REAP Monthly Forums 

REAP Forum: How to cut AK electricity use by 50% by 2025

March 10, 6-8 p.m.
Anchorage Museum auditorium
625 C Street

How can Alaskans lower their electric bill and create jobs? Renewable Energy Alaska Project hosts a FREE forum on a new report released by the Alaska Conservation Alliance that shows how businesses and residents in the Railbelt – the state’s most populated region – can cut electricity use by 50% by 2025. Cutting our energy use saves money and reduces the need to build expensive new power production facilities. The report, entitled “Railbelt Electricity Efficiency Landscape”, offers a roadmap to producing the energy savings and details a host of innovative real-life examples from using smart meters to show people how much power they are using to funding energy-efficient improvements through property taxes which allows people to do upgrades without having to worry about losing out on the benefits if they have to sell.

Come hear more about this important report and how you can help at REAP’s Forum, 6-8 p.m., March 10 at the Anchorage museum auditorium. Elizabeth Outten of the Alaska Conservation Alliance will be our presenter. For more information, call 929.7770 or email s.nowers@realaska.org

Read the full REEL report here
Read a summary of the REEL report here

Feb. 10 Forum: Tapping Alaska Rivers for Power

Tom Ravens gave a great presentation on Alaska’s hydrokinetic (in-river) power potential and work he and his students did last summer looking at 17 potential sites for turbines on the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers. A demonstration project in Ruby on the Yukon River has already shown that hydrokinetic turbines can be placed in the river and generate electricity. The work done by Ravens and his students will be made available to the public and could encourage energy developers and villagers to seriously consider hydrokinetic energy as a renewable energy source. Hydrokinetic power could be particularly useful for residents of rural Alaska, who face some of the highest electricity rates in the United States and, in many cases, live next to large, fast flowing rivers.

February Forum Podcast
February Forum PowerPoint

Jan. 13 Forum: Renewable Energy Policy Proposals for Alaska

Thanks to REAP Executive Director Chris Rose who gave a great presentation on the rising use of renewable power in Alaska and pending legislation to secure more clean energy for our state.We’ve posted a podcast of his presentation as well as his PowerPoint below  Due to a technical problem, the recording cut off just before the end of his presentation. But there’s still lots to listen to on the prospects for renewable energy in Alaska, the many existing projects, and what the rest of the world is doing in regards to renewable energy.

January 2010 Forum podcast
January 2010 Forum Powerpoint

Dec. 9: Southcentral Energy Problems and Solutions

Jim Strandberg, of the Alaska Energy Authority, gave a very informative presentation on the Regional Integrated Resource Plan, a state-funded study that analyzes energy options for Southcentral Alaska over the long term. One of the study’s findings was that mandating 50 percent renewable power by 2025 would not add any extra cost.

The report will be a key guide for legislators trying to decide which energy options to fund and what are the right choices over the long term. The issue is critical because the supply of cheap, available natural gas is dwindling in Cook Inlet, and the Railbelt has tough choices to make to secure power for our homes and businesses for the coming decades. So where should that power come from and how do we ensure we make the right choices now to secure the best energy future?

*Southcentral Energy Forum Podcast
*RIRP PowerPoint presentation by Jim Strandberg
*Link to Draft Regional Integrated Resource Plan (.pdf)

Media Coverage:
KTVA report on Southcentral Energy Forum
Alaska Dispatch: Keeping the lights on won’t come cheap

Also to see a 2009 Powerpoint summarizing the Cook Inlet natural gas situation, click here

Nov. 11: Commuter Rail

A big thankyou to Bruce Carr, Director of  Strategic Planning for the Alaska Railroad, who gave an excellent update on plans for commuter rail service between Anchorage and the Mat-Su Borough. Progress has been made on commuter rail. But there is still much work to do, including getting a Regional Transit Authority established, which the currently proposed Senate Bill 152 seeks to do.

Bruce made several interesting points, including noting that while commuter rail will need to be subsidized, the alternative – our road system – is also heavily subsidized with the federal government paying 90 percent of the cost of roads like the Glenn Highway. He also noted commuter rail in Anchorage dates back to at least 1979 and talk then of installing light rail along C Street and on Northern Lights Boulevard. Imagine where we would be now if we had put in such service, he said.

Commuter Rail PowerPoint Presentation by Bruce Carr

Oct. 7: The dos and don’ts of energy efficient lighting

Many thanks to David Badger, of Brown’s Electrical Supply, for his presentation on the dos and don’ts of energy-efficient lighting. We had many folks unable to attend. REAP has posted the PowerPoint from his presentation below as well as two information sheets that cover the basics of energy-efficient lighting and what to look for on lighting bulb labels. David made some key points during his presentation. We can’t cover them all. But in the category of never, never do this, he said: Read more

PowerPoint Presentation by David Badger

Aug. 12: SmartPower in Anchorage

Many thanks to Carol Heyman, the Manager of Commercial & Community Relations for Chugach Electric Association, Inc., for her presentation. Carol talked about Chugach’s energy efficiency work, their Smart Power program, their rebate coupons for energy efficient lightbulbs and plans for the future. Discussion was lively about how best to spread the message of energy efficiency and encourage people to be energy efficient. Anyone with ideas can send them to Carol at carol_heyman@chugachelectric.com.

SmartPower presentation by Carol Heyman of Chugach Electric Association