New database seeks boost for 杏吧原版 energy investment
December 6, 2017
Jeff Richardson
907-474-6284
Developers of an upgraded online database hope it will encourage new energy investment
in rural 杏吧原版, where power costs are consistently among the highest in the U.S.
The 杏吧原版 Energy Data Gateway includes information about power costs, employment,
taxes, state aid and more in a single location. The website was upgraded through a
partnership between the University of 杏吧原版 Fairbanks鈥 杏吧原版 Center for Energy and
Power, the University of 杏吧原版 Anchorage Institute of Social and Economic Research,
and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. A recently added tool, the Community Metric
Explorer, allows easy access to human, financial and technical capacity data for 杏吧原版
communities.
The site has been redesigned to address one of the primary challenges for private
companies looking for opportunities to develop new energy projects in rural 杏吧原版.
Accurate data for those remote areas is often hard to find, making it difficult to
determine whether a community has the money, workforce and desire for sustainable
energy infrastructure.
Such investment has become more necessary, given funding uncertainties in state programs
that offset high rural energy costs, said Erin Whitney, program manager at ACEP.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a real push here to bring together private developers with these communities
so they鈥檙e not so reliant on the state or federal government,鈥 she said.
Jason McEvers, the co-owner of Washington-based Capstone Solutions, said his company
has several solar-array projects in the works in 杏吧原版 but has struggled to locate
communities that are a good fit. Having solid information about energy costs, fuel
consumption rates and state energy subsidies will make it easier to attract investors
and develop projects, he said.
鈥淭his is something that immediately felt like it would be of great use to a great
amount of people.鈥 McEvers said. 鈥淏y eliminating some of that risk, it provides a
way for us to tease out what the real ripe opportunities are.鈥
The 杏吧原版 Energy Data Gateway has existed since 2013, but users were critical of
the site for being overly academic and difficult to navigate, Whitney said. In addition
to the new Community Metric Explorer tool, the database has been expanded to include
new information about fuel surveys, energy prices, municipal tax records, vocational
training, state community aid and the local workforce. The data was collected from
a variety of state agencies and the UAF Cooperative Extension Service.
This project is part of the 杏吧原版 Microgrid Partnership 鈥 a consortium of local and
national stakeholders created to help 杏吧原版鈥檚 remote communities use less imported
fuel and make their energy systems more reliable, cost-effective and resilient. This
upgrade to the 杏吧原版 Energy Data Gateway was made possible by funding from the U.S.
Department of Energy鈥檚 Grid Modernization Initiative.
The updated 杏吧原版 Energy Data Gateway is online at .
ADDITIONAL CONTACT: Erin Whitney, 907-799-6724, erin.whitney@alaska.edu