May 7, 2012
By Hannah Heimbuch | The Arctic Sounder: There are a couple of new features on the Kotzebue skyline this spring. Two 250-foot towers have sprouted up about 4 miles from town, the newest additions to Kotzebue Electric Association’s wind farm. It’s true the farm already sported 17 windmills, but the new additions are on a [...] Read More
May 4, 2012
By Alex Demarban at Alaska Dispatch: Alaska’s alternative energy revolution will take a new twist this summer when 15 turbines spin to life over a trio of Southwest Alaska villages, in one of the most notable wind projects ever to reach the Bush. Like so much heavy equipment in Southwest Alaska, the turbines are old-school [...] Read More
April 27, 2012
By Mary Lochner | Anchorage Press— The Alaska Energy Authority is on its way to getting a license to build a hydroelectric dam on the Susitna River at Watana Creek, roughly 90 river miles northeast of Talkeetna. Proponents of the dam say it will provide stable electricity rates for the Railbelt far into the future. [...] Read More
April 11, 2012
By Kirsten Korosec | SmartPlanet— Alaska utility Kodiak Electric Association has aspirations to double the capacity of its wind farm project, which already provides nearly 10 percent of its power. To do that, KEA has to somehow bring stability to this sporadic source of power. Its answer: a battery farm. Xtreme Power announced Tuesday an [...] Read More
April 9, 2012
The Republic | FAIRBANKS, Alaska — When the drone of a massive air compressor chugged to a halt Friday morning at a construction site near the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Jack Hebert said with a smile that it would be the last time any fossil fuel would be used there. Hebert, the president of the [...] Read More
April 6, 2012
Alaska Dispatch– Three vessels from Tianchang, China, docked at the Port of Anchorage this week, the first visible step expected to lead to wind turbines on Fire Island contributing to Anchorage’s power grid. For now, the wind turbines and related equipment will be stored at the port until all the ice is gone. Then a [...] Read More
April 5, 2012
By Russell Stigall | Morris News Service-Alaska, Juneau Empire: The state of Alaska has a relatively new law that requires a quarter of public buildings be 15 percent more efficient by 2020. “Ten to 20 percent is the low hanging fruit,” Jonathan Westeinde, founder of Windmill Development Group Ltd. said. “We should look at 40 [...] Read More
April 3, 2012
By TED | MBT– What’s the key to using alternative energy, like solar and wind? It seems the answer is storage. This will allow us to have power on tap even when the sun’s not out and the wind’s not blowing. In this TED video, Donald Sadoway takes to the blackboard to show us the [...] Read More
March 26, 2012
By Ed Ronco, KCAW: Shifting Sitka to more renewable sources of energy could keep millions of dollars from leaving the community over the next 20 years. That’s the conclusion of The Future of Energy in Sitka report (.pdf) by the Sitka Conservation Society. Right now, Sitka uses renewable resources for about a quarter of its [...] Read More
March 20, 2012
By Dave Donaldson | APRN – Juneau, Alaska: The House also today authorized a five year extension of the Renewable Energy Grant fund. In continuing the program, it also informally agreed to contribute $50-million a year to projects fitting into the Fund’s requirements. Finance Co-Chair Bill Thomas (R-Haines) told members that the Fund has distributed [...] Read More
