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The shutdown of the trans-Alaska pipeline is likely to extend into a fourth day, making it the third-longest closure in the line’s 33-year history. Officials haven’t yet announced how or when they intend to restart it, which is challenging in the dead of winter. Read more in the Anchorage Daily News. by Casey Grove, ADN Read more in the Anchorage Daily News.
by Mary Pemberton, Associated Press Read more in the Anchorage Daily News
A $4.5 million investment of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds will allow GSA to replace the outdated, inefficient boiler which has been has served the building since it was constructed in 1951. The old boiler has reached the end of its useful life and GSA will install a new sustainable biomass boiler. Read more in Ketchikan’s SitNews.  Governor Sean Parnell announces his Fiscal Year 2012 Budget at the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce luncheon. Press release ANCHORAGE–Continuing his focus on fostering jobs and resource development, Governor Sean Parnell today released his balanced budget plan for Fiscal Year 2012. The governor noted Alaska’s strong financial position saying, “Alaska has a balanced budget, substantial cash reserves, and a stellar bond rating.” In his budget speech before the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, Governor Parnell said, “If we are disciplined and strategic with our spending, and if we manage our savings well, Alaskans can have economic opportunities for years to come.” Read more->  Students from the Tok School holding up wood chips that are used to fire the boiler. by Jeffrey Hermanns, Forester Alaska winter months are cold, but the children going to school in Tok are warmed by the very trees that have been removed to protect them, and wiser about the immense northern boreal forest surrounding the community. On October 29, 2010, the woodchip-fired boiler at the Tok School was lit for the first time. Read more->  Salmon River area. Gustavus historical photo GUSTAVUS — The community is celebrating its new Falls Creek Hydroelectric Project, which came on line last year. Now its diesel generators have been replaced with cheap, clean and plentiful hydroelectric power. Gustavus’ diesel generators cost 74 cents per kilowatt-hour to produce power during the peak of fuel prices, with a more recent price of 39 cents per kwh. Falls Creek will bring that cost to under 20 cents. Click here to read the entire story by Pat Forgey in the Juneau Empire online.  Lisa Murkowski WASHINGTON, D.C. – We’re entering the third month of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the 22nd year since the Exxon Valdez hit Bligh Reef. In the Gulf of Mexico, as much as 3 million barrels of crude have already spilled from the blown-out well, and in Prince William Sound there is still oil hiding under rocky beaches. These disasters share more than environmental damage: As was the case in Alaska, the economic and social impact in the Gulf of Mexico also continues to rise. Read more->  Tending the Flowers, Gary Lidholm photo Three weeks ago the Alaska Alliance for Commerce published a paid commentary in the Chilkat Valley News, comparing proposed hydro projects at Connelly and Schubee Lakes. Two weeks ago Rob Goldberg, Scott Carey and Kathleen Menke responded with letters to the editor regarding our paid commentary. Although we don’t intend to get into a tit-for-tat letter writing contest, we do consider it our mission to clarify facts when the anti-development folks resort to faulty assumptions and hyperbole. The Haines News poll posted here from January 9, 2010 through February 1, 2010 consistently showed strong support for Connelly Lake hydro, ranging from 79 percent to 84 percent during the time the poll was posted. The poll was not scientific, and respondents were not restricted. The poll was advertised in the Haines News print edition and on this web site. Read more-> How do Connelly and Schubee Lake hydro projects stack up for feasibility study grant money in state-wide rankings developed by the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA)? Good enough to be recommended for partial funding but not in the first group of funds recommended by the governor.  Photo Map of the Chilkoot Valley, courtesy of Alaska DNR Alaska Power & Telephone has applied for grants and permits to develop Hydropower at Connelly Lake in the upper Chilkoot Valley. A few folks including a local environmentalist organization, Lynn Canal Conservation, have stated unequivocally that they will oppose development of Connelly Lake. LCC has already notified the Alaska Department of Fish and Game that they intend to sue to stop the project, even though they do not yet have grounds for a lawsuit. In early 2009 LCC members suggested an alternative site, Schubee Lake, on the opposite side of Lynn Canal from Haines, indicating it has their support. Schubee has not been studied and there is little data to support this decision.  Pete Lapham shows off his new wood pellet boiler As a former logger, current chain saw shop owner, and new member of the Energy and Sustainability Commission, Pete Lapham has always been interested in wood as a source of energy. But now he and wife Diana have taken wood heat energy to new levels. Read more-> Part III in a Series about Biomass Heat for Haines  Boiler Building for the Craig Schools At our farm in the Ozarks my father was always good-naturedly rebuking my mother for keeping the house too hot and always throwing another chunk of wood in the stove. He would quip to me, “Your mother burns wood like it grows on trees!” I would snicker at that remark but the reality of it was we, on the farm, were fairly energy independent. Because our property was large enough to have timberland and my father was conscious of good forestry, our heating supply was sustainable right there on the farm. My mother could keep the house as warm as she wanted and we did not even pay attention to oil prices. Our trees were a renewable energy source. Read more-> Part II in a series about wood heat in Haines  Smoke from burning brush piles and a cruise ship visible over Haines on a late August rainy day. Connelly Lake hydropower could eliminate the need for cruise ships to power up and biomass heat could eliminate the brush pile burning. The long term outlook for renewable energy in the Haines Borough is bright indeed! There are projects for the future that could make Haines the envy of the country when the goal is to reduce dependence on fossil fuel. But many of these projects are in the distant future and it is the immediate interim period where woody biomass can play an active role. Read more-> Part I in a series about wood heat in Haines
On December 8th, the Borough Assembly will review a conceptual design from CE2 Engineering for biomass (wood) heating of selected Borough buildings. CE2 is working under an energy grant awarded by the Haines Borough earlier in the year. Although the report is forthcoming, preliminary discussions with CE2 indicate a displacement of almost 40,000 gallons of diesel fuel is possible by going with a wood chip or other woody biomass heating system. Read more-> Senate Bill 31 encourages the development of Alaska’s vast alternative energy resources by offering power producers and utilities a valuable production tax credit for each kilowatt-hour of electricity they produce from geothermal, wind, hydro, tidal, wave, biomass, in-river, or solar energy. The program applies to energy systems capable of producing at least 400 kilowatts of electricity. We believe this is the right way to encourage development in Alaska; This program would apply to AP&T’s Connelly Lake hydropower project. We were please to hear testimony in support of this bill from the Alaska Conservation Alliance, Legislative and Communications Manager Sue Ely. Here is a summary from the energy committee transcript on February 12, 2009:
Lynn Canal Conservation, is a member organization of the Alaska Conservation Alliance. On March 2, 2009 the Skagway News printed a letter to the editor from Kathleen Menke opposing the Connelly Lake project. We understand some folks have strong feelings about this issue, but when they publish false or misleading information we are compelled to respond. The following is the text of Ms. Menke’s letter with our comments:
This is true, but we’re not sure what Juneau and avalanches have to do with anything.
It is not certain if the proposed dam is in an avalanche area, Read more->  Google map of area During the past few weeks some members of Lynn Canal Conservation (LCC) have announced their unequivocal opposition to Connelly Lake as a hydroelectric site. At a January ESC meeting Tim Shields told the Energy Commissioners that if AP&T decides to pursue the Connelly Lake site, “There’s going to be a fight.” Shields, a director of Takshanuk Watershed Council, and Rob Goldberg, a past member of the LCC board of directors and present member of the Haines Planning Commission, have presented Schubee Lake as an alternative. In his letter to the Haines ESC, Tim Shields says Schubee Lake offers “solutions to almost all of the problems presented by Connelly Lake.” Goldberg presented a paper comparing lake sizes, elevations and other factors to show that the two lakes have similar hydroelectric potential. The folks at AP&T, to their credit, have agreed to consider Schubee Lake and will look at it when weather permits this spring. Wisely, they will continue with the permitting process for Connelly Lake. In the end, it’s AP&T’s decision which lake is best. Read more->
Haines was without power for several hours while the Skagway crew worked to get their other power source up and running. But when I went for a walk at 6:00 a.m. today, the Haines diesel-fired generation plant was running. Before the power outage Haines residents were enjoying power at the reasonable rate of just over $0.07 per kilowatt hour (kWh). If it becomes necessary to use the diesel power plant for a protracted period of time, the rate could go up to over $0.23 per kilowatt hour — over three times the cost of hydroelectric power, due to the high cost of fuel. The diesel fired plant in Haines consumes 138 gallons per hour. Using the EPA emissions calculation for diesel, we are pouring 3063.6 pounds of CO2 into the air over Haines for every hour of power generation. Additionally, a modern high conversion fuel refinery will end up producing about…10 gallons of low sulfur diesel from one barrel of crude. So it takes roughly 13.8 barrels of crude oil to produce the amount of diesel we are burning per hour. Now tell me again what is environmentally unsound about AP&T’s proposed Connelly Lake hydroelectric project? Sources: United States. Environmental Protection Agency. Emission Facts: Calculating CO2 Emissions. 30 January, 2009. <http://www.epa.gov/oms/climate/420f05001.htm#calculating>. Yahoo answers. “How many gallons of diesel per barrel of oil?” Online posting, source not verified. 30 January, 2009. <http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080202063522AAMikd7>
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KETCHIKAN–The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) on December 21, announced a contract award to install a biomass boiler system in the Ketchikan, Alaska federal building.
Elimination of 38,000 gallons of fuel oil to heat Borough buildings! That idea should get our attention!
Yesterday Skagway’s Goat Lake hydroelectric power plant was supplying power for Skagway, and for Haines via undersea cable, when heavy wet snow brought several trees into contact with the transmission line along the Klondike Highway. At 6:50 p.m. the lights went out in both cities.
