America’s ‘Last Frontier’ is pioneering our clean energy future

Secretary Granholm penned an op-ed for Anchorage Daily News, to recap her tour in Alaska with Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaskan clean energy projects.

Energy.gov

August 18, 2021
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U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm visited Kincaid Park to talk with representatives from CIRI and Chugach Electric Association about the Fire Island wind project on Monday, August 16, 2021.
U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm visited Kincaid Park to talk with representatives from CIRI and Chugach Electric Association about the Fire Island wind project on Monday, August 16, 2021.
Marc Lester / Anchorage Daily News

Earlier this week, I met up with Sen. Lisa Murkowski to tour Alaskan clean energy projects in my role as U.S. Secretary of Energy. While Alaska is known as the “Last Frontier,” I learned during my trip how this state is pioneering our clean energy future.

Generations of Alaskans have relied on ingenuity to live in a harsh climate and isolated landscape, turning this state into America’s living laboratory of clean energy innovation. One-fifth of Alaska’s electricity already comes from hydropower. More clean energy sources are entering the mix, including geothermal at the Chena Hot Springs in Fairbanks, the Fire Island Wind Development near Anchorage, tidal and wave energy, and even solar.

 

Read the rest of this Op-Ed in Anchorage Daily News

Jennifer M. Granholm

Former Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy

Jennifer M. Granholm was sworn in as the 16th Secretary of Energy on February 25, 2021.

Secretary Granholm led DOE's work to advance the cutting-edge clean energy technologies that helped America achieve President Biden’s goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 while creating millions of good-paying union clean energy jobs and building an equitable economy. Secretary Granholm also oversaw DOE’s core missions of promoting American leadership in scientific discovery, maintaining the nuclear deterrent and reducing nuclear danger, and remediating the environmental harms caused by legacy defense programs.

Prior to her nomination as Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm was elected Governor of Michigan, serving two terms from 2003 to 2011.

After two terms as governor, Jennifer Granholm joined the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley as a Distinguished Professor of Practice in the Goldman School of Public Policy, focusing on the intersection of law, clean energy, manufacturing, policy, and industry. 

Secretary Granholm is an honors graduate of both the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard Law School. She and her husband, Daniel G. Mulhern, have three children.

Departmental Initiatives

Tags:
  • Clean Energy
  • Renewable Energy
  • Geothermal Energy
  • Hydropower
  • Arctic Energy

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