ACEP Researchers Attend Northwest Arctic Energy Steering Committee Meeting in Kotzebue

A Northwest Arctic Energy Steering Committee meeting, hosted by the NANA Regional Corp. Alternative and Village Energy Program and the Northwest Arctic Borough Energy Program, gathered representatives from communities in the region, as well as federal and state agency stakeholders. 

ACEP’s Michelle Wilber, Erin Whitney and Dominique Pride, and visiting faculty member Bindu Panikkar from the University of Vermont, attended the meeting in Kotzebue Oct. 4-5.  Pride presented an update on her National Science Foundation-funded Navigating the New Arctic project, which explores energy efficiency upgrades and electric heating with excess wind in the community of Kotzebue (NSF award #2220615).  

Updates were provided about community-scale solar photovoltaic installations and energy-efficiency projects in the region, fuel costs and trends, Alaska Village Electric Cooperative activities, NANA regional initiatives, and water and sewer conditions and support from the Alaska Rural Utility Collaborative. The meeting concluded with a group brainstorming session on regional bulk fuel upgrades and options for transportation.  

Wilber gathered additional stakeholder input related to an NSF NNA planning grant on electric vehicles in the Arctic (NSF award #2127171).  Panikkar had initial conversations with community members related to a recent Sloan Foundation award on integrated renewable energy community microgrid transitions and energy sovereignty in remote communities in Alaska. Whitney engaged with workshop participants on a community and regional security initiative funded by the Office of Naval Research’s Alaska Regional Collaboration for Technology Innovation and Commercialization program.  

For more information on ACEP’s work in Kotzebue, please contact Christie Haupert at clhaupert@alaska.edu.

 

Kotzebue’s bifacial solar photovoltaic and wind farm owned by Kotzebue Electric Association. Photo by Amanda Byrd.