Innovative renewable energy programs: making in a difference in rural Alaska.

• Author: Stricker, Julie
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: Clean Energy

On the far rim of the Aleutian Islands, the residents of Atka are among a wave of small-scale energy pioneers in Alaska. The tiny community, which lies on a wind-swept beach and has only a few dozen residents, launched its long-planned Chuniisax Creek Hydroelectric Project in December 2012.

The facility, which produces 283 kilowatts of energy, provides 100 percent of Atka's power needs--and in fact could help power the community's seafood processing plant. With a capital cost of $5 million, Chuniisax Creek will save the community $180,000 annually in diesel fuel costs.

On the other side of the state, Tok residents had a twofold program. Major wildfires had threatened the town more than once in recent years, and it also faced escalating energy costs. The solution: install a wood chip biomass system to heat the Tok school.

That proved successful enough that the system was expanded to provide electricity. Today, the community, which frequently sees winter temperatures of 50 to 60 degrees below zero, is generating more heat than it can use. It's looking to expand its system to heat neighboring structures.

These are two examples of how innovative renewable energy programs are starting to make a difference in rural Alaska communities, which have staggeringly high energy costs several times those of urban Alaska, which are among the highest in the country.

The benefits have been tremendous, says Sean Skaling, deputy director of alternative energy and energy efficiency for the Alaska Energy Authority.

The main technologies that we see that are cost-effective are wind, hydro, biomass and heat recovery projects," Skaling says. The payoffs can be considerable, and they aren't just in dollar savings.

For instance, Delta High School in Delta Junction installed a wood chip biomass boiler in 2011 to heat its 77,000-square-foot facility.

The move was primarily an economic one. The school was burning 53,000 gallons of heating fuel, which cost about $153,000, annually. The wood-fired boiler, which uses waste chips from the nearby Dry Creek Sawmill, dramatically cut the school's heating costs. Unlike many of the outdoor wood boilers used by residents, the biomass systems have low emissions and are highly efficient, burning the chips at an intense heat and store the heat in the water.

But the savings had even greater benefits. They allowed the school to keep two teacher positions that were at risk, reopen its music program and remodel the school kitchen.

"It saves them a whole bunch of money," Skaling says. "The maintenance and...