October 25, 2011
Some good news from Golden Valley Electric Association. They’ve ordered the turbines for their Eva Creek wind farm near Healy. The utility plans to have the turbines up and running by 2012. The wind farm will be one of three on the Railbelt grid, which stretches from Homer to Fairbanks. In addition to the 24.6-megawatt [...] Read More
October 24, 2011
Although Tim’s opinion piece below deals primarily with oil and gas development, I wanted to share it to show how the government is already involved in directing our energy development. Some argue that renewable energy should stand on its own, that if it’s such a good deal it should not need subsidies. The reality is [...] Read More
October 23, 2011
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s latest assessment of the states, released Thursday, showed California edged out of first place for the first time in the five years that the rankings have been conducted. The council’s State Energy Efficiency Scorecard showed Massachusetts in the top spot, edging out California with a score of 45.5 [...] Read More
October 23, 2011
By Shane Iverson of KYUK Once operational these low power turbines in Kwigillingok will be the first step towards energy stability for three coastal villages. The Caniinuq Wind Group is among the largest award recipients at the Alaska Marketplace competition. The energy cooperative emerging in Kwigillingok, Kongiganak and Kipnuk won $25,000 for their [...] Read More
October 17, 2011
By Erik Kirschbaum of Reuters: ROSTOCK, GERMANY — Renewable energy has created a gold rush atmosphere in northeastern Germany, the country’s poorhouse, giving the region good jobs and great promise. The natural resources attracting investors and industry are of a simple variety: wind, sunshine, agricultural products and farm waste like liquid manure. The rush [...] Read More
October 14, 2011
Alex DeMarban of Alaska Dispatch: A state regulatory agency has essentially given the green light for a large-scale wind power project on Fire Island. Three of the five commissioners with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska — Paul Lisanskie, Robert Pickett and Jan Wilson — issued a ruling late Monday saying the state’s largest electric [...] Read More
October 14, 2011
By Tim Bradner of the Alaska Journal of Commerce: The Regulatory Commission of Alaska has approved an agreement for Chugach Electric Assoc. to purchase wind power from Fire Island Wind LLC, a subsidiary of Cook Inlet Region, Inc. in a decision issued late Oct. 10. It’s not a done deal yet, however. Under the [...] Read More
October 10, 2011
What a neat project! A friend at Nature Conservancy told me about this project. In far flung places in the Sudan, they have trouble with access to power for medical facilities. That means they might not be able to run equipment needed for surgery or might not have lights to operate at night, or might [...] Read More
October 10, 2011
By STEVE CLEARY in the Anchorage Daily News:After years of talk, research, negotiation, back and forth and back again — Chugach Electric’s board unanimously approved a contract to buy power from CIRI’s Fire Island wind farm this past June. Since no other utility signed up for the power, the project has shrunk to just one-third [...] Read More
October 10, 2011
Renewable energy projects are blooming across Alaska: Energy talk in Alaska is centered on whether we have a large-diameter or bullet-line-type natural gas pipeline, or the potential of the Watana hydroelectric generation facility on the Susitna River. This focus makes it easy to overlook the need for energy generation all over Alaska. Also overlooked are the [...] Read More
