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
October 10, 2011
By Ed Schoenfeld, CoastAlaska: When you’re trying to tap geothermal energy, for heating or electrical generation, you’ve got to consider a number of factors. “The temperature is the obvious one. Flow rate is really important too,” says Gwen Holdmann, director of the University of Alaska’s Center for Power and Energy. She spoke at the recent Rural [...] Read More
October 7, 2011
By 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 [...] Read More
October 7, 2011
By Edward W. Lempinen, American Association for the Advancement of Science: DILLINGHAM, Alaska—Tom Marsik and Kristin Donaldson are building a house a few minutes’ drive from the center of this small city, a two-story model with peat-brown vinyl siding that blends easily with the yellows and golds of the tundra in early [...] Read More
October 4, 2011
By DAVID JOLLY for the New York Times: If Parisians can share bicycles, why not cars, too? Bertrand Delanoë, the Socialist mayor of Paris, and the billionaire investor Vincent Bolloré think they will. To that end they have begun an ambitious new electric-vehicle partnership called Autolib, extending the city’s effort to reimagine urban mobility and improve [...] Read More
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 [...] Read More
