the 3 month period are decreasing approximately 9% from the previous quarter,” the regulatory agency said. Read more
September 17, 2011
By Lori Townsend, APRN – Anchorage | September 1, 2011
About a dozen Alaska Lawmakers and others are in Norway looking at how the country develops it’s renewable and fossil fuel resources. Norway gets 98% of its energy for in country use from hydropower. They export their oil and gas to Europe and other markets, mainly through a system of seabed pipelines.
Nils Andreassen is the managing director at Anchorage based Institute of the North, the oganization that pulled the visit to Norway together. He says oil development is run by a coalition of state and private industry and all their oil production is off shore. He says he’s hearing positive comments from Alaska’s legislators. Hear more
