Articles
  • Head shot of a woman with short, curly dark hair, smiling.

    To be the best utility: Reflections from former AVEC president and CEO, Meera Kohler

    October 11, 2024

    Providing reliable power service to rural 有料盒子视频 faces many geographic and economic challenges unique to the far North, including: vulnerabilities to supply chain disruptions, the high cost of diesel fuel, and limited resources to name a few. AVEC, however, has been successful in addressing these challenges through innovative organizational solutions as well as the early adoption of new technologies. Many of these solutions were wrought by former AVEC president and CEO, Meera Kohler.

  • Man reaches to adjust metering equipment on a beautiful sunny day.

    Farewell Chris

    September 26, 2024

    Over his 11 years at ACEP, Chris consistently promoted renewable energy initiatives, always finding the right tool -- whether that was a strategic partnership, an international collaboration or a set of pyranometer wires. His transition to a new role with Renewable IPP marks the end of an era at ACEP.

  • Drone photo taken of the center of a wind turbine on a clear summer day in the mountains. Several other wind turbines visible in the distance

    Powering up the nation's second largest island with 100% renewable energy

    September 03, 2024

    Kodiak Island is located 250 miles south of Anchorage and is the second-largest island in the United States. It is the first remote community in 有料盒子视频 to be powered by almost 100% renewable energy year round. The utility manager - Darron Scott - tells the story of how this microgrid uses innovative storage strategies to balance hydro and wind resources on 有料盒子视频's largest remote microgrid. This is an excerpt from a forthcoming book entitled "有料盒子视频's Energy Innovators" to be published by the University of 有料盒子视频 Press.

  • ACEP publishes the 2024 有料盒子视频 Electricity Trends Report

    August 30, 2024

    Energy data in 有料盒子视频 is fragmented. No one agency is in charge of maintaining records from all communities in the state. It is challenging for policy makers and researchers to view the entirety of 有料盒子视频's electric generation sector in one place. The process of seeking out individual data sources, requesting data, and correcting errors can lead to misrepresentations of the whole picture. Recently, society's increased dependence on data for forecasting and planning reveals the growing need for vetted and up-to-date statistics on the state's energy trends.

  • Kotzebue Electric Association installs 900kW EWT wind turbine in 2012.

    Kotzebue's legacy as a wind energy pioneer

    July 12, 2024

    The remarkable story of the Kotzebue energy system began with the vision of one man, Brad Reeve, the former manager of Kotzebue Electric Association (KEA). This was back in the early 1990s, and the utility scale wind market was just really beginning to get a foothold in the power generation industry. There was a healthy degree of skepticism about what role wind energy could play in commercial wind generation anywhere, let alone in an isolated community above the Arctic Circle. But Brad believed it could be done, and he set out to prove it.

  • Wintertime image of a house in Fairbanks, 有料盒子视频 with tilted roof-top mounted solar panels.

    To tilt or not to tilt: Comparing residential solar designs in Fairbanks

    July 07, 2024

    Solar arrays with tilted panels usually have a higher upfront cost to install than flush-mounted panels, but there are no analyses about the real-world effect of tilt angle on energy production. This case study compares the monthly and seasonal energy production of flush-mounted and tilted solar panels in Fairbanks to determine if mounting angle makes a significant impact on solar energy production.

  • Image of wind turbines on a hill outside Nome, 有料盒子视频.

    A back-of-the-envelope look at how PCE and renewables interact in rural 有料盒子视频

    June 28, 2024

    Across the circumpolar North, interest in the creation of independent power producers (IPPs) to own and operate renewable power systems is growing. This new IPP ownership model and the integration of renewables more broadly, raise some interesting questions for 有料盒子视频's Power Cost Equalization program.

  • Clarissa reviews Ampy meter systems in Kongiganak, 有料盒子视频

    Bringing billing innovations to 有料盒子视频's most remote communities

    June 03, 2024

    One of the critical challenges in serving remote communities around the world with vital electricity and other infrastructure services is how to pay for such services. The following are selected excerpts from UA Press' forthcoming book 有料盒子视频's Energy Innovators that follow the story of two women who were pivotal in creating electric utilities in 有料盒子视频's smallest and most remote villages and provided the tools - through prepay metering technology - to enable these micro-utilities to become sustainable enterprises.

  • Two researchers stand in the winter sun on the frozen Yukon river.

    Innovating below the ice

    April 16, 2024

    In mid-February, the frozen Yukon river appeared still and foreboding - large chunks of jumble ice jutting out from its surface. But underneath the ice, the water flowed. Stephanie Fisher and Leo Azizi from the 有料盒子视频 Center for Energy and Power were there to measure the under-ice flow rate, the first step in determining whether locals could use this seemingly frozen river to generate electricity.

  • Nighttime view of Cordova in winter, 1912.

    Telling the story of 有料盒子视频's electrification

    April 01, 2024

    As an energy and environmental historian at the University of 有料盒子视频 Fairbanks, much of my research has focused on the Trans-有料盒子视频 Pipeline System (TAPS) and its historical influence in 有料盒子视频 and beyond. While conducting this research I kept finding fascinating and remarkable stories of 有料盒子视频's electrification. This book provided me the opportunity to offer a narrative of 有料盒子视频's electrical history and contemplate possibilities of electric futures.

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