In her 2016 self-published book, A Different Arctic Paradigm: Searching for Energy in the Far North, Gwen Holdmann opened with a question: “Well over a million people in the Arctic live in communities and locations where electric grids or pipelines do not reach. So what is life like when you live beyond the edge of the grid front?” In his new book, Alaska’s Microgrid Innovators: How Communities Are Responding to Today’s Energy Challenges, Peter Asmus sets out to answer that question with help from a variety of people who helped bring electricity to some of the most remote and isolated places on the planet.

As Peter lays out in the introduction to his book, “Despite the legacy of oil and natural gas exploration associated with Alaska, renewable energy integration projects have sprung up in Alaska’s rural communities since the mid-1990s, not due to regulatory fiat but rather out of economic necessity. […] Rather than retell the well-known story of oil and natural gas development in the forty-ninth state, this book will instead focus on how Alaskan innovations in wind, solar, hydro, and other low-carbon energy resources— including energy efficiency—have delivered immense economic savings and environmental benefits to state residents and the world alike.”

Peter’s book serves as an oral history documenting the important stories of individuals who have helped shape Alaska’s energy landscape. We are thrilled to have the book author himself and two contributing writers join us for this next installment in our Fall Energy Speaker Series to discuss how many of Alaska’s rural and remote communities are already leading the way toward a brighter energy future for our state.

Join us for this virtual discussion with Peter Asmus, Gwen Holdmann, and Chris Rose from Noon to 1pm on Wednesday, October 21!

Event Details

Who: This free webinar is open to the public.

What: An in-depth conversation with energy experts about how Alaska’s rural and remote communities have become world leaders in microgrid innovation and how they are working to build an even brighter future in the face of today’s energy challenges.

Where: This event will be broadcast live as a Zoom webinar (register here)

When: This free public event will be held from Noon to 1:00pm on Wednesday, October 21, 2026.

Email REAP’s Outreach Director, Donovan Russoniello, at drussoniello@realaska.org with any questions.