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Weekly UpdatesIt might be difficult to understand why Alaska, a state blessed with so many natural resources--especially oil and gas--can have segments of its rural population endure extreme prices and shortages of energy.
Charles Parker, director of the professional services group for the Alaska Village Initiative in Anchorage, says there are communities that can barely afford to pay their energy bills each year. He also says that there have been small villages that have been abandoned due to a lack of affordable energy.
Mike Harper, deputy director for the Rural Energy Group, a wing of the Alaska State Energy Authority, supports that and attributes the situation to the rise in the fuel costs and its transportation to the Bush communities.
"If you live in Anchorage," he said, "you probably pay 10 cents or 11 cents a kilowatt-hour, or between $75 and $100 a month for your electricity. That's because it isn't too expensive to transport fuel from the Lower 48. Now, to take it to the villages, it has to be transported to Bethel, where it is transferred to small barges that can make it up the Kuskokwin River. Many of the rural villages are generally located along the coast or rivers in the northern and western areas.
50 CENTS PER KILOWATT-HOUR
"Those communities can easily pay 50 cents a kwh. And even more for the villages--like Sleetmute--that have to get their fuel by aircraft instead of barges and trucks."
To that, add the upward-spiraling cost of gas and the ballooning price of oil. Just five years ago, the average price of diesel fuel was just below $1.50 a gallon. As of July 15, 2005, that figure had jumped above $9.10.
Once the village pays for the fuel and it is delivered, there is still the cost of maintaining the storage facilities and equipment to run the power plant. Most villages must have enough storage for a year's supply of fuel.
REG PROGRAMS
Harper also said that the REG is involved in many programs to help meet those needs. It has partnered with the Denali Commission to work on projects totaling more than $150 million under the Rural Power System Upgrade, or RPSU, Program.
"Most of that has gone for bulk fuel farms, powerhouse generators and power plant upgrades," he said. "So far we've done that for about 50 villages and we're only about halfway through."
Other programs that REG is involved with include the Power Cost Equalization Program, which offers a grant to help offset the high cost to individual families and businesses, and the revolving bulk-fuel loan program. This program is to assist communities that do not have the funds to immediately pay for their fuel shipments.
UNLIKE ANCHORAGE
Brent Petrie, project manager at Alaska Village Electric Corp. Inc., says that the situation in Alaska's Bush is much different than in urban areas. Unlike living in Anchorage-where if someone needs heating oil they can call a local petroleum company and have it delivered every week or two-in rural Alaska, many of the villages get their fuel only once a year. That is because extreme weather conditions stop transportation up and down the rivers.
And to all of that, add the cost of maintenance and repairs. While some routine maintenance procedures can be done by a resident technician, there are often conditions that require more expertise than is locally available.
"The same technology that provides power generation in an urban area, like (Anchorage), is also required out in the Bush," said Mark Teitzel, vice president and manager of engineering for Alaska Village Electric Corp Inc. "When something breaks down, it is very expensive to send somebody out there with the knowledge and skills to fix the problem.
"Here in Anchorage, Juneau or Fairbanks, you can pick up the phone and have somebody work on your diesel engine or generator at a reasonable price. But in one of the villages, it can be a $1,000 to just fly somebody out there to work on it. Then, sometimes they may have to stay there and wait for parts to be flown in. That all adds to an already high cost."
GOVERNOR'S ASSISTANCE
Gov. Frank Murkowski is aware of the situation and has plans to help. In February, he commissioned a study by the state's Rural Energy Action Council. Its mission was to explore recommendations for short-term solutions to the high cost of energy in rural Alaska.
Two-months later, the REAC came back with a dozen recommendations. Also, in his State-of-the-State address in January, Murkowski proposed $6.5 million to offset the high energy costs, along with $20.7 million to fully fund the Power Cost Equalization Program. This makes it the first year since the creation of the endowment that the program has been fully funded.
Some of the other recommendations made by the REAC include: create a bulk-fuel operator technical assistance program, improve power plant operational efficiencies and remote capabilities, increase support for alternative energy systems--such as hydro electric, wind turbines, gas projects and accelerate renewable energy programs-and implement energy conservation measures.
IN THE LONG RUN
While short-term solutions to the problem are essential, long-term answers are also a high priority. Communities and support agencies are out beating the bushes to find relief.
At the present time, diesel is the fuel of choice because it is both versatile and has the best economical means to fuel the electric generators.
Some of the others technologies currently being tested or seriously contemplated include wind turbine, heat recovery, geothermal, hydro electric and nuclear. Experts say that those technologies, except nuclear, are not expected to replace diesel-powered generators--only reduce the reliance on them. While each of those technologies has its benefits, each also has drawbacks.
Wind turbines or windmills are now being used and offer a good potential for the future. Currently, Kotzebue has 10 66-kwh turbines that produce 1.2 million kwhs or 6 percent of the community's annual energy requirement. The remaining power is obtained from six diesel-powered generators.
Last year AVEC purchased seven 100-kwh wind turbines which will be placed at three villages in Alaska.
"In Alaska, we don't have a lot of wind machines yet," said Petrie. "In all of the state there are probably less that 25 of a utility scale. To do wind, you need several acres of land for a decent size wind site near a village.
"You also have to extend power lines to the site and there has to be roads for the equipment used for installation. And typically, to use wind machines that will make a significant difference in displacing fuel, they have to be fairly large, which means you have to bring in a crane, and they are expensive to rent and operate. So, with the rather short construction season, we would be taking a chance of having a crane stuck in a village, not being used all winter while we are pay rent on it."
A key factor that must also be considered is the available wind. Wind turbines are only effective if the wind speed averages about 14 miles per hour, year-round.
According to Petrie, heat recovery is another viable technology to reduce the cost of energy. He says that there are about 20 plants that now take heat generated by their diesel engines and use it to heat other facilities like schools, washaterias and water plants. This saves fuel oil that would otherwise be used to generate the heat.
MORE CHOICES
In the case of geothermal, the energy can be produced wherever a heat source is available from deep within the earth. It produces steam, which rotates a generator's turbine blades to produce electricity. The downside is the drilling, which causes land disturbance and is not aesthetically pleasing. It also involves operating noise and possible air pollution from sulfur fumes.
Another option is hydropower, which generates electricity by the force of falling water. Like geothermal, turbine blades are rotated, in this case by water, again producing electricity. Obviously, there is a need for running water; also, fish passing through turbines stand the risk of being killed; plus the dams can impede adult fish migration upstream.
Galena is the only community currently considering nuclear power generated by a small-scale reactor that would be built by Toshiba Corp.
The reactor unit would be about 55 feet tall and 8 feet in diameter. It would be constructed outside Alaska and encased in several tons of concrete and transported to its site near the Yukon River community.
The reactor would not to be opened during its operating life, which is estimated to be 30 years; it would also supply the village's electricity for about a quarter of the cost of diesel fuel, according to a U.S. Department of Energy study.
The drawbacks for nuclear include the radioactive waste that is produced by the process and the potential for large-scale destruction in the event of an accident.
MORE GHOST TOWNS
So regardless of how modern technology is applied to the energy situation, there are always positives and negatives. But there is one thing for sure, according to Parker, who says if solutions are not seen soon, some those communities might become ghost towns because without energy everything could come to an abrupt stop.
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